When the fog clears - Limbo
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | When the fog clears - Limbo |
| Original title | limbo |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1999 |
| length | 127 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Sayles |
| script | John Sayles |
| production |
Maggie Renzi , Sarah Connors |
| music | Mason Daring |
| camera | Haskell Wexler |
| cut | John Sayles |
| occupation | |
| |
When the fog clears - Limbo (Original title: Limbo ) is an American film that the independent director John Sayles released in 1999.
Sayles also wrote the script for the melancholy , introspective drama set in Alaska . Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio , David Strathairn and Vanessa Martinez played the leading roles . The film is superficially and only in the second half a Robinsonad .
action
In Port Henry in Alaska to the presence of former basketball hero occur Joe Gastineau, high school (this failed because of problems with the knee), now weathered fishermen and laborers , and the beautiful Donna De Angelo, average happy singer in The Golden Nugget Lounge , both in the best age. Joe never got over a boating accident that happened 25 years ago and that killed two people. Noelle is Donna's teenage daughter and Joe's work colleague. All of them have somehow reached a biographical dead end.
Part one of the film tells of the first meeting of Donna and Joe, their timid rapprochement, Noelle's adolescent quarrels with her mother, and some residents of the recession -ridden, isolated town hoping to become part of an amusement park (with as much Thrill ). The otherwise bitchy “bookworm” Noelle is also increasingly developing romantic feelings for the courteous Joe.
Joe's brother Bobby, who looks a bit dodgy, takes the newly-in love with him on a "business" boat trip. Drug dealers murder him because he owes them money. Joe, Donna and Noelle have to seek refuge on an uninhabited island and suddenly find themselves in very serious trouble. Life on the island is reduced to worrying about food, water, shelter and warmth. In the evenings around the campfire, the daughter often reads from a year-old diary found there , so that time goes by. The author was the girl Anne Marie Hoak, about Noelle's age and with her own story within the story with a sad ending.
Jack Johannson, a pilot from Port Henry, finds the "family". He admits he's on the gangster's payroll but promises to get help. Later they realize an airplane is approaching on the horizon that will solve their situation one way or another.
Reviews
- “[The film focuses] on an irritating, floating atmosphere of waiting , which becomes an overarching metaphor for an existential state. Beyond an informative panorama of time and society of Alaska, the restrained drama is primarily about the moment and the conditions to break through the feeling of the improper . "( Lexicon of international film )
- “Sayles […] seems to want to say, 'Life is not that easy. Hollywood sometimes lies. '"( Edward Guthmann : San Francisco Chronicle )
- "[...] only John Sayles does this kind of narrative cinema, which one would call old-fashioned, if it had never existed before [...] his plots defy any narrative convention." ( Ekkehard Knörer : Jump Cut )
- "John Sayles [...] calls on us to get to the bottom of the complexity of the human soul and the mystery of fate." ( Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat : Spirituality & Practice)
- “[Sayles] created total authenticity. I saw the film with friends who literally came back from an Alaska vacation three or four days ago and they were amazed at how real it all felt. […] Sayles has an amazing ear and the perfect eye. "( Moriarty : Ain't It Cool News)
- "Exercises in matters of changing scenery , not fully developed stories." ( Mary Elizabeth Williams : Salon.com )
- "With a little ' short cuts ' and a little ' Alaska of all things ' we enter a world of characters (and I mean 'characters') [...] Don't hope for many resolutions (or any at all)." ( Ron Wells : Film Threat)
James Berardinelli thought Strathairn was “rarely better” than here as an actor and appreciated Mastrantonio for her restraint. He was also impressed by the photography of the two-time Oscar winner and a total of five-time Oscar-nominated Haskell Wexler. Walsh and Waitz particularly praise the acting by Vanessa Martinez.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio sings the songs "You Never Can Tell", "Better Off without You", "The Heart of Saturday Night" and "Dimming of the Day" herself. Armstrong, Walsh and Ebert also find that she sings beautifully .
At Rotten Tomatoes the film was listed on May 21, 2008 with a numerical 72 percent of 36 film reviews evaluated. In the IMDb on May 21, 2008, the film received 6.9 out of 10 points with the votes of 3,177 viewers.
Ty Burr of the Boston Globe discussed the type of resolution by means of freeze frame again in the Critic's Corner: Happy Endings column in the DGA Quarterly Spring 2008. Jon Popick wrote in 2003: "I'm still waiting for the last film role " .
Backgrounds, miscellaneous
According to the Box Office Mojo database on May 21, 2008, the production budget was $ 10 million (John Sayles himself speaks of about 8 million). Limbo was the first film distributed by revived Screen Gems (Sony) aimed at middle-brow audiences.
The film was shot in Juneau , Alaska, which is only accessible by plane or ship. During the production of the film, an attempt was made to fill supporting roles and extras with “authentic” lay people on site. Strathairn plays here for the seventh time under the direction of Sayles.
From Bruce Springsteen to Sayles wanted a song for the end credits, the "neutral but very emotional" was. According to Michael, Sayles had the right to the final cut of the film. The first showing in the Federal Republic of Germany was September 2, 1999, and the film started on February 8, 2000 on video or DVD. According to Box Office Mojo , the film grossed around 2.2 million US dollars in the USA so far (2008) ( Total Lifetime Grosses / Domestic ).
There is an audio commentary from the director.
Awards and nominations
Cannes International Film Festival 1999
- Nomination for the Golden Palm for John Sayles. The award went to Rosetta by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.
Independent Spirit Awards 2000
- Nominated for Best Actor for David Strathairn
- Nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Vanessa Martinez
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards 2000
- Sierra Award nomination in the Best Actress category for Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
- Special mention "Excellence in Filmmaking"
Seattle International Film Festival 1999
- Golden Space Needle Award for Best Director for John Sayles
Web links
- When the smoke clears - Limbo in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- When the smoke clears - Limbo at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Ekkehard Knörer: John Sayles: When the fog clears - Limbo at Jump Cut
- Rüdiger Suchsland: When the fog clears - Limbo at Artechock
- Thomas Waitz: When the fog clears - Limbo when cut
- When the smoke clears - Limbo in The New York Times (English)
- Philip Kemp: Limbo in Sight & Sound (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Moriarty: Moriarty looks at John Sayles' Limbo, Run Lola Run, What Planet Are You From, Monkey Bone, O Brother Where Are Thou. In: Ain't It Cool News. June 7, 1999, accessed on July 25, 2008 (English): “[…] delivered total authenticity. I watched this film with friends who literally just returned from an Alaskan vacation in the last three or four days, and they were started by how real it all felt. [...] Sayles has an amazing ear and a perfect eye "
- ↑ a b When the fog clears - Limbo in the lexicon of international films
- ↑ a b Kemp, see web links.
- ↑ a b Waitz, see web links.
- ↑ Stephen Holden : Limbo (1999) - Film Review; Damaged, and Stranded on an Island. In: The New York Times (online). June 4, 1999, accessed May 21, 2008 .
- ↑ a b c Roger Ebert: Limbo. In: rogerebert.com. June 4, 1999, accessed May 22, 2008 .
- ↑ Holden: "But how authentic do they, or any of us really want life to be?"
- ^ Edward Guthmann: Stranded in 'Limbo' - Superb acting overcomes split story line, surprise ending. In: San Francisco Chronicle . June 4, 1999, accessed on July 25, 2008 (English): "Sayles [...] as if to say," Life isn't so simple. Hollywood sometimes lies. ""
- ↑ see web links.
- ↑ Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat: Film Review: Limbo. (No longer available online.) In: Spirituality & Practice. Archived from the original on September 24, 2008 ; Retrieved on July 25, 2008 (English): "John Sayles [...] challenges us to explore the complexity of the human soul and the mystery of fate" Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Mary Elizabeth Williams: Limbo. In: Salon.com . June 4, 1999, accessed on July 25, 2008 (English): "[…] exercises in different scenery, not fully fleshed out stories"
- ↑ similar to Walsh.
- ↑ Ron Wells: Limbo. In: Film Threat. May 28, 1999, accessed on May 21, 2008 (English): "A little bit" Short Cuts ", a little bit" Northern Exposure ", we step into a world of characters (and I mean," characters ") [... ] Don't expect many (or any) resolutions "
- ↑ cf. Richard Schickel is also very praiseworthy : Paradise Regained. In: Time . June 7, 1999, accessed May 23, 2008 .
- ↑ a b James Berardinelli : Limbo. In: Reelviews. 1999, accessed May 22, 2008 .
- ↑ a b David Walsh: The all too vigilant John Sayles (The all-too vigilant John Sayles). In: World Socialist Web Site. July 2, 1999, accessed May 22, 2008 .
- ↑ a b Chris Willman: Setting Sayles. In: Entertainment Weekly. May 20, 1999, accessed May 22, 2008 .
- ↑ cf. Andy Culpepper: Mastrantonio's acting career no longer hanging in 'Limbo'. In: CNN.com. June 7, 1999, accessed May 23, 2008 .
- ^ Richard Armstrong: John Sayles. In: Senses of Cinema. 2004, accessed May 22, 2008 .
- ↑ User ratings for Limbo (1999). In: IMDb . IMDb.com, Inc., accessed May 21, 2008 .
- ^ Ty Burr: Critic's Corner: Happy Endings. In: DGA Quarterly. 2008, accessed on August 2, 2008 (English): "got me so excited ([...] left me infuriated)"
- ↑ Jon Popick: Casa de los babys (2003). In: Planet Sick-Boy. 2003, accessed on March 6, 2009 (English, at IMDb ): "I'm still waiting on the final reel of Limbo"
- ↑ a b Limbo. In: Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 21, 2008 .
- ^ Filming locations for Limbo (1999). In: IMDb . IMDb.com, Inc., accessed May 21, 2008 .
- ^ Lizzie Martinez: Reaching Out - 10 Years of Grassroots Casting for John Sayles. In: Filmmaker Magazine Fall 2007. 2007, accessed May 22, 2008 .
Interview with director John Sayles:
- ↑ a b Erica Pennella: Interview: Traveling Indie-Author John Sayles Sails Through "Limbo". In: Indiewire. Retrieved on May 22, 2008 (English, from the “People” archives).
- ^ A b Ray Pride: John Sayles. (No longer available online.) In: Hollywood Scriptwriter. Archived from the original on July 9, 2008 ; accessed on May 22, 2008 (English): "How you identify yourself, that's important (Sayles)" Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ David Michael: Independents In Limbo? The John Sayles Interview. In: Efilmcritic.com. HBS Entertainment, Inc., September 12, 1999, accessed May 22, 2008 .