Rhapsodies

This week I decided to go with biopics of famous directors. (or in this case one famous and one notorious)

The first, Gods and Monsters, tells us the story of the last days of the life of horror director James Whale played by Ian McKellen. In the process it also tells about being openly homosexual in 1950s Hollywood.

The film opens with Whale living in relative seclusion recovering from a stroke. Out of boredom he strikes up a relationship with his gardener played by Brendan Fraser. Most of the film follows this as Whale slowly drifts more and more into his memories.

McKellen is at the top of his game here. My favorite part is about in the middle of the film where The Bride of Frankenstein is showing on television. We jump back and fourth between a bar where the Gardener is watching it and Whale’s living room where Whale (who is not particularly happy about having his horror films being the work he’s best remembered for) is picking it apart telling his housekeeper all the little techniques he used. Finally at the end we switch over to a flashback of the filming of the Bride of Frankenstein. I especially liked the bit where Doctor Frankenstein, Pretorius and the Bride are acting completely out of character before the movie’s climax is shot.

The next on my list was Tim Burton’s story of one of the worst directors in history, Ed Wood. Johnny Depp plays cult filmmaker Ed Wood as a manic optimistic borderline con artist oblivious to his complete lack of talent.

This is a fun movie filmed in the style of a forties horror film (I’d say in the style of Ed Wood but it’s better than that) Along with Depp’s performance Martin Landau channels Bela Lugosi perfectly as a bitter drug addicted has been. Together they form a symbiotic relationship as Bela, at least in the context of the movie serves as a kind of muse to Woods who tries to create great vehicles for his hero.

In the mean time despite creating one failure after another Wood’s enthusiasm is nearly hypnotic (probably the only explanation for why he keeps getting people to support his creative monstrosities.) nd in the process brings together a growing ensemble cast to help him in his ventures. This all leads to lots of unintentional fun and is well worth one’s time.