Cruising (1980) William Friedkin

[OldCorpse]

Blast from the past:

Cruising (1980)

I watched this recently, during my Friedkin kick. I know it's a controversial film, but I can't help it, I liked it quite a bit. Is it a masterpiece? No. It's not "The Exorcist" or "The French Connection", two legit masterpieces. But it's a very good film, certainly vastly superior to the practically unwatchable "To Live And Die in LA". There are flaws - some dialogue and situations are hokey in a "only in a movie" kind of a way, but it's not a huge amount. The acting from some of the characters is poor (looking at you, Paul Sorvino, you hack). Some of it hasn't aged well, and there are some lame techniques (when we see a character's thoughts visualized - facepalm).

But man, one of Al Pacino's great performances, and he had to stretch a bit more than in most of his roles. It's a tough and is some ways an uncompromising film that couldn't be made today with the PC sensitivity prevailing. I think it's a gripping film, with very strong depictions of certain environments. Excellent narrative drive and a lot of subtlety without the usual hamfisted holllywood value pushing. It was a controversial movie at the time, and I guess still today in some quarters.

It's also still a strong movie technically, with very good framing and blocking in the tradition of The Exorcist.

Hard to believe that the trash To Live And Die in LA was made by the same director - such incompetence on every level.

Anyhow, I just thought it's worth a shoutout during this Oscar time

 

[Guest]

Love and Die in LA almost becomes something amazing in it’s dated cheesiness.

Thanks for posting this. I’ll check out Cruising

 

[CharlesPapert]

I worked with Sorvino on a movie in 2003. Not a gem. Was taken to loudly breaking out into opera on set while we were trying to work, no-one wanted to hear it. Just kind of full of himself and made some pretty rude comments here and there.

"To Live and Die In LA" did make an impact on me visually at the time...there's one crane shot that has been done many times since, looking up from below at a character on a bridge, then booming up and over them to reveal their perspective. That vocabulary was quite new and came in with the Louma crane and subsequent remote heads in the 80's that allowed for more nimble shots than the manned cranes. I wish you all had had the opportunity to ride a Titan crane though...they were a lot of fun! We still trot them out for specialized use.

 

[Guest]

I worked with Sorvino on a movie in 2003. Not a gem. Was taken to loudly breaking out into opera on set while we were trying to work, no-one wanted to hear it. Just kind of full of himself and made some pretty rude comments here and there.

"To Live and Die In LA" did make an impact on me visually at the time...there's one crane shot that has been done many times since, looking up from below at a character on a bridge, then booming up and over them to reveal their perspective. That vocabulary was quite new and came in with the Louma crane and subsequent remote heads in the 80's that allowed for more nimble shots than the manned cranes. I wish you all had had the opportunity to ride a Titan crane though...they were a lot of fun! We still trot them out for specialized use.

Having just seen the film, maybe 3 years ago, I felt I missed out on a lot of the innovation it may have had. As you say, it's best attributes have likely been copied to death by now. So, all that is left is LA nostalgia. 6th St Bridge!

I was impressed with how figured out and dialed in film making seemed by that time. Feels like most of the improvements we see today are in refinements. Digital post has allowed for some very slick editing techniques, even on low budget work. Which makes films pre digital all the more impressive. Think of Indiana Jones being physically cut and glued together. Crazy. Talk about discipline.


There are times when I look back and kind of wish I went into the more Hollywood side of things back in the 90's. I had no idea the internet was around the corner. I wanted to make short docs that were slice of life.... FB and instagram took care of any appetite for that. Also, I didn't think I was cool enough for Hollywood, and enjoyed the geek culture in the video world, but when DSLR blew up, everyone was cool at every level. Wished I had just gone for film! Haha.

Well, I don't actually regret it, just looking back objectively with the benefit of time and perspective. Had I been able to predict the internet and the DSLR revolution, I'd have gone into film when I had the chance. But that is purely from a career perspective. Can't say I'd had had the same life experience.

What are we talking about?

Oh right, "To Live and Die in LA". As amazing as Müller is, this film made me realize how much we can get through cinematography. The filming was fairly heavy handed and not particularly going to end up on any top ten lists, but it almost didn't matter, it told the story. It reminded me to let the camera get out of the way when telling a story. Because as time goes by, that thing we thought was cool or edgy, may not matter so much.