Originality in present day cinema is a rarity. Adaptations and remakes and sequels and rip offs seem to the flavor of don't know how many seasons. I wonder why originals are so hard to find now in cinema. Maybe because it is so hard for us to think of mundane things in a different way let alone out of the box ideas. May be it's the business side. Who wants to tear one's head over some insane idea when there are stories ready and begging to be told. But all those adaptations, remakes, sequels, ripoffs were actually of original ideas that literally soared as the imagination of the creators went wild. An idea small or big is priceless and its power is limitless. If there is one guy in cinema who thrives on mind bending originality every time it has to be the writer and director Charlie Kaufman. HE'S THE MAN.
Being John Malkovich(1998), Charlie's first film as writer, superbly directed by Spike Jonze is a movie and dare I say, for me is the definitive original movie precious than any big blockbuster. It outrageously combines fact and fiction, real and the imaginary worlds so convincingly that there is no way to differentiate between the two. And NO - it's not the matrix kind of mumbo jumbo filled with special effects where we have to break our heads. It's purely about people and their emotions, fears, eccentricities, things they love and hate the most. It shows the real and side of people which is a bittersweet pill to swallow.
Craig(John Cusack) is a failed middle aged puppeteer. When was the last time we saw a lead role have the profession of puppetry. He is a total failure only in the commercial sense but artistically he and his ideas are the real deal. Charlie Kaufman strikes the first blow subtly indicating the ugly fate of being an original in the sea of copy-cats. Craig does not believe in theatrics and showoff. He shows true side of people and life in his performances. Probably that's why he's a failure. He despises the guy who apparently rules the puppet world and thinks the guy's performances are cheap, second rate, mundane and monotonous. But Craig is not without failings. He is desperate to show his work to people, be successful and famous. But right now desperate, married, unemployed, too fragile to believe in himself, he performs sick and wicked puppet shows on the street and gets public's wrath rather than their love and money.
His nagging wife, Lotte(Cameron Diaz), an animal lover having turned their house into a zoo with all kinds of animals in cages, is desperate to have children with him. When Craig refuses saying his priority now is his career, Lotte hen pecks him about his profession and asks if he could ever get a real job. Frustrated and resigned to fate, Craig eventually seeks out the so called 'real jobs' in the papers and to his surprise gets one quite easily. His job is of a file arranger in the very very old Dr.Lester's Lester Corp located on the 7 1/2 floor (between 7 and 8 floor) of Mertin Flemmer Building in NYC. How's that for a location which itself has a delightful background as shown by flashback. And such a floor in such a building really does exist in NYC!!!
Craig finds himself uncontrollably attracted to his colleague, the sexy Maxine. He tells this plainly to her. She too plainly refuses the offer. With things looking a bit ok at home, Craig hopelessly tries for a chance to screw Maxine. While idling around in his office, Craig stumbles upon an opening on the wall, kind of portal, behind a huge filing cabinet, that appears hidden from everyone. Curious, Craig goes in screaming into - the brain of John Horatio Malkovich(John Gavin Malkovich)!!!. Craig can feel himself inside Malkovich. Malkovich does not know this. He is like a vegetable. After 15 minutes Craig finds himself out of Malkovich' s system and by the side of a dumpster. Craig, exhilarated by the experience, tells and shows the portal to Maxine, who though doesn't take the plunge, sees an opening for both. They place an ad in the paper of 200$ for 15 minutes of being john malkovich using the portal in their own office.
People queue up in flocks. Most of them are the everyday guys. Another blow by Charlie, we are obsessed with celebrities, their riches and their lifestyle. We feel liberated reading about them and given a chance we would sure want to be like them, if not them. So Maxine and Craig hit pay dirt. Craig, overcome by emotions, tells about this to Lotte and asks her to take the plunge which she readily agrees. Before diving in Craig introduces Lotte to Maxine and Lotte dives in, giggles, chuckles and feels at home. When she comes out, she is desperate to go for another ride but Craig refuses. Does everything looks alright for Craig? Not at all.
Craig asks Maxine if he could screw her now. She says only if he was John Malkovich. Another blow - people don't want to love a nobody. That tips him off and he asks her to go on a real date with the real John Malkovich when Craig plans to arrive into John. And so, they go out on a date. And Malkovich is really smitten by her. Craig arrives in him. They go to John's place. John and Craig wildly make out with her. Craig is filled with ecstasy. Craig and Maxine keep doing this and once Lotte asks for another dive. Reluctantly Craig agrees. So Lotte's goes into John on a date with Maxine. They again make out but this time Maxine enjoys it all the more. As Lotte comes out, she tells Craig she finally found her true self, that she is in fact a man in woman's body and she and Maxine love each other and she is for a sex change. Craig, stunned, lashes out at Maxine who simply chucks him away. Maxine starts to frequently go on dates with John and calls Lotte. to get into John. Maxine and Lotte love it.
Hurt and angry, Craig devises a cunning plan in his bid to get back Maxine. During one of Lotte's rendezvous, Craig locks her up in the cage with the animals and he goes in for John that night. Maxine doesn't realize it. Craig, so angry, as they make out, does not want to come out of John. He sees it is finally possible to control John completely. But John undergoes wild sensations in his body and says weird things. Craig jumps out of John. Paranoid, John smacks Maxine for the truth. Malkovich tails Maxine and finally finds out the horrible business being run by Maxine and Craig. So Malkovich lines up in queue to go inside himself!!! Which he does in fact and what happens then is beyond imagination.
John comes out and is scared and hopping mad by what he has just seen. Meanwhile Craig plans for another night. Maxine expects Lotte, who has got off the clutches and goes to Dr.Lester for help. Craig goes in, makes out with Maxine, who now knows it is Craig and not Lotte. Dr.Lester finally reveals the ugly truth. He introduces her to a lot of very old people and tells they all are more than a hundred years old and the reason they all are alive is because of the portal. They have been jumping from one vessel to another vessel all this time. Another blow, people in general are afraid of old age and death. John is their vessel now to stay alive and that he has matured and they would have to go in on John's 44th birthday. Lotte tells him Craig has now taken over John completely. Lester and his oldies look terribly worried.
Craig, now in John's body, convinces Maxine to get married to him. Craig decides to use John's popularity as an actor to pursue his dream - puppetry. Craig makes John change his profession which stuns the world. But he stuns the world too with his dazzling puppetry and literally reinventing the art. He achieves fame and fortune. Craig's soul finally seems to be at peace. Maxine is now pregnant, but is drawn away from Craig/John and she thinks more and more of Lotte. Craig senses thid distance and as John's 44th birthday draws close, Dr.Lester with Lotte captures Maxine and threatens Craig to kill Maxine if he doesn't leave John's body. Craig refuses. Lotte and Maxine reconcile, embrace, dive together into the portal and come out. Maxine reveals to Lotte the child was conceived when she was inside John and not Craig. They decide to live together. Another blow, real love can't be stopped. Craig left alone now finally decides to leave John and is back to being a nobody. Just when John feels he is back to his own self ,all the oldies enter into John and take over him as they wait for their next vessel. Seeing Maxine and Lotte's love, Craig once again decides to go into John and make Maxine love her once again.
What happens next is like a thunderbolt. It is so bittersweet and ironic just like our lives and yet so creative and logical that when all the pieces add up that the end result is like a sumptous, delightful meal. The movie is like pandora's box. You can't guess what's coming at any minute but everytime you will feel that had to come but only after you have seen it. The ending left me exhausted and scratching my head but eventually I was supremely satisfied by what was on offer. The magic of the movie is in the hands of Charlie and director Spike Jonze who never overdoes any of the numerous twists and turns, though it would have extremely tempting nonetheless. All the actors carry their vision superbly.
For sheer originality, do yourself a favour and watch it.
Till next time - movies, movies and movies...
Being John Malkovich(1998), Charlie's first film as writer, superbly directed by Spike Jonze is a movie and dare I say, for me is the definitive original movie precious than any big blockbuster. It outrageously combines fact and fiction, real and the imaginary worlds so convincingly that there is no way to differentiate between the two. And NO - it's not the matrix kind of mumbo jumbo filled with special effects where we have to break our heads. It's purely about people and their emotions, fears, eccentricities, things they love and hate the most. It shows the real and side of people which is a bittersweet pill to swallow.
Craig(John Cusack) is a failed middle aged puppeteer. When was the last time we saw a lead role have the profession of puppetry. He is a total failure only in the commercial sense but artistically he and his ideas are the real deal. Charlie Kaufman strikes the first blow subtly indicating the ugly fate of being an original in the sea of copy-cats. Craig does not believe in theatrics and showoff. He shows true side of people and life in his performances. Probably that's why he's a failure. He despises the guy who apparently rules the puppet world and thinks the guy's performances are cheap, second rate, mundane and monotonous. But Craig is not without failings. He is desperate to show his work to people, be successful and famous. But right now desperate, married, unemployed, too fragile to believe in himself, he performs sick and wicked puppet shows on the street and gets public's wrath rather than their love and money.
His nagging wife, Lotte(Cameron Diaz), an animal lover having turned their house into a zoo with all kinds of animals in cages, is desperate to have children with him. When Craig refuses saying his priority now is his career, Lotte hen pecks him about his profession and asks if he could ever get a real job. Frustrated and resigned to fate, Craig eventually seeks out the so called 'real jobs' in the papers and to his surprise gets one quite easily. His job is of a file arranger in the very very old Dr.Lester's Lester Corp located on the 7 1/2 floor (between 7 and 8 floor) of Mertin Flemmer Building in NYC. How's that for a location which itself has a delightful background as shown by flashback. And such a floor in such a building really does exist in NYC!!!
Craig finds himself uncontrollably attracted to his colleague, the sexy Maxine. He tells this plainly to her. She too plainly refuses the offer. With things looking a bit ok at home, Craig hopelessly tries for a chance to screw Maxine. While idling around in his office, Craig stumbles upon an opening on the wall, kind of portal, behind a huge filing cabinet, that appears hidden from everyone. Curious, Craig goes in screaming into - the brain of John Horatio Malkovich(John Gavin Malkovich)!!!. Craig can feel himself inside Malkovich. Malkovich does not know this. He is like a vegetable. After 15 minutes Craig finds himself out of Malkovich' s system and by the side of a dumpster. Craig, exhilarated by the experience, tells and shows the portal to Maxine, who though doesn't take the plunge, sees an opening for both. They place an ad in the paper of 200$ for 15 minutes of being john malkovich using the portal in their own office.
People queue up in flocks. Most of them are the everyday guys. Another blow by Charlie, we are obsessed with celebrities, their riches and their lifestyle. We feel liberated reading about them and given a chance we would sure want to be like them, if not them. So Maxine and Craig hit pay dirt. Craig, overcome by emotions, tells about this to Lotte and asks her to take the plunge which she readily agrees. Before diving in Craig introduces Lotte to Maxine and Lotte dives in, giggles, chuckles and feels at home. When she comes out, she is desperate to go for another ride but Craig refuses. Does everything looks alright for Craig? Not at all.
Craig asks Maxine if he could screw her now. She says only if he was John Malkovich. Another blow - people don't want to love a nobody. That tips him off and he asks her to go on a real date with the real John Malkovich when Craig plans to arrive into John. And so, they go out on a date. And Malkovich is really smitten by her. Craig arrives in him. They go to John's place. John and Craig wildly make out with her. Craig is filled with ecstasy. Craig and Maxine keep doing this and once Lotte asks for another dive. Reluctantly Craig agrees. So Lotte's goes into John on a date with Maxine. They again make out but this time Maxine enjoys it all the more. As Lotte comes out, she tells Craig she finally found her true self, that she is in fact a man in woman's body and she and Maxine love each other and she is for a sex change. Craig, stunned, lashes out at Maxine who simply chucks him away. Maxine starts to frequently go on dates with John and calls Lotte. to get into John. Maxine and Lotte love it.
Hurt and angry, Craig devises a cunning plan in his bid to get back Maxine. During one of Lotte's rendezvous, Craig locks her up in the cage with the animals and he goes in for John that night. Maxine doesn't realize it. Craig, so angry, as they make out, does not want to come out of John. He sees it is finally possible to control John completely. But John undergoes wild sensations in his body and says weird things. Craig jumps out of John. Paranoid, John smacks Maxine for the truth. Malkovich tails Maxine and finally finds out the horrible business being run by Maxine and Craig. So Malkovich lines up in queue to go inside himself!!! Which he does in fact and what happens then is beyond imagination.
John comes out and is scared and hopping mad by what he has just seen. Meanwhile Craig plans for another night. Maxine expects Lotte, who has got off the clutches and goes to Dr.Lester for help. Craig goes in, makes out with Maxine, who now knows it is Craig and not Lotte. Dr.Lester finally reveals the ugly truth. He introduces her to a lot of very old people and tells they all are more than a hundred years old and the reason they all are alive is because of the portal. They have been jumping from one vessel to another vessel all this time. Another blow, people in general are afraid of old age and death. John is their vessel now to stay alive and that he has matured and they would have to go in on John's 44th birthday. Lotte tells him Craig has now taken over John completely. Lester and his oldies look terribly worried.
Craig, now in John's body, convinces Maxine to get married to him. Craig decides to use John's popularity as an actor to pursue his dream - puppetry. Craig makes John change his profession which stuns the world. But he stuns the world too with his dazzling puppetry and literally reinventing the art. He achieves fame and fortune. Craig's soul finally seems to be at peace. Maxine is now pregnant, but is drawn away from Craig/John and she thinks more and more of Lotte. Craig senses thid distance and as John's 44th birthday draws close, Dr.Lester with Lotte captures Maxine and threatens Craig to kill Maxine if he doesn't leave John's body. Craig refuses. Lotte and Maxine reconcile, embrace, dive together into the portal and come out. Maxine reveals to Lotte the child was conceived when she was inside John and not Craig. They decide to live together. Another blow, real love can't be stopped. Craig left alone now finally decides to leave John and is back to being a nobody. Just when John feels he is back to his own self ,all the oldies enter into John and take over him as they wait for their next vessel. Seeing Maxine and Lotte's love, Craig once again decides to go into John and make Maxine love her once again.
What happens next is like a thunderbolt. It is so bittersweet and ironic just like our lives and yet so creative and logical that when all the pieces add up that the end result is like a sumptous, delightful meal. The movie is like pandora's box. You can't guess what's coming at any minute but everytime you will feel that had to come but only after you have seen it. The ending left me exhausted and scratching my head but eventually I was supremely satisfied by what was on offer. The magic of the movie is in the hands of Charlie and director Spike Jonze who never overdoes any of the numerous twists and turns, though it would have extremely tempting nonetheless. All the actors carry their vision superbly.
For sheer originality, do yourself a favour and watch it.
Till next time - movies, movies and movies...
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