FILM TITLE: LEAVING LAS VEGAS DIRECTOR: MIKE FIGGIS COUNTRY: USA 1995 CINEMATOGRAPHY: DEDAM QUINN MUSIC: MIKE FIGGIS CAST: Nicholas Cage, Elizabeth Shue SUPER FEATURES: The acting
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
American films have never been known for one man films. The "auteur", as it is called in the media, is the type that has defined film history, with its eccentric directors, who wrote their own material, and defined an art form with it.
Hollywood, has defined the art of entertainment, or better explained, the art of figuring out how to make money regardless of what it is that is being done. The nice thing about this is that the technical elements in this genre are always getting better. The bad thing is that it really hurts in the development of the art form, beyond any kind of standard which says "give them what they want". Thus American arts have not been defined by their content, but how much they earn. Needless to say, there is another side to this whole story, that is finally making a serious move, away from the studio controlled delivered machines.
Today, more independent films are made and earn decent honors that it may, yet, change the quality of the film making, from a money making thing, to a more literary, and artistic, point of view.
And it takes one man shows, like this film, LEAVING LAS VEGAS, to bring it about. Watching this movie, is like going to your local theatre, and discover that this time, they DID do a great job, and they deserve some serious consideration. And if the credit is not given to the two actors that pull it off, at least quite a bit of it needs to go to the man who directed, who pretty much wrote the whole thing himself, and created his own music for the film.
Nothing fancy, nothing showy, just solid quality work.
And it is the two actors here, that just about cook the heck out of this film, and its inherent sadness. It is riveting, and worth every claim and award it is earning. This is what it is all about, and it all means. This is the power that the art form can have, to create literature, rather than entertainment. And this is what the history of film teaches us at every school. Hollywood, has rarely been on the map for its artistic successes.
This is the story of a failed film writer that pretty much has turned away from life, and decided to drink himself down the drain. And in doing so, he meets a prostitute, that pretty much falls in love with him in Las Vegas, who becomes dependent on him, for learning and leaning, when things do not go quite right for herself. The sad part, is that, no matter how much she tries, she is not capable of changing this man, and save him. She has come to understand that changing what is already set and done, is beyond the realm of her ability, and human desire for that matter. And in the one moment, when the love between the two is finally demonstrated in the physical way that they have wished for, but hasn't happened, he finally gets his wish. She is left, hung out to dry, with a therapist, which has been a going thing through out the film, which at first is hard to understand and figure out, but becomes clear in the end.
It is a well written story, and very well defined in its design, and how to carry it out. And a lot of credit goes to the two leading actors that just shine all the way through, showing us, that there are actors in this country that can hold their own to the famed West End style of depth in acting. This film, is an amazing evening, of what acting can be, but is rarely, in much of the arts in this country. What a great thing this is, and hope, for the many, who try, but get washed by a machine that rarely cares about acting, but for the sake of making money. Nicholas Cage had been advised not to do this film, and he sticks to his feelings, and wishes, and ends up proving that what he is capable of doing, at least in film, is something that most actors would dream that they had that ONE chance in their life to prove they could do it. In this case, they just grabbed fate by the throat, as the saying goes.
Superb film, even if it is a bit depressing. And deserving, in every way, of its awards. Excellently directed, with its subjective points of view.
4.5 GIBLOONS out of 5
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