ED WOOD
A film review by David Cowen
Copyright 1994 David Cowen
Back when I was in high school I used to sit down in the basement watching TV late at night, hoping I'd find something bizarre or entertaining to watch. I'd flip through the channels seeing the same kind of banal fare typical of late-night TV ... but occasionally, flipping past PBS, something magical would happen--I'd flip to Glen or Glenda, Ed Wood's first film about cross-dressing, and spend the evening laughing and marveling as to where such a goofy piece of celluloid might come from. Now, years later I get the answer, in the form of a brilliantly crafted film by Tim Burton.
Ed Wood, a struggling studio worker in Hollywood, has bigger dreams--to write, direct, star in and produce his own film, just like his idol, Orson Welles. When Ed finds out a docudrama about cross-dressing is being made by a B-film company called "Screen Classics", he phones up the head of the "studio" and tells him that he's more qualified than anyone in town to make the film. His "special" qualification? Having an affinity for his girlfriend's angora sweaters.
Eventually, Ed gets the job, produces Glen or Glenda, and begins working on a string of horrendously bad pictures (the film examines the production of two more, the classic BRIDE OF THE MONSTER and PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE) with an amazing amount of vigor and passion for his ... "art"--never before have I seen such unbridled enthusiasm for stilted dialogue, cardboard set pieces, and fake octopii. The film also explores Wood's friendship with Bela Lugosi, star of DRACULA, as he tries to make a former screen great a big star again ... even when that screen great dies before the production of the film.
Tim Burton could have done a straight biopic, documenting Woods "fall" into bad monster/nudie films (the abysmal ORGY OF THE DEAD is a standout), but instead Burton portrays Wood as enthusiastic, artistic, and full of life--a true believer in his films, as opposed to just a bored B-movie director. Wood's enthusiasm is radiated from Johnny Depp, who with wild-eyes and a big-toothed (yet somewhat maligned) smile makes even the worst of Wood's dialogue echo with poignancy--believe it or not.
The attention to detail is outstanding--I was lucky enough to catch BRIDE OF THE MONSTER on TV the night before, and except for a few minor differences, Burton went to a lot of trouble to capture the look and feel of the movie--and the actors deliver the lines with the same sort of stuttered bad-acting flair as in the originals. I felt I was getting a real look behind the sets. The entire film feels like it was directed by Wood himself, with extra-long establishing shots, the grey-and-white film stock, the lack of music except in points of highest schmaltz ... and at the theatre I was at, the frequent projector problems made it all the more realistic--the matte was set too high, so every time a boom mike got in the shot, there were squeals of laughter and applause.
Out of 10: 8. I haven't had this much fun at a movie in a long time. ED WOOD is funny, passionate, and if you've ever seen any of Ed Wood's work it'll be amazing to see how it was made. ED WOOD is a must-see for any self-proclaimed fan of bad cinema, or movies in general.
esch@fische.com (Eschatfische!) -------------------------- http://execpc.com/~esch/home.html
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