JohnDoe
Bryn
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Fat City (1972) - Footage Included
Poster for Fat City - Available on DVD in the U.S.
Director: John Huston
Starring: Stacy Keach, Jeff Bridges,Susan Tyrell, Curtis Cokes, Candy Clark, Nicholas Colasanto
Few filmmakers have consistently rewarded viewers with such unsentimental and honest depictions of fringe dwelling life as Writer/Actor/Director John Huston. Going through the man’s filmography it is impossible to site a definitive “favourite”. Right from his directorial debut The Maltese Falcon all the way to his final entry The Dead there is an understanding of cinematic language that transcends genre.
Part of the pleasure to be found in all Houston’s films is the outcast character eccentricities that allow for interpretation. Enabling even the briefest of screen times, the smallest of roles to tattoo on the psyche. At 64 years old his adaptation of Leonard Gardner’s boxing novel Fat City is a triumphant example of his strengths and why many film lovers consider the 1970’s to be the pinnacle of personal cinematic expression.
This is not the story of the victors, nor is it a tale of the loser who gets one last shot at redemption. Fat City exists in a microcosm of failed dreams inhabited by people struggling for fleeting moments of happiness that their world refuses to yield.
Set in the decrepit town of Stockton, California, Tully (Stacy Keach) is an alcoholic has been at 30. A boxer who briefly let himself believe that he was exceptional, but has now surrendered to the bottle. As the film begins he is waking up from his crippled slumber and to the neediness of Kris Kristofferson “Help Me Make it Through The Night” wanders down to the gym in hopes of getting in shape.
Starting his workout he spars with 18 year old Ernie (Jeff Bridges), a young, athletic and handsome teen with a gift for throwing hands. Though disconnected they are reflections of each other. Ernie is optimistic with potential, while Tully is destined to defeat in life and the ring.
Stacy keach giving it all in the ring.
John Doe says:
Jeff Bridges and Stacy Keach isolated from empathy.
The sweaty, desperate atmosphere of disillusioned reality permeates like a dog whose chain leaves him only inches from being able to lap up the food in the bowl. Conrad Hall’s (The Godfather) unglamorous; skid row cinematography, the laconic pacing and unmanufactured performances go beyond naturalistic.
The fight scenes are sloppy to look at, ugly and painful displays of staged aggression that perfectly capture the nuance of the films deeper themes. Glamour free, the lack of coordination and dancing footwork dazzles in a way that only the bravest of filmmakers can even attempt, let alone achieve.
In his personal and professional life John Huston had a reputation for being adversarial. For single minded determination and a destructive streak that often saw him accomplish his goals at a cost to himself and those caught in his maelstrom of troubled creativity. These traits go a long way to explaining his profound understanding of the characters he bought to screen. The production of Fat City benefited from these foibles and importantly made him refuse to take the easy choice, or try to force sympathy.
The script is loyal to the source novel and the dialogue has an inebriated vitality. A stumbling poetry that dwells in the negativity of its subject gives the actors opportunities that are seldom seen today.
Performances that take the gloves off of self conscious emotion can be seen in every cast member. Adding to the effect, the majority of the supporting players are former boxers including Curtis Cokes.
The role of Tully was originally intended for Brando but his procrastination frustrated Huston. Stacy Keach (Up In Smoke, The Squeeze) was a virtual unknown when he took on the part of the expired brawler and though the king of the method would have inhabited the role, there is no denying Keach goes the distance. Delivering arguably the performance of his career with compelling tragedy, making Tully’s combat of loneliness and detachment from society completely convincing.
Jeff Bridges (Cutter’s Way, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot) was in his early twenties when he played the unscarred Ernie. Having just earned an Oscar nomination for The Last Picture Show a year earlier, in Fat City we get to see the early evolution of a respected thespian. Ernie is cocky but not arrogant, naïve but not stupid and by the end we see the beginnings of a jaded personality emerge and Bridges communicates it all with an ease of temperament. The final uncomfortable moments between him and Keach can only be described as sublime ambiguity.
Keach and Tyrell convey the desperation of loneliness.
For John Doe, Fat City ducks and weaves around the boxing movie clichés by avoiding simplification to engage entirely. The subtle gestures of the cast, the refined minimalism of the crews work mean that at some stage it stops being a story of make believe. This is cinema to be watched repeatedly without getting stale, not because of complex plotting but delicately tapped characterizations that demand introspective reevaluation.
An effective little series of clips from the Fat City set to Lucinda Williams tune Southern Comfort.
Horrorphile
I was luck to see this on the big screen as part of a Huston retro, along with Wiseblood (my personal Huston fave).
Screen Adventure
Horrorphile
Screen Adventure
Screen Fanatic
Film & TV on DVD
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Hi Shaun,
i loved The Misfits too...but the man has so much gold I can't site a stand alone fave...a few that are contenders are certainly Treasure of Sierra Madre, The Kremlin Letters, The List of Adrian Messenger, Ashphalt Jungle, Prizzi's Honor, The Man Who Would Be King...fuck it, just to much gold
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Glad to bring this back into the limelight for you David.
certainly a film you will appreciate and Wiseblood is too.
Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
Film & TV on DVD
It really is an under discussed gem in the mighty Huston cannon.