☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Rumble
Fish (1983) – F. F. Coppola
As
a fully impressionistic picture that lets style dominate substance, Rumble Fish
works. It’s evocative of a time and
place (where and when are not clear) and a social dynamic – the young tough
kids (possibly from broken homes) who want to belong (to a gang) and want to
follow a leader and the trouble they get into.
I was surprised at how Coppola went full art-house here but I suppose
this is only four years after Apocalypse Now which certainly was a high
watermark for stylish indulgence. In
this film, the B&W cinematography is beautiful, as are the players it
records (Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, Nicolas Cage, Mickey Rourke) and there are
plenty of dramatic set-pieces, plenty of amazing shots. Tom Waits and Dennis
Hopper drop by to be photographed (in character, their characters). Sure, the
plot doesn’t quite add up – we don’t really get to understand why all the kids
look up to Motorcycle Boy (Rourke) or why the adults (and he himself) think he
is insane – but as a series of moments that create a sensual feeling (perhaps
for Coppola, a nostalgic feeling), it did it for me. Perhaps you have to be in the right mood,
ready for the mood it creates, ready to follow Matt Dillon’s emptiness yearning
to be filled, ready to be perplexed at his adoration of Mickey Rourke, wishing
he did right by Diane Lane. I just let
it wash over me.
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