{"id":3413,"date":"2011-08-16T01:27:15","date_gmt":"2011-08-16T05:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mondomark.com\/wordpress\/?p=2299"},"modified":"2011-08-16T01:27:15","modified_gmt":"2011-08-16T05:27:15","slug":"and-justice-for-all-the-films-of-norman-jewison-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3413","title":{"rendered":"And Justice for All: The Films of Norman Jewison, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>The TIFF Bell Lightbox has been screening several Norman Jewison films as part of a career retrospective, which I believe began sometime in July, though I can\u2019t confirm it\u2019s starting date because the TBL\u2019s website is still kind of a\u00a0mess <\/a>of images, bold headers, vague teaser text and thin rectangles, all courtesy of the first graduate to emerge from The Ontario College of Discombobulated & Impractical Art & Design.<\/p>\n

With TIFF approaching in less than 3 weeks, it seems unlikely a proper site overhaul will happen soon \u2013 last year\u2019s tweak at least displays current daily shows \u2013 so maybe the TBL will consider placing a link to an easy-breezy, downloadble version of its mini programme book as a PDF file. Seriously, think about it, because after a year, the site\u2019s still a navigable mess.<\/p>\n

Moving on.<\/p>\n

To some, Norman Jewison is\u00a0a controversial figure, not because he\u2019s raised the ire of rogue Asian turnip wranglers\u00a0or done something rash (like buying up the patent for drought-resistant kudzu berries), but because he\u2019s consistently being lauded as a master filmmaker when his canon features a mixed bag of classics, and not-so-great movies.<\/p>\n

The good news? Unlike a Paul Gross production, tax payers didn\u2019t fund the duds (in whole, at least), but there is that issue where parts of the Canadian media keep lauding the same filmmakers either because they genuinely love them, or feel the need to boost the same native talent because it’s easy.<\/p>\n

My take: for Jewison, like any filmmaker,\u00a0some projectss clicked and some didn\u2019t, and in any lengthy career the odds of making\u00a0a dud or misfire are pretty good.\u00a0Just count the good and the bad in Sidney Lumet\u2019s canon.<\/p>\n

Lumet, like Jewison,\u00a0started in live TV, worked his way up until he moved to feature films, made critical successes during the sixties and early seventies, and began to diverge into other genres which may not have yielded the best results (like The Wiz<\/strong>. And The Wiz<\/strong>. And maybe The Wiz<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

NOW Magazine\u2019s Norman Wilner opines <\/a>that Jewison\u2019s reliance on A-level actors has become a crutch: talent is strategically used to\u00a0overshadow flawed scripts, and distract audiences from undercooked scenes or characters – a problem affecting everything after 1985′s Agnes of God<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

That could be true, but the ire isn\u2019t about Jewison ingratiating himself \u2013 ultimately, he just makes movies (and would like to make another, if investors are willing) \u2013 but of certain official media factions who feel obliged \/ are ordered to fawn and vaunt the handful of cultural icons that have achieved great success south of the border and internationally.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the media taking on an assumed role of reminding us \u2018Yes, we have a culture,\u2019 and using the same names because they\u2019re easy to remember and haven\u2019t fallen from grace or died young after making a just two films, like Jean-Claude Lauzon.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the symbiotic relationship between TIFF, Jewison, and his Canadian Film Centre: of course <\/em>the TBL would launch a Norman Jewison tribute, because his graduates are active in the industry, and he holds a BBQ at his ranch during TIFF for epic schmoozing.<\/p>\n

For critics of the current retrospective, here\u2019s one positive point: they can\u2019t do it again<\/em> (unless it\u2019s some post-mortem thing).<\/p>\n

Secondly, by addressing Jewison\u2019s canon within the TBL\u2019s first year of operation, they appease the narrow-minded media contingent, his ardent fans,\u00a0and can now focus on other Canadians<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m in the process of working on a chapter for a book regarding Canadian horror films, and part of my print resources includes a few guidebooks of native films, many of which I didn\u2019t know existed.<\/p>\n

We made silents? Yes<\/em>. We made indie films in Toronto? Yes\u2026 kind of<\/em>. Quebec has a movie industry? Of course it does<\/em>, snapperhead.<\/p>\n

Which is why dealing with Jewison right now is perfect. It paves the way for other filmmaker retros, limited engagements,\u00a0and screenings of restored & archival prints of our lesser known & forgotten film culture, \u00a0good or bad.<\/p>\n

The tragedy is if the TBL misses this opportunity, and focuses exclusively on international film culture.\u00a0We have archives and film preservationists who have things to show and tell. Please give them some due attention.<\/p>\n

Back to Jewison.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The first of this two-part piece focuses on the film that established his stature in the\u00a0industry: In the Heat of the Night<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] (1967), which earned a Best Film Oscar, and a best Director nomination.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still a solid statement on race relations, and at the end of the review I\u2019ve added a streaming video link to an interview the late Elwy Yost conducted with Stirling Silliphant, the Oscar-winning screenwriter who adapted John Ball’s novel so beautifully for the screen.<\/p>\n

The TBL\u2019s print used for Sunday\u2019s screening was in decent shape, and the house seemed to be almost full, perhaps due to the audience\u2019s fondness for the film, a need to see it on the big screen (that’s my reason, particularly with Quincy Jones\u2019 superb score), or maybe catching the intro with Clement Virgo, one of the CFC\u2019s early graduates.<\/p>\n

After a few personal thoughts,Virgo\u00a0soon brought out Jewison himself, and for those unable to attend the screening,\u00a0I’ve uploaded an extract<\/a> from the intro, as a little multimedia bonus.<\/p>\n

In Part II, to appear later this week, I\u2019ll have a review of The Thomas Crown Affair<\/strong> (1968), which featured his reunion with ace cinematographer Haskell Wexler, and a zippy-trippy jazz score by Michel Legrand.<\/p>\n

The screening of this classic happens this Wednesday, 8:45pm<\/a>, at the TBL.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark R. Hasan<\/strong>, Editor
\nKQEK.com <\/strong>( Main Site<\/a> \/ Mobile Site<\/a> \/ Facebook <\/a>\/ Twitter<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Blog on the latest Norman Jewison retrospective at the TIF Bell Lightbox, with a review of his Oscar-winning hit In the Heat of the Night (1967), and multimedia links…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[6,4],"tags":[654,139,656,655,658],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-T3","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}