{"id":7332,"date":"2013-12-12T16:46:49","date_gmt":"2013-12-12T21:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=7332"},"modified":"2013-12-12T16:46:49","modified_gmt":"2013-12-12T21:46:49","slug":"br-body-double-1984","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=7332","title":{"rendered":"BR: Body Double (1984)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to: <\/strong>Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>B<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Film: Very Good\/ BR Transfer: Excellent\/ BR Extras: Very Good<\/p>\n

Label: Twilight Time\/ Region: All \/\u00a0Released: August 13, 2013<\/p>\n

Genre: Mystery \/ Suspense<\/p>\n

Synopsis: A two-bit actor becomes a pawn in a jealous husband’s elaborate murder scheme in this stylized riff on Hitchcock romance-thrillers.<\/p>\n

Special Features: \u00a0Isolated Stereo Score Track \/ Four 2006 making-of featurettes: \u201cThe Seduction\u201d + \u201cThe Set-Up\u201d + \u201cThe Mystery\u201d + \u201cThe Controversy\u201d \/ 8-page colour booklet with liner notes by Film Historian Julie Kirgo \/ Limited to 3000 copies \/ Available exclusively from Screen Archives Entertainment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

With Dario Argento having successfully spliced plot devices from a multitude of Alfred Hitchcock films in his clever homage Do You Like Hitchcock?<\/a><\/strong> (2005) it\u2019s kind of unfair to carry on with the critical derision heaped upon Body Double<\/strong>, the nearly 30-year old Hitchcock mash-up which Brian De Palma describes as a \u201cmeditation on Vertigo<\/strong>.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Known as a Hitchcock appropriator (and by some, a thief), there\u2019s no denying that within the plot globs that make up the tale of a struggling actor conned into becoming the perfect alibi for a vicious spousal killing, De Palma pulled off some extraordinary sequences \u2013 especially a lengthy mall chase where claustrophobe Jake (Craig Wasson) stalks wealthy socialite Gloria Revelle (Dallas<\/strong>\u2019 Deborah Shelton) in competition with her soon-to-be killer, \u2018the Indian.\u2019<\/p>\n

Not unlike Vertigo <\/strong>(1958), De Palma has Jake follow Revelle throughout the city, allowing for ballet of smooth camera movements set to Pino Donaggio\u2019s rhapsodic score, with the cinematography often exploiting the bright sunlight to create razor-sharp images with sometimes explosive colours \u2013 not oversaturated, but robust, glossy, and slick like a magazine ad.<\/p>\n

In tandem with the mall sequence is a beach scene where Jake watches Revelle as she stands by the railing of a modest apartment. The building’s stepped terraces recall late fifties \/ early sixties terrace designs, and allow De Palma to create another link to Hitchcock\u2019s classic romance-thriller in which one man\u2019s obsession is exploited by a crafty manipulative weasel through retro architecture.<\/p>\n

Like Psycho<\/strong> (1960), the murder is shockingly brutal, yet in spite of having pushed screen violence further in his prior film, Scarface <\/strong>(1983), De Palma scaled back details to a handful of suggestive shots, leaving it up to the audience to fill in the gruesomeness of Gloria\u2019s death by massive (and ridiculously phallic) drill bit.<\/p>\n

When Jake realizes he was played for a fool, with the aide of porn queen Holly Body (Melanie Griffith) he attempts to piece together plot twists and loose ends, including the identity of the killer, and suspicions of his new best buddy \/ fellow struggling actor Sam (Gregg Henry).<\/p>\n

The ending wraps up a little too neat, but there are strong scenes which gave Griffiths important opportunities to show off her subtle acting chops, elevating the actress from small roles to eventually leading lady. In the making-of featurettes, Griffiths and De Palma separately discuss the research and determination to avoid making Holly a cartoon clich\u00e9, and she\u2019s easily the film\u2019s most memorable character, being savvy, sharp-witted, and empathetic.<\/p>\n

Wasson plays Jake as a man in constant puzzlement, and it works for a character trapped in an extended situation where reality evokes cinema, and his career between reality and absurd cinematic realities (namely a vampire in a teasing, ridiculous schlock film directed by Dennis Franz, who admits in one of the featurettes to aping De Palma, right down to the director’s green jacket). The film-within-a-film device is frequently exploited by De Palma \u2013 the opening sequence and De Palma\u2019s frozen moment of fantasy near the end are brilliantly executed \u2013 and it\u2019s that fuzzing of realities within a filmmaking backdrop that often inspires the director to write some of his best work (which, like it or not, includes Femme Fatale<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Twilight Time\u2019s sourced a gorgeous transfer, and the uncompressed sound really brings out the beauty of Donaggio\u2019s score, especially the loveliest main theme of his career which plays over the Main Titles sequence that precedes Jake\u2019s cuckolding. Even the Frankie Goes to Hollywood music video \/ porn film-within-a-film sequence booms from the speakers, and adds to the movie\u2019s delicious sleaze value.<\/p>\n

Within De Palma\u2019s C.V., this is still a frustrating work \u2013 the elliptical camera movements during Jake and Gloria\u2019s epic kiss scene by the beach doesn\u2019t work whatsoever, and Shelton\u2019s dubbed faux French voice sounds awful \u2013 but as a guilty, stylishly rendered trash, it\u2019s all good. Ported over are all of the featurettes from Sony\u2019s 2006 DVD, leaving little doubt this Blu-ray will sell out fast. Kudos to Twilight Time for snatching up a title which Sony felt had little market appeal beyond the collector and De Palma fan bases.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2013 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References<\/em>:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Vendor Search Links:<\/em><\/p>\n

Amazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a>\"\" \"\"—New movie releases on iTunes<\/a>\"\"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0B<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to: Home \/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews \/ B . Film: Very Good\/ BR Transfer: Excellent\/ BR Extras: Very Good Label: Twilight Time\/ Region: All \/\u00a0Released: August 13, 2013 Genre: Mystery \/ Suspense Synopsis: A two-bit actor becomes a pawn in a jealous husband’s elaborate murder scheme in this stylized riff on Hitchcock romance-thrillers. Special […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"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":[18],"tags":[2373,2024,1674],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1Ug","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7332"}],"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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7332"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7344,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7332\/revisions\/7344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}