Norman Jewison: Commercial Success, Critical Failure An Honors Thesi s (1 D c199) by Ant.hnny L. Beeson Thes is Di reel.or Hall SUit.e Univprsit:,,- ('lune i e ,I nd i ana February, 1987 f'>...;pec\.pd dat(~ of graduation: >Ja;.- 19M! Sc '2.0 \! ·1 ' ... 1he.:;i:J L.D .. d\J·f2;'( I ;;';;"1 I QS7 , BJ.f4 Table of Contents In t roduc~ T i. on .. Commen t a 1':'>- on: F. i . ;:-; . r ..... 6 .And Jusr.icp for Ai ] 0 1:2 T h p f 0 \J r f, Lm s j n rom par j s r' n . l ;) Jewison as a riirertor. 1 I Cone 1 us jon .•.• 1 H R i. hI i og raph:v •. I~ Introduction The f ~ I m s () f '\ 0 r man J tCO~'; i son are a stu d :.~ 1 n C Cl n t nl s t s . h 11 i ] e r-tlmost Cill of t.he fi Ims in Ci (1irr>ctin!:!, car'eer hhi('h t)(~gan In 1::lt:i2 hCi n=~ been successful, thpy ha\e alsn bf~en (-h('> c.;llh.)(·et ni neg;-lt \\-P, !'-.()met JOlt'S revIews from film C I' j t. I rs . for I-',pst J) reet.or, In the Heat Flddler' un tl:e h'o(~f, oid not go unsC'athpd. ( Fin I p r, 2 (i ( - 2 () 8 i (,\1 0 cit z, 1 H b - j 9 j ) fn the se(' t -j ons on :.. 0 r m Ci 'I ,J e his () n in the I ~1 i-~; e d i T. i () n 0 j hCit·]PS \io r i t. z • Joel F j J I.L e j' '~ ThE-> in the ilm revipws In the hibil0g- ra[lh~- al' the eno of tllis papPI' • one theme surfaces aga i Jl aWl again: \ornan tee h n i cal 1 ~l pro fie i p nt, '1 t tim f: s b r i I - 1 ian t, but his f i ! m S 0 \. t:'" r' s j m nil r,'t the i r' SUb,jP(,T maLt.f~j', reducing theIr sO('lHl significance. Rearing- this in mind ,he signifirnnce of Norm8n ,Jeh'lson and four of his Jl:OSt. recent fiLms. make no (' i aims of possess i ng tp{~hn i ea I expel't.i se in 1 he [1 rea of fi 1m, Rm s i mr i,'t- Fl freC]llPfl t. mel\-l e-goer. 1n Toronto, lie hegR11 his a sc-ri pT h-ri t.Fr and He'tor t. 0 p r n ri u (, e variet.y ShOhS tllr the anad 1811 Hroad('ast.l ng (:()rpor- at.ion. His pro\.;pss as a riir'f"c-toJ' jandf~rl him F1 hhpre he 'tour Hit H];d st'veral val'i p t~c shows \.;i t h as Harry 2 Garland, Danny Kaye, and Jackie Gleason. In 1962 Jel-lison directed his first theatrical film, 40 Pounds of Trouble. From there he has gone on to direct fifteen more films including: The Cincinnati Kid, The Russians arc Coming, tte Russians are Coming, The Thomas Crol-ln Affair, Jesus Agnes of God, and the four films which are the subject of this paper. (Finlor, 207-208) (Moritz, 188-191) 3 Rollerballc Rollerball is a postulation of a future world with style, but no substance. A world run not by multi-national corporations, for there are no nations, but by an all-powerful coalition of corporations known as the "Majors:" transportation, food, energy, etc. The future world is a Vtopia. War, pc,verty, sickness, all ills of society have been eliminated, but at the cost of individual freedom. "All it (the majors) asl~s of anyone ... is not to interfere with management decisions." Thus, when the game's greatest star, Johnathon E., refuses to retire and begins questioning management's decision making process, a showdown is set up between the corporation and the individual. As tte film progresses the dark underside of the corporation lS revealed. For example, it is discovered that Johnathon's first wife was taken from him by a jealous executive. In another example an executive at a party given in Johnathon's honor h'"hispers to another executive that "Evans is out." This offhand remark further illustrates the ability of the corporation to crush individuals. It is never revealed what Evans' crime was, or what he did wrong (if anything at all), the point is clear, individuals do not matter in this totalitarian regime. Utopian pleasure is purchased for the cost of individual freedom. At the party mentioned earlier an odd assortment of revelers leave the party in search of excitement. In what I consider the film's best scene, the decadent mob descends on a row of pine trees (a symbol of liberty) and jubilantly attack the trees Hith 4 a flame-thro~ing pistol. The mob is clearly representative of the corporation, destroying everything in their path, anything natural, singular, or individually beautiful. The film's focal point and central metaphor is the game of rollerball itself. The corporate leaders have designed the game not merely for amusement, to continually reinforce the message of the futility of individual effort. The players are meant only to represent cogs in a machine, cogs that are very easily rer:laced. t\evertheless, Johna thon E. emerges as a ,. star, .. an unanticipated symbol of the possibility of individual success. To further accentuate the unimportance of the individual theme, director Norman Jewison shot the film against a sleek, ultramodern backdrop. All of the corporate offices look the same; spacious and c lear l~- lit with straight lines and gently sloping curves. The buildings are stately and magnificent, yet they are permeated with an odd dehumanizing aura. t\orman Jewison also uses various, more subtle, directing skills to create the proper mood for the film. Jewison's choice of architecture has already been mentioned, but his choice of lighting coincides with the architecture to create the overall effect. For instance, the office buildings and interiors are all extremely well lit. Combined with the smooth architecture, the lighting creates a cold, foreboding atmosphere. ;--lr. Bartholomew's office, as an example, is very bright, but not the least bit cheerful. As a contrast the rollerball track and arena are very dark with lots of shado~s. The track takes on a very primitIve appearance. r t. lsi 1 t e rail;.' a pIt.. "los t of fi 1m 1 S n () t qui t e s h a r p () r (~i ear 1;.- f 0 c U s p ri . T h 1 s t. f' n d ~, 1 () g i vet h (' f i 1 m CJllR j 1 t y pmpha s i 7: i ng t IH~ film's nigi1Lmarp ,'lsion of the future. In the end inrli\'idualism triumphs. •J 0 h lW tho n. 1,-.' i i h t h p h;l I I r a i sed h i g h, p () i s pdt. () s t r i k Fan rl k ill n t'i n a lop P 0 n f' n t reaii7F'S hm,' insane the sit.uat.ion has bp('ome, \\'hnt he has about tn do h'FlS not part of anvthing resemhling sport. He ]paves his countf'J'pRrt behind anc uses the bali for' i t. sin tt~ n rl p d purpose, t.o score :\ goa I. The c h a 111 p i () nth ens I.. a t p S B r n 11 n d the t r a (' k t () t h c· c h 0 r U S (0 t' fans chant:tng his name. r n t.he fi na I frames, he i s sh()~"n out 0 f focus, an :t nd i \'j dUB t h t ul'red r'ecogn i t i on , ,,,h i ('h is t.h e film's theme Bnrl wR1'ning. One OJ t.he major (' r' i t j (' ism S 0 f the f i I m h' 0 I t e r h B j j 1."', U, :1 t Obviousl;;:, this is not. "ih n t "i 0 ]'mlUl .J PW j son had in mind. Thp problf.,m is not. thRt· t.lle ti 1m ('on1.Rins violence, but the spor1s contt>:~t in \-'tlich the \'iCllenc~i' h'8S fj lmf"(j and the desensitiy.atlon t. () violpnce tha t cnntarni na.tl'·s contempOf'Hry filmgoers. A !", a >; p () rl s fan haVE' ] i 1e1'B l 1 ,Ii t.h()\lsanos of inc ide n t s () f "i () 1 en C Pin S i) () l' tin g e v p n t s . Somp of them ha\'t' h"PIl quite spvprp. In addit.ion, grelv up in R g e n I" r R t j \J n "h i c- h S R \J t.he r'isp () f the most violent te1p\1S1011 IH'()grRms in the hist,ory J)(~at.hs in thpse shoh's ~ere r () 11 t.i rH" a n rl effect, is a numbi ng t;)h'?rds the d(~at.h or a ",ielpn" character'. \'isual irna~(p n f asp () r t s 0 ~ 1 (' I, e 11 i n g ] y v i () J e n t r: hat. the au die n (' p \-.IOU 1 d llP turned off.