Tim Burton still remains
to be probably my biggest pop cultural blind spot. This one marks sixth of his
film I have seen and 3 of them are from his last four. Almost everyone,
probably even those who love him, agree that lately his movies are only a sad
reminder of how great he once was. Engrossed completely in their own world,
they seem to have a very distinct look and feel to them but only seem to go
down in quality and all I have seen are these films during his decline.
Technically, I have seen Edward Scissorhands(1990) but it’s so long ago that practically all I remember are
glimpses of two scenes. So that leaves us with Big Fish(2003) which I only got to earlier last year. So I had to
start somewhere getting deeper into his filmography and I guessed Ed Wood would be as good a start as
any. It turns out I was right.
For those who do not know,
this film is about Edward D. Wood Jr., a legendary filmmaker in ‘50s, who has
become a legend for all the wrong reasons. Apparently he was termed ‘Worst
Director of all time’ in 80s but that only led to his resurgence many years
later and his almost iconic, cult-like status which I am assuming this movie as
well played some part in. But funny thing is, after watching this film, I can
almost understand why. I am sure his films will be a great watch with a group
where people can enjoy how bad they are. Film however, without hiding the fact
that he was a terrible director, paints Wood in all his eccentric glory but in
very personal way, in a very sympathetic light. Given the type of characters
that surround him, it would have been very easy to make them caricatures of
them rather than actual human beings. But Burton puts a lot of heart in all
these characters to make them likable. They are flawed, extremely weird and
even gothic but he finds a way to make them likable. I don’t know if Burton has
any ties to Wood or if he had any inclination towards him but he handles this
film with such genuine warmth, with such a personal touch that it is almost
impossible to imagine anyone else in his shoes doing it any better.
Edward D. Wood Jr didn’t
seem to care about the quality of his films as long as he gets to make them. It’s
almost as if his only target audience was he himself. It’s obvious that any
Tom, Dick and Harry would do a better job directing than this guy; even his
support crew had better sense of directing than him. But what made him stand
out was his passion, his unquenching desire for making movies however bad they
may be and his optimism. I don’t think there will be many people saying “Well,
My next one will be better” to a big studio executive when he tells you that your
film was the worst movie he ever saw. Not that he never had his moments of
doubts; on couple of occasions he does wonder what if he never can make it
big?, what if this is the best he can do? But surprisingly none of it derailed
him. Maybe ‘that’ is real passion.
Burton does a lot of things
right in Ed Wood. First and probably
the most important is making it such a personal film. Second, he shoots it in
glorious black and white. What it does personally is it makes me instantly fall
in love with its look. However more importantly, since it is suppose to take
place in 50s and Ed Wood made his films in black and white, it takes it closer
to their base material. I am not sure if color would have added anything to
this film. Thirdly, his casting is just perfect! Today, Johnny Depp in Tim
Burton film is a default choice but in ’94, it was just second collaboration
and there was no Helena Bonham Carter yet. But everyone down to minor
supporting roles in this film is so well casted and in return they repay their director
with such amazing performances that that it is almost impossible to imagine
anyone else in those roles.
Obviously, two main points
of focus in acting department will have to be Johnny Depp in the titular role
and Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi. It is a very typical role for Depp now but
there is much more to his role than it is visible just on surface and he brings
out those nuances beautifully. Credit for making Ed Wood such a personal story
and likable character despite all his quirks and stupidities goes to Depp’s acting
as much as it is to Burton’s direction. But the real star here is Martin
Landau. Admittedly, I haven’t seen him in a whole lot of films but the two I
remember him for are probably his biggest achievements and both are quite
monumental – this one and Crimes and Misdemeanours(1989). Landau is so amazing as Bela Lugosi that anyone can be
easily fooled to believe that it was actually Lugosi himself playing his own
role. He is so convincing that it is almost creepy. I was always sort of
disappointed by Samuel Jackson not winning an Oscar for his supporting role in Pulp Fiction(1994) but after seeing
this, I can take comfort in a fact that he at least lost to another equally
deserving performance. Any actor that can produce a look on his face such as
look on Landau’s face in rehab while paparazzi are taking his pictures and
utter desperation in his voice when he says “Let them” deserves every accolade he
gets.
Ed Wood made bad films and
he was extremely proud of it. I had not seen any of his films before but I
understand that the way Burton filmed them in this movie is almost exactly same
as they are in real films. And each and every one of them looks terrible but I
was drawn to it like a train wreck. I simply could not believe someone would
make movies like that. So I checked out Plan 9 from Outer Space(1959) just out of morbid curiosity and it’s an absolute sight
to behold. I have seen a lot of bad films (and I am not sure how to term one
film worst film made ever) but this one is so
bad, it’s not just good, it’s legendary. I pulled out almost half my hair.
I am not sure what I would’ve thought of Ed Wood if I had seen it before
watching it. Now that I am watching it afterwards, I am almost more appreciative
of Plan 9. I think that is indicative of Tim Burton being successful in
achieving everything he would have wanted to by this film. I am glad I started
this year’s series with such a personal film.
