The Mask (1994)

Regisseur:

Chuck Russell

Drehbuchautoren (WGA):

Michael Fallon (story) and
Mark Verheiden (story) ...

Premierendatum:

29. Juli 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Komödie | Krimi | Fantasy

Werbezeile:

From zero to hero

Plot:

Bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss is transformed into a manic super-hero when he wears a mysterious mask.

Plot Keywords:

Pantyhose | Police Officer | Landlord | Mockery | Imitation

Filmpreise:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 6 wins & 15 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

Incredible success when seen as a surrealistic cinematic pastiche

Besetzung

Jim Carrey	...	Stanley Ipkiss
Peter Riegert	...	Lt. Mitch Kellaway
Peter Greene	...	Dorian Tyrell
Amy Yasbeck	...	Peggy Brandt
Richard Jeni	...	Charlie Schumaker
Orestes Matacena	...	Niko
Tim Bagley	...	Irv Ripley
Nancy Fish	...	Mrs. Peenman
Johnny Williams	...	Burt Ripley
Reg E. Cathey	...	Freeze (as Reginald E. Cathey)
Jim Doughan	...	Detective Doyle
Denis Forest	...	Sweet Eddy
Cameron Diaz	...	Tina Carlyle
Joseph Alfieri	...	Police Officer
B.J. Barie	...	Alley Punk #1

Alternativ:

Jim Carreys Die Maske (Deutschland) (TV title) [de]
Maske, Die (Deutschland) [de]

Länge:

97 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Seitenverhältnis:

1.85 : 1

Tonverfahren:

DTS-Stereo | DTS

Altersfreigabe:

USA:TV-PG (edited tv version) | Iceland:12 | Brazil:Livre | UK:12 (DVD rating) | Argentina:Atp (original rating) | USA:PG (cut) | Ireland:12 | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:II | Japan:U | Netherlands:AL | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | Thailand:PD-14

Drehorte:

6th Street Viaduct, Los Angeles, California, USA

Firma:

Dark Horse Entertainment

Dies und das:

When The Mask goes to get revenge on the mechanics, the sign over the door reads "Ripley's Auto Finishing". The next day, when the mechanics are being taken out on stretchers, the sign had been vandalized, broken and painted, now reading 'Rip Off' on the two separated halves.

Pannen:

Crew oder Equipment sichtbar: When Milo the dog has the mask and a guy with long blonde hair is pulling his back legs, in two brief shots it's another guy with short black hair.

Dialogzitate:

Stanley Ipkiss: Hey, guard, there's a woman being chased in the alley there.
Guard: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep it down.
Stanley Ipkiss: C'mon, MAN! SERVE AND PROTECT!

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweis/Anspielung/Erwähnung in "Saturday Night Live: Jim Carrey/Soundgarden (#21.20)" (1996)

Soundtrack:

This Business Of Love

Incredible success when seen as a surrealistic cinematic pastiche

Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey) is a bit of a dorky pushover. For example, he buys hot concert tickets to try to get a date with a fellow bank employee he's been pining after, but she easily scams him into keeping the tickets for herself, and he is too weak to publicly object. But when he comes across an ancient mask of Lodi long ago discarded by Vikings who tried to bury the "troublesome object" at the "end of the Earth", he discovers it has the power to unlock his true self--suave, smooth-talking, manic, a bit dangerous, and a hopeless romantic.

The Mask was a perfect vehicle for Jim Carrey. It not only allowed provided the perfect justification to flamboyantly engage in his rubber-faced antics in a manner even more over-the-top than what he'd become famous for, but it provided an opportunity to stretch his acting chops towards a more serious side at just the right time in his career, paving the way for later work such as Man on the Moon (1999), The Majestic (2001) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).

The success of the film wholly depends on Carrey, as he has to sell his characters' frenzied insanity so that it's believable as a reflection of Stanley's inner self while at the same time likable but teetering on the edge of becoming obnoxiously overbearing. Of course, the amazing special effects and make-up help, as well as the clever script and more than competent directing and cinematography, but with the wrong actor in the part, the whole affair could have easily collapsed. The other cast members are fine in supporting roles, with Cameron Diaz coming across as being almost otherworldly beautiful, but Carrey is rarely off-screen, and rightly so.

The Mask is notable for both spoofing almost the whole history of cinema while at the same time respectfully paying homage to it. The audience is treated to everything from silent film slapstick to lavish musical numbers (with excellent songs), frenzied Tex Avery-styled animation to gangster film suspense. On its surface, the film is a crazy, often funny, hyperactively paced cinematic pastiche.

The subtext about identity and public faces versus private selves is interesting, but not the focus. It would be fine to explore further, but to do so in this particular film would have taken too much time away from Carrey's surrealistic tour de force. Besides, we've had later films where that subtext has been closer to the heart of a story, such as Catwoman (2004), and where it was very thoroughly and competently dealt with.

Many aspects of The Mask differed from the comic book source material, but this is a case where the changes led to such an excellent result that most people have forgotten about the source material and primarily remember Carrey's performance in this film as definitive.