The Big Brass Ring (1999)

Regisseur:

George Hickenlooper

Drehbuchautoren (WGA):

Orson Welles (earlier screenplay) and
Oja Kodar (earlier screenplay) ...

Premierendatum:

23. Juni 2000 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama

Werbezeile:

You can't buy absolution...What you seek is something that can only be given.

Plot:

Blake Pellarin is on the campaign trail to become president of the United States. While making a stop in St...

Plot Keywords:

Brother | Election | Homosexuality | Identity Swap | Nudity

Filmpreise:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

Mediocre or a flawed masterpiece?

Besetzung

William Hurt	...	William Blake Pellarin
Nigel Hawthorne	...	Kim Mennaker
Miranda Richardson	...	Dinah Pellarin
Irène Jacob	...	Cela Brandini
Ewan Stewart	...	Kinzel
Gregg Henry	...	Billy
Ron Livingston	...	Sheldon Buckle
Jefferson Mays	...	Garne Strickland
Jim Metzler	...	Pacxy Barragan
Carmine Giovinazzo	...	Young Billy
Thomas Patrick Kelly	...	Young Blake
Mack Harrell	...	Homer Dix
Lisette Bross	...	B.C. Dix
F. Joseph Schulte	...	Senator Jack Moorehead
Peggy Freisen	...	Gigi Moorehead (as Peggy Friesen)

Alternativ:

Akte Romero, Die (Deutschland) [de]
Macht der Lüge, Die (Deutschland) (TV title) [de]

MPAA:

Rated R for some graphic sexuality, and for language and some violence.

Länge:

104 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Seitenverhältnis:

1.37 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Dolby

Altersfreigabe:

UK:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:18 | Germany:16 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Drehorte:

Alhambra, California, USA

Firma:

Millennium Films

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Remake von The Big Brass Ring (1997)

Mediocre or a flawed masterpiece?

This may be a flawed masterpiece or perhaps a mediocre movie with a lot to recommend it. I enjoyed it and would like to see it again, partly to make sure the plot worked and partly to catch some nuances that I missed. And also because, as my esteemed colleague, flickjunkie, notes below, the audio is atrocious and my ears are not as sharp as they once were. But life is short and the entire opus of film is long...but maybe I can edit with the fast forward!

Okay, let's look at the evidence. Script by Orson Welles: somewhat amazing since he died in 1985. His last work. That alone may make this worth watching. William Hurt plays a southern pol, Blake Pellarin, running for governor of Missouri. Miranda Richardson plays his rich, alcoholic wife, and she is very good. Nigel Hawthorne is Kim Mennaker, Blake's one time mentor, a shadowy, behind the scenes political figure, a cynical character who is writing a 27,000-page memoir, which no doubt includes much about his love for the Pellarin boys. Irène Jacob plays Cela Brandini, a TV reporter fascinated with Blake. The one-time protege of French-Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski is not shown to advantage here. I'm not sure why, but there is little subtlety in the way she plays the part. To really appreciate what she can do, see her in La Double vie de Véronique (1991) or Trois Couleurs: Rouge (1994), both directed by Kieslowski. She is very beautiful and very winning.

William Hurt, contrary to some opinion, was excellent. His characteristic laid-back, almost languid style works strangely well for a southern pol. He is certainly different, but believable, although I don't think his style would have worked had his character been running for president, as in Welles's original script. (Incidentally, they really wanted Louisiana, not Missouri, for the locale.) Hurt's performance reminds me in some ways of his work in the outstanding but now somewhat neglected, Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he won an academy award.

The Big Brass Ring never had a theatrical release, and it is not hard to see why. The print is too dark and the story too murky and hard to follow. It appears that the brothers changed identities when young and never bothered to change back. Apparently Blake's brother and not Blake was the subject of the homosexual photo, but I'm not sure. To make this movie work for a mass audience, the true status of the boys then, and during the time of the action, must be made clear.