Brian De Palma's Split-Screen: A Life in Film

379 Pages·2015·3.31 MB·English

by  Douglas Keesey

Brian De Palma’s Split-Screen
BRIAN DE PALMA’S SPLIT-
SCREEN
A Life in Film
Douglas Keesey
www.upress.state.ms.us
The University Press of Mississippi is a member of the Association of American University Presses.
Copyright © 2015 by University Press of Mississippi
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America First printing 2015
∞
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Keesey, Douglas.
Brian De Palma’s split-screen : a life in film / Douglas Keesey.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-62846-697-3 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-62846-698-0 (ebook) 1. De Palma, Brian—
Criticism and interpretation. I. Title.
PN1998.3.D4K44 2015
791.4302’33092—dc23
2014045130
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
For Helen,
the one love who’d sing my song
SPOILER ALERT: Viewers who would like to avoid spoilers are advised to see
the films first before reading this book.
Contents
Introduction
CHAPTER 1 The Wedding Party (1964–65)
CHAPTER 2 Murder à la Mod (1966)
CHAPTER 3 Greetings (1968)
CHAPTER 4 Dionysus in ’69 (1970)
CHAPTER 5 Hi, Mom! (1970)
CHAPTER 6 Get to Know Your Rabbit (1972)
CHAPTER 7 Sisters (1973)
CHAPTER 8 Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
CHAPTER 9 Obsession (1976)
CHAPTER 10 Carrie (1976)
CHAPTER 11 The Fury (1978)
CHAPTER 12 Home Movies (1980)
CHAPTER 13 Dressed to Kill (1980)
CHAPTER 14 Blow Out (1981)
CHAPTER 15 Scarface (1983)
CHAPTER 16 Body Double (1984)
CHAPTER 17 Wise Guys (1986)
CHAPTER 18 The Untouchables (1987)
CHAPTER 19 Casualties of War (1989)
CHAPTER 20 The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
CHAPTER 21 Raising Cain (1992)
CHAPTER 22 Carlito’s Way (1993)
CHAPTER 23 Mission: Impossible (1996)
CHAPTER 24 Snake Eyes (1998)
CHAPTER 25 Mission to Mars (2000)
CHAPTER 26 Femme Fatale (2002)
CHAPTER 27 The Black Dahlia (2006)
CHAPTER 28 Redacted (2007)
CHAPTER 29 Passion (2012)
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Brian De Palma’s Split-Screen
Introduction
Brian De Palma has directed twenty-nine feature films over the last five decades.
His movies have been among the biggest successes (The Untouchables, Mission:
Impossible) and the most high-profile failures (The Bonfire of the Vanities) in
Hollywood history. De Palma’s films have helped launch the careers of such
actors as Robert De Niro, John Travolta, and Sissy Spacek (who was nominated
for an Academy Award as Best Actress in Carrie). Quentin Tarantino has named
Blow Out as one of his top three favorite films,1 praising De Palma as the best
living American director.2 Dressed to Kill, which was picketed by feminists
protesting its depictions of violence against women, helped to create the erotic
thriller and slasher horror genres, of which De Palma’s own Body Double—with
its driller-killer scene—is perhaps the most notorious example. Scarface, with its
chainsaw sequence pushing the edge of permissible on-screen violence,
embroiled De Palma in legendary battles with the MPAA over censorship. The
fact that gangsta rappers have since made Scarface into a cult film has only
added to its controversy.
Over the years, De Palma has also built up a devoted following of film
aficionados and critics—most notably Pauline Kael and Armond White—who
appreciate his more personal films (Blow Out, Casualties of War, Snake Eyes) for
their emotional power and their innovative techniques.3 The prestigious film
journal Cahiers du Cinéma voted Carlito’s Way the best film made during the
entire decade of the 1990s. And in the twenty-first century, De Palma has
continued to experiment with new filmic forms, incorporating elements from
video games (Femme Fatale), tabloid journalism (The Black Dahlia), and
YouTube and Skype (Redacted, Passion) into his latest works.
Of all the trademark techniques for which De Palma’s films have become
known (slow motion, high angles, long takes, 360-degree pans), there is one that
is more closely associated with him than with any other director: the split-screen.
In taking this signature style as the title for this book, I signal my intention to
focus on De Palma as a man divided. Of course, all directors experience (and all