Sydney Pollack

Started by blackmirror, May 19, 2010, 12:38:36 PM

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blackmirror

I am creating a thread for Sydney Pollack's films.  I did not see a thread commemorating his movies.  I would especially like to single out Three Days of the Condor.  It was ahead of its time.

It will happen this way...

Captain of Industry

Quote from: blackmirror on May 19, 2010, 12:38:36 PM
I am creating a thread for Sydney Pollack's films.  I did not see a thread commemorating his movies.  I would especially like to single out Three Days of the Condor.  It was ahead of its time.

It will happen this way...

I was just going to say:

Quote from: The Perineum Falcon on May 19, 2010, 01:15:44 PM
What about it?!

is there a reason you only reply with bullet-points? do you have some form of Tourrette's?

Really like to hear why you singled out Three Days.

blackmirror

#2
Quote from: Captain of Industry on May 19, 2010, 01:20:56 PM
Really like to hear why you singled out Three Days.

I am reminded of a few geopolitical factors in this film that resonate today – mainly the politics of energy.  Given the movie's focus on the power generated by oil, Three Days of the Condor remains a timely film as we begin the second decade of Century 21.  As I noted, the movie was ahead of its time, and it works on multiple levels.  On the surface, it is marketed as a spy/romance centered on the characters Mr. Redford and Ms. Dunaway portray.  Underneath that surface lurks a conspiracy of which instantly conjures images of the Syndicate from X-Files lore – a TV drama that made its debut nearly 20 years after this movie opened.  Once the conspiracy is unearthed, Mr. Pollack taps into the acting talents of his cast.  Max von Sydow's "Joubert" defines the superlative caricature of rogue assassin.  Despite this being a film from the 1970s -- a decade notorious for its message films -- this movie stands apart in my mind.  The morality dispute of the CIA interjecting itself into global affairs at the jest of protecting interests rings very clear today.  Moreover, Mr. Pollack's movie grasps the struggling egos within the CIA, shedding light upon cover-ups and conspiracy theory.  It is a very different film compared to Mr. Pollack's other works: The Way We Were, Jeremiah Johnson, Out of Africa, Tootsie – to name a few.  That's why I wanted to single it out.  It is my favorite of the movies he directed.

Another argument for its timeliness is its illustration of the oil industry.  I am reminded of Daniel Yergin's The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power.  This book is often deemed the bible of the oil industry, chronicling its definitive history and evolution.  My next reference is P.T. Anderson's There Will Be Blood.  Both of these sources require the reader/viewer to analyze the developments of the 20th Century as oil emerged as the resource that fueled our modernity, even postmodernity.  Mr. Yergin's account takes us through the first Gulf War.  Mr. Anderson shows us the industry in its berth.  And even more poignantly, Mr. Anderson uses imagery of the hand dipped in oil as a reflection of the iconic scene in Stanley Kubrick's 2OO1, whereas the man-ape holds up the animal bone discovering its use as utility.  Hence, there is a wide cast of transference at work among my references to Messrs. Yergin, Anderson, and Kubrick.  So, just how then do we get back to Three Days of the Condor?  If oil were never discovered and exploited (sic. Daniel Plainview), its contemporary development would never have spawned the political gridlock of big energy we realize today (as detailed in Mr. Yergin's research).  Consequently, we would never have the movie Three Days of the Condor -- there would simply be no story to tell without these elements.  Skillfully and handily, Pollack assimilates these ideas in this film -- crafting intelligent, timely, and perceptive cinema.