Neil Burger: The Illusionist

Director - Neil Burger
Writers - Neil Burger (screenplay) and Steven Millhauser (short story "Eisenheim the  Illusionist")

Cast/Character;

Edward Norton         ...            Eisenheim
Paul Giamatti           ...            Inspector Uhl
Jessica Biel              ...             Sophie
Rufus Sewell          ...              Crown Prince Leopold
Eddie Marson          ...             Josef Fischer (as Edward Marsan)
Jake Wood               ...             Jurka
Tom Fisher              ...             Willigut
Aaron Taylor-Johnson       ...   Young Eisenheim
Eleanor Tomlinson      ...         Young Sophie
Karl Johnson              ...           Doctor/Old Man


Trivia:

Edward Norton learned magic coaching from James Freedman.

Eisenheim is closely based on magician Erik Jan Hanussen

Crown Prince Leopold is based on Emperor Franz Josef

Plot:

The movie begins with Eisenheim summoning a spirit to which he is quickly arrested. Crown Prince Leopold asks Uhl how he does it. As a child Eisenheim practices magic and then met Sophie.  He shows a magic card trick and she is told to leave by her parents because he is a peasant. She is not allowed see him but they meet anyways. He gives her a picture inside a necklace locket. He traveled the world and practiced magic in public and later arrived in Vienna. In his public performance he does a cool magic trick turning his two gloves into 2 crows. He cuts an orange and place the seed in some soil and it grows into a tree.

"The trick of the Orange Tree was made famous by a 19th Century French magician named Robert-Houdin. It was from Robert-Houdin that another magician, Ehrich Weiss, came up with the stage name "Houdini." This trick is first mentioned in old Indian manuscript as an illusion by Faux. Analogical trick was also performed by Pinetti; an 18th Century magician, but instead of oranges he used lemons. Houdini was the first one to use real fruits."     - IMDB

Inspector Uhl inspects behind the stage of Eisenheim's theater. He tells him the Crown Prince would attend tonight's performance. Eisenheim teaches him one trick. Later that evening at the performance he asks for one volunteer and it is no other than Sophie who is with Crown Prince Leopold. He asks if they ever met before and she says no. But he thinks it is Sophie from the past. He performs a magic trick using her,


He meets the Crown Prince. Eisenheim's assistant tells him Sophie will marry the Crown Prince soon. He also tells Eisenheim he beats his girlfriends. A note come to Eisenheim and Sophie is in the carriage with him. She says they know each other. She says she wished she could see him again. She touches the necklace Eisenheim gave him as a child who used a different name probably suspecting Eisenheim was that boy.


At a private performance for the Crown Prince and his friends Eisenheim does a neat trick where he puts a picture up and with his hand he guides the canvas paint itself magically. The Crown Prince says, "He tries to trick you, I try to enlighten you which is the more noble pursuit?"

The Crown Prince challenges him to do a trick without gadgetry. So he takes the sword of Crown Prince and tells the story of Excalibur. He said only Arthur succeeded giving him the right to rule. A few people try to pull the sword from the sword from the ground but Eisenheim lets the Crown Prince pull it from the floor with his power. - not trying to challenge him too much. He says, "The sword to its rightful owner." The Crown Prince tells Inspector Uhl to shut him down. Sophie goes to Eisenheim's house to warn of something. They make love. The camera goes from out of focus to in focus to show their passion. They talk about the necklace with the picture of Eisenheim.

The Crown Prince plans to overthrow his father and become King. He wants the Hungarians to help him. This could prove harmful to the Crown Prince and her. Eisenheim packs a red liquid - one that he will use to fake Sophie's death and withdraws all his money from the bank.

Someone follows Eisenheim and sees him kiss Sophie in the carriage. Sophie tells the Crown Prince they will not marry and he slaps her, Sophie goes missing. She is found in the river - possibly dead. A doctor says she is dead and he also says a gemstone was also found in the folds of her clothes.  Eisenheim buys a new theater and does a new type of show one where he summons spirits to speak to the audience. The Crown Prince wants Eisenheim arrested. Inspector Uhl threatens to imprison Eisenheim. He tells the supporters outside everything is a trick and an illusion.

Eisenheim summons Sophie's spirit and she says someone in the audience killed her. Inspector Uhl tells Eisenheim his performance last night was very foolish. Uhl warns Eisenheim not to provoke people. Eisenheim tells his old manager he wants him to manage his finances. Eisenheim summons Duchess Sophie and she says she was wearing the locket when she died but now it's gone. Eisenheim shows he himself is an illusion and disappears. Uhl finds the locket with a picture of young Eisenheim and in the stable he finds another gem. It fits into the sword of the Crown Prince. Uhl suspects the worst. Uhl threatens the Crown Prince with what he knows. The Crown Prince says it's all an illusion. His father has ordered to arrest him. The Crown Prince shoots and kills himself.

Spoilers:

A little kid gives Uhl the notebook with the secret of The Orange Tree. The kid says Eisenheim gave it to him. Eisenheim boards the train and it is all pieced together as Eisenheim must have used the gems and framed the Crown Prince for murder. The locket was planted by Sophie on the Crown Prince along with blood on his sword. Eisenheim brings her back to life with a potion.

Mel Gibson: Hacksaw Ridge

Director - Mel Gibson
Writers - Robert Schenkkan and Andrew Knight

Cast:                                          Characters:

Andrew Garfield            ...       Desmond Doss
Richard Pyros             ...           Teach
Jacob Warner              ...          James Pinnick
Milo Gibson               ...          Lucky Ford
Darcy Bryce               ...          Young Desmond
Roman Guerriero        ...         Young 'Hal' Doss
James Lugton             ...          Hiker
Kasia Stelmach          ...          Hiker's Friend
Hugo Weaving           ...          Tom Doss
Rachel Griffiths         ...          Bertha Doss
Jarin Towney             ...          Teenage Boy
Tim McGarry            ...           Local Man
Tyler Coppin             ...           Lynchburg Doctor
Teresa Palmer           ...           Dorothy Schutte
Richard Platt             ...           Flirting Hospital Soldier
Sam Worthington      ...           Captain Glover
Luke Bracey             ...            Smitty Riker
Vince Vaughn           ...            Sergeant Howell

"Have you not heard, the lord is the everlasting God. Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary. And his understanding no one can fathom." - Desmond Doss

Desmond Doss's religion, Seventh Day Adventist, plays a key role in the movie as his decision to become a medic by saving lives and not taking them. Doss grows up in Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia. He served as a  "United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic with an infantry company in World War II. After distinguishing himself in the Battle of Okinawa, he became the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor for actions above and beyond the call of duty. He saved 75 wounded infantrymen atop the Maeda Escarpment." (Wikipedia.org)

Their father Tom Doss is is a hard drinking religious zealot. The two brothers fight. Desmond hits Hal with a brick and he is out cold. He almost kills his brother. Desmond asks his mom about his dad, "Why does he hate us so much?" "No he doesn't hate us, he hates himself." she says. Fifteen years later Desmond treats his first wounded civilian man. He takes him to the hospital and there he notices Dorothy Schutte, his future wife, He is smitten. He decides to give blood just to spend time with her. At Lynchburg Hospital he is corny but charming and they later go on a date. He asks her medical questions to which she tells him he needs to practice his social skills at home. He agrees, He kisses her to which she slaps him. She says he should have asked. Hal enlists and his mom is angry he will break the Bible's sixth commandment - Thou Shalt Not Kill. Hal says it is different in war. Their father was in the military. He cries fearing for his son's safety.

On another date, Dorothy and Desmond kiss and things are going well for Desmond. Desmond tells Dorothy he has to enlist. He says he'll be a medic - saving people not killing them. They agree to get married. His dad is angry and sad with the risk he will die in battle. Dorothy gives him a Bible. He arrives at Fort Jackson. He is introduced to a bunch of new people at the barracks. Sergeant Howell teaches them how to tie a bowline knot. In basic training and when first arrives at the base Desmond thinks everything is a joke. Smitty Riker quickly hates him.

Howell tells them to grab a rifle but Doss doesn't grab one. He tells  Howell, "I can't touch a gun." Howell tells the Company he is a conscientious objector and doesn't believe in violence. Smitty asks Doss, "You think you're better than us?" at the barracks.  Smitty punches him. He tells the other soldiers, "I don't think this is a question of religion. I think this is cowardice." Smitty sees the picture of Dorothy in the Bible and says, "Now this would be the kind of broad that deserves a real man." Smitty puts him in his place. His superiors try to give him a Section 8 which "is a category of discharge from the United States military used for a service-member judged mentally unfit for service." (Wikipedia.org) One person advising to him says war is a completely different set of circumstances in terms of murder.

Howell tells the Company that the unit is no better than its weakest member. After a 20 mile hike to punish the Company for Doss they beat him up. Howell tells Doss, "It's not what you signed up for, it's  for the lives of everyone here and yours." Doss is not granted pass because they didn't pass him for basic training.  He has not qualified on the rifle range.  Desmond Doss doesn't make it to his wedding because they put him in a military prison cell. He is told "you don't win wars by giving up your life." Dorothy telephones his  parents and tells them he might get a Dishonorable Discharge. His father, Tom Doss, arrives to help him. Desmond is told he will be hung. At military court he risks being court marshaled. He tells them while everyone else is taking lives he be saving it. His father barges in and hands them a letter saying he is protected by the Constitution to not bear arms. The unit arrives in Okinawa, May 1945. They see dead bodies  being brought back and the gravity of the situation hits them. Doss is told the Japanese target the wounded and to lose his red cross markings. "Nips put a premium on shooting medics." They climb the Maeda Escarpment to Hacksaw Ridge. As the fighting begins Desmond administers to the wounded. A soldier with a flame-thrower wards off Japanese soldiers. The action scenes are intense.

One difference between this and The Thin Red Line is that The Thin Red Line humanizes both  sides where this film doesn't so much. Smitty and Ghoul try to take one of the bunkers. Smitty throws in a satchel blowing up one of three important Japanese bunkers. Doss helps Ghoul. It's revealed Doss doesn't eat meat when asked by Smitty if he will eat his ration. They mend their differences.  A huge wave of Japanese soldiers come from underground. Doss forgives Smitty and tries to rescue him. Doss goes back in saving as many people as he can. He lowers wounded soldiers down using a knot he learned in basic. Doss gets spotted but escapes into one of the tunnels. He hides from soldiers and ends up helping a Japanese soldier by bandaging him up.

Doss keeps lowering wounded men down the Maeda Escarpment all night. He prays that he can get one more person  to save. He keeps  doing this over and over and even saves a few Japanese. Howell's legs get shot up and Doss eases his pain with some morphine. A soldier nicknamed Hollywood says Doss saved all the soldiers that came down the Maeda Escarpment. A Japanese sniper almost kills Doss saved by his helmet. Howell kills the sniper. Doss lowers him down the Maeda Escarpment. The captain tells his superiors in the following scene that they are waiting because Private Doss is praying for them. He gets injured but helped get Hacksaw Ridge from the Japanese.

James Mangold: 3:10 to Yuma

Director: James Mangold
Writers: Halsted Welles, Michael Brandt, Derek Haas and Elmore Leonard

Cast/Character

Russell Crowe ... Ben Wade
Christian Bale ... Dan Evans
Logan Lerman ... William Evans
Dallas Roberts ... Grayson Butterfield
Ben Foster ... Charlie Prince
Peter Fonda  ... Byron McElroy
Vinessa Shaw ... Emma Nelson
Alan Tudyk ... Doc Potter
Luce Rains ... Marshal Weathers
Gretchen Mol  ... Alice Evans
Lennie Loftin ... Glen Hollander
Rio Alexander ... Campos
Benjamin Petry ... Mark Evans

The film opens up won August, 1884 with Dans's barn being burned by the people he owes money to. They tell Dan Evans he has a week then they burn the house. His boy William saves the horses and the saddles left in the barn. It's obvious the son resents and doesn't look up to him. His wife Alice is mad at him for not making full payments to Hollander. She is shot in a low-angle shot making her look big and showing she has power over Dan - while Dan is shot in a high-angle shot making him look small and powerless. Ben Wade is introduced drawing a bird. Charlie Prince talks to him and Ben Wade leaves the sketch of the bird on the branch of a tree.

Mark, William and Dan Evans track down their herd. A carriage with money and a Gatling gun get ready for Wade's gang approaching. Their Gatling gun kills a lot of the crew but Wade's sharpshooter, Campos, takes out one of the guys operating the Gatling gun. They ambush the armored caravan. Ben Wade sees the cattle of Evans and watches from above, He shoots scattering the herd until the caravan crashes. Charlie Prince introduces himself to Pinkerton Byron McElroy and McElroy calls him Chralie Princess. Charlie Prince is alleged to be gay in the movie. They blow up the caravan and shoot the lock off getting the money. They split up the money. One of the gang is at gunpoint by the caravan's Pinkerton and he says, "Shit!" knowing he will be killed along with the guard. That is exactly what happens. Charlie Prince reports the incident to the Marshal. The authorities move out and the town is undefended. Ben Wade enters the saloon and the door whips the other way with Charlie Prince sneaking in - symbolizing Charlie swings the other way and is a homosexual. Ben Wade quotes Proverbs 13:3 from the Bible justifying killing one of the gang. Ironic.

Ben Wade takes a liking to the waitress and trying to distract Ben Wade, Charlie Prince is jealous. Ben Wade melts this ice queen reminding her of her glory days as a singer. Ben seduces her. Dan Evans is met up with the authorities and they see a wounded man, Byron McElroy, Dan has helped. He tells them Wade did this. Ben Wade sketches the nude bar waitress he seduced.

The authorities find out Wade is in Bisbee. Evans talks to Hollander - the man who burned down his barn for failing to pay his debt. Evans ties to reason with him but Hollander punches him. Hollander tells him, "Sometimes a man has to be big enough to see how small he is." Dan confronts Wade in the saloon. Telling Wade he lost some of his herd Wade generously gives Dan some money. This shows Wade's weakness and Evans frugality being poor. Wade is surrounded in the saloon by authorities and they take his gun, "The Hand of God." He warns one guy who takes it its got a curse on it.

For $200 Evans agrees to escort Wade to be hanged. There is good composition in the film using rule of thirds in the following shots where Charlie gets away with shooting someone in town. They hold Ben Wade at Evans's house and Alice, Dan's wife, is not pleased. Alice is nervous and standoffish - but that might be her hiding her sexual attraction to Wade. Wade asks Dan where he was stationed. He tells him he was stationed at Second Company Sharpshooters out of Lynnfield, Massachusetts. Wade asks how Evans lost his leg. Later Alice tells Dan he doesn't have to bring Wade to justice. Dan says, "I am tired of watching my boys go hungry. I'm tired of the way they look at me. I'm tired of the way you don't. Iv'e been standing on one leg for three damn years, waiting for God to do me a favor and he ain't listening."The authorities tell Wade they are taking him to Contention on the 3:10 to Yuma. They take turns watching Wade by the fire. The guy who took Ben Wade's cursed gun is killed by Wade with a fork when he is asleep. 

Dan says there's a shortcut to Contention. Another man tells him it's Apache country. William saves the day when he sneaks up behind Wade and puts a gun to his head stopping Wade from killing anymore people. Wade charms everyone he meets and asks William if he's ever been to Dodge City. William says no. He tells William the way he shuffles them cards he'd take him for a pro. William says he practices a lot. Wade tells him he could tell. He says about Dodge, "Women who'll do things to you you'll never forget. "The other guy says , "They'll give you a disease you'll never forget."

Once Dan take Wade out to take a piss Apache Indians shoot at them hitting Dan. Wade skillfully kills all of them. Wade gets away and Dan goes after him considering the money for his capture. Mr. Butterfield finds Wade being tortured by a man whose relative was killed by Wade. Mr. Butterfield tells him he can't do that it's immoral. They steal Wade and make way through the pass. Doc Potter dies in the skirmish, Butterfield takes Dan and Wade to the Bridal Suite  in the hotel. Wade like a siren seductively tempts Dan on  the bed with $1,000 to let him go. He tells him all the things he could do with the money. He asks him, "What about Alice? She would be the proud wife of a bonafide Arizona rancher. " William spots Wade's crew coming from the distance. 

When Charlie Prince and the gang find the hotel that Ben Wade is in he makes the offer to the townspeople $200 to anyone who kills one of Ben Wade's captors.With 30-40 hired guns outside the Sheriff gives up and  surrenders. Instead he is brutally killed. Dan reveals that 's what the government paid him for his leg to Butterfield who offers him $200 to quit. $198.36. Dan says, "They weren't paying me to walk away. They were paying me so they could walk away." When Dan tells his son, "I need a man at the ranch to run things, protect our family and I know you can do that because you've become a fine man William." you see Ben Wade's eyes watery almost about to cry. Dan looks at his watch to which Wade says, "You know squeezing that watch won't stop time." In a seamless cut on action between two shots Dan gets up and tells Wade, "it's time."

They move through the alley through gunfire. After getting shot in one of the rooms , Wade tells him, "I ain't doing this no more Dan." He tells his Dan his boys can't see him being a hero so give up. He tells Wade the only battle he seen was in retreat. "You try telling that story to your boy. See how he looks at you then ." Wade helps Dan make his bounty. Charlie Prince shoots Dan. Wade tells Dan he's been to Yuma Prison before. Twice. The train arrives and Ben Wade charitably does Dan a favor by agreeing to get on the train, Wade congratulates Dan but Dan is shot by Charlie Prince till he is nearly dead. Wade finally redeeming himself get his gun, "The Hand of God" and shoots his whole crew dead. Dan dies with a smile finally getting the respect from William. Once the train moves with Wade on it he whistles for his horse to follow. 

Martin Scorsese: Taxi Driver

Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Paul Schrader

Cast

Diahnne Abbot   .... Concession Girl
Frank Adu      ... Angry Black Policeman
Victor Argo    ...  Melio
Gino Ardito   ...   Policeman at Rally
Garth Avery  ... Iris' Friend
Peter Boyle  ...  Wizard
Albert Brooks ... Tom
Harry Cohn  ...  Cabbie in Bellmore
Copper Cunningham  ...  Hooker in Cab
Robert De Niro   ...  Travis Bickle
Brenda Dickson  ...  Soap Opera Woman
Harry Fischler   ... Dispatcher
Cybill Shepherd   ... Betsy
Jodie Foster  ... Iris
Nat Grant   ... Stick-Up Man
Leonard Harris .... Charles Palantine
Harvey Keitel   ... Sport

Plot

A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process.  - IMDB 

"Travis really has the best of intentions; he believes he's doing right, just like St. Paul. He wants to clean up life, clean up the mind, clean up the soul. He is very spiritual, but in a sense Charles Manson was spiritual which doesn't mean it's good. It's the power of the spirit on the wrong road. The key to the picture is the idea of being brave enough to admit having these feelings, and then act them out. I instinctively showed that the acting out was not the way to go, and this created even more ironic twists to what was going on." - Martin Scorsese (Scorsese on Scorsese page 62)

The film Taxi Driver starts with a closeup of Travis Bickle's eyes showing a blur of pedestrians as life is that a blur - going by him day by day. Bickle gets a job as a taxi driver. He was an ex-marine. He is 26 years old. Bickle keeps a diary of his job and the following shots of New York City has a cinema verite style. He says, "All the animals come out at night. Some day a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets." Being a taxi driver he sees everything especially the worst of society. Bickle says he has to clean the cum off the back seat each time he returns the cab to the garage. Travis goes to a porn theater to kill the boredom since he cannot sleep. Travis writes in his diary about a girl he notices he likes at Charles Palantine headquarters. Her name is Betsy.

His friends at the diner ask if he carries a piece. He says no. He asks Travis if he needs one. Travis says no. Tom and Betsy talk about trivial things like could you light a match without two fingers. Travis walks into the Palantine headquarters and it is a handheld shot perhaps symbolizing Travis's chaotic state of mind and behavior. He says that he wants to volunteer to Betsy but when quizzed about Palantines policies he knows nothing. He asks Betsy on a date to some pie and coffee. Bickle uses some charm to coax Betsy into a date saying he's there to protect her.This is probably the only time in the movie he has any social skills which is sad. They are completely different. Betsy talks of the campaign and Travis talks that he needs to organize the things in his apartment. Travis asks about the guy at the headquarters, Tom. He says he thinks Tom and Betsy have no connection but she and him do. It is too forward and sad that Travis is trying so hard and saying something that really isn't true. She says he reminds her of that song by Kris Kristofferson - he's a prophet and a pusher. Travis says he's never pushed. Betsy clarifies that she means he has contradictions which is very true of Travis. 

What is funny about the film is that after Travis has a date with Betsy he gets Charles Palantine in his cab and tells him he's one of his biggest supporters which is only because Palantine reminds him of Betsy. He tells Palantine he should flush the scum down the toilet - meaning the people and corruption of New York City. Travis first encounters Iris as she is trying to get away from her pimp, Sport. He gives $20 to Travis. "Bickle chooses to drive his taxi anywhere in the city, even the worst places because it feeds his hate." (Scorsese on Scorsese). Travis takes Betsy to an adult movie theater on their second date to see Sometime Sweet Susan. He is so socially inept he doesn't see a problem with this.

The next scene shows Travis on the phone apologizing to Betsy.It is painful to watch as it shows him being rejected. The camera dollies to the right to an empty hallway as the conversation is too unbearable to take. Travis says she is just like the rest of them, "cold and distant" but really that is what he himself is like. Travis picks up a passenger played by Martin Scorsese who is agitated and irritable. He tells Travis his wife is in the room with the light on and she is with a "nigger" and he is going to kill her with a .44 Magnum pistol. Travis can't answer the guy because he is so creeped out by him. But this is how people must feel about Travis. Travis talks to the Wizard and tells him he is down. He tells the Wizard he gets some bad ideas in his head.

Travis has a poor diet as seen by the snacks in the porno theater he eats and the syrupy meal he makes while watching Palantine get interviewed on TV.This is a contradiction as he works out vigorously later in the film. Travis is a walking contradiction. As Travis drives through the night he almost runs into Iris. Watching people from the cab makes Travis lament his loneliness. He says, "Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, store, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man. "

Travis meets Easy Andy - who offers him weapons to buy. Travis asks him if he has a .44 Magnum. He looks at all the guns. He buys 4 guns - a Magnum, a .38, a .25 and a .380. Travis starts exercising and target shooting. Travis makes a contraption to spring load a gun from his arm. At a campaign rally Travis arrives and talks to a secret service guy who is waiting for Senator Palantine. He scouts the area, In his room Travis asks the mirror, "You talkin to me?" He practices pulling out his weapons while talking to the mirror showing he is quickly losing his mind if not already. Travis is welcomed by a clerk at the supermarket and Travis later sees the clerk is getting robbed. Travis shoots and kills the robber and tells the clerk he has to go since he doesn't have a permit for the gun. Delusional he writes his parents and tells them he works for the government and is going out with a girl named Betsy. 

Travis watches a romantic movie on television and points the gun at the couple. He starts rocking the TV on the stand back further and further until it falls and breaks. Travis is heartbroken over Betsy and wants to destroy something so he chooses to go after Palantine as revenge. Travis talks to Matthew/Sport to be with Iris. He asks her if she wants to get out of here.

He gives the $20 from the cab from Sport to a guy guarding the stairs. Travis criticizes Sport but Iris asks him if he's ever looked with his eyeballs in the mirror. Travis can't answer that because he indeed is a walking contradiction. In an uncomfortable scene Sport hugs and dances with Iris and whispers sweet things to her. She is only 12. Palantine gives a speech and Travis is there. Travis wants to kill Palantine but is nearly caught so he flees. Travis returns to Sport and asks him, "How is everything in the pimp business?" After an argument Travis shoots him and shoots the guy guarding  the stairs. Iris panics. Cops come into the room. The overhead shot shows the violence and carnage that took place. Travis is mentioned in the newspapers for battling gangsters, Her parents write him and tell him she's back in school and working hard. Travis gets a fare and smiles when he sees it is Betsy. They chit chat. He drops her off. There is a double take he does in the mirror that is frightening because his paranoia and psychosis still reside.

Works Cited

Scorsese on Scorsese (book)

Martin Scorsese: Goodfellas

Director - Martin Scorsese

Writer - Nicholas Pileggi and Martin Scorsese
Cinematographer - Michael Ballhaus

Robert De Niro ... James Conway
Ray Liotta ... Henry Hill
Joe Pesci ... Tommy DeVito
Lorraine Bracco ... Karen Hill
Paul Sorvino ... Paul Cicero
Frank Sivero ... Frankie Carbone
Tony Darrow ... Sonny Bunz
Mike Starr ... Frenchy
Frank Vincent ... Billy Batts
Chuck Low ... Morris Kessler
Frank DiLeo ... Tuddy Cicero
Henny Youngman ... Henny Youngman
Gina Mastrogiacomo ... Janice Rossi


The film starts out in New York City, 1970. The three (Jimmy, Henry and Tommy) hear something in the trunk. It is a man they didn't fully kill. The red brake lights shining on them is really a vision of hell as these are cold blooded killers. Henry Hill says as far back as he could remember he always wanted to be a gangster. The film backtracks to East New York, Brooklyn 1955. Paul Cicero based on Paul Vario was the capo in the Lucchese Crime Family. Young Henry was doing jobs at Cicero's cabstand parking Cadillacs and selling cigarettes. The gangsters take the postman and warn him to never deliver mail from the school to Hill's house. Paulie Cicero offers protection to people who can't go to the cops like a police department for wiseguys. Henry uses eight aprons to stop the bleeding of a shot guy pissing off the wiseguy owner. Scorsese uses a lot of stop frames in the film like when he describes Jimmy Conway's jobs.

After young Henry Hill gets pinched Jimmy Conway (played by De Niro) told him he learned two greatest things in life: Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut. Idlewild Airport 1963 - Henry Hill says, "If we wanted something we just took it, if anyone complained twice they got hit so bad believe me they never complained again." When they can't borrow any more money from the banks they torch the Bamboo Lounge and collect on the insurance money. There is a lengthy shot of Henry and Karen entering the Copacabana. It must have taken many rehearsals as it's well done with people coming in and out of the frame. They skip the line and enter downstairs. Henry tips big.

Tommy and Henry rob Air France without using a gun getting $420,000. They give Paulie his tribute. Henry and Karen get married in a Jewish wedding. Money gifts keep coming in and Karen is drunk with emotion. Karen eventually is scared that Henry will go to prison. Henry tells her: "No one goes to jail unless they want to unless they make themselves get caught. They don't have things organized. I know what I'm doing. I got things organized with these guys." Detectives come with a search warrant to search Hill's house. They wanted bribe money. June 11, 1970 Queens, New York - Billy Batts disrespects Tommy by bringing up Tommy's old job of being a show shiner. When everyone leaves the bar Tommy comes back and they beat Billy Batts mercilessly. Tommy makes a stupid mistake in killing a made man - Batts was part of the Gambino crime family. Spider doesn't get his drink fast so Tommy shoots at him trying to make him dance and gets him in the foot. Spider tells him, "why don't you go fuck yourself, Tommy?" Tommy shoots Spider dead. These people are such sociopaths  that Jimmy tells Tommy to dig the hole himself to which Tommy has no problem.

They eat good in prison. When Karen and the two daughters visit Henry in prison she notices on the visitation log Janice Rossi is on the list. Four years later Henry is released from prison. Paulie warns Henry not to sell drugs. He does it anyways big time. The three (Conway, Hill and Tommy) get the news that Paulie is making Tommy a made man. Maury is a pain about his cut of the money. He is killed. After Jimmy's robbery bodies arrive everywhere. Tommy thinks he is becoming a made man but when he enters the room he is shot. It was revenge for Billy Batts. Batts was a made man. This was revenge. Sunday May 11th, 1980, 6:55 am - Henry notices a helicopter on him all day. Michael stirs the sauce diligently. Lois uses the house telephone line as advised not to by Henry and now the Feds probably know about the drugs leaving the house. After getting arrested Karen does a smart thing by flushing all the cocaine down the toilet. Karen bails Henry out of jail. Henry goes ballistic when he finds out $60,000 of cocaine was flushed down the toilet. Paulie gives him $3,200 as a last favor to Henry Hill. Karen hustles to make money and becomes like Henry. Jimmy indirectly threatens Hill by telling him about a rat he used to know. Henry and Karen talk to be in the Witness Protection Program. Hill identifies Conway and Cicero in court, Hill does not want to leave the life. Hill talks to the camera and breaks the fourth wall telling how he got away with everything. He says he is an average nobody now and referencing the Great Train Robbery Tommy shoots at the camera.

Terrence Malick: Days of Heaven

Director - Terrence Malick
Writer - Terrence Malick

Richard Gere ... Bill
Brooke Adams ... Abby
Sam Shepard ... The Farmer
Linda Manz ... Linda

Contains spoilers
Days of Heaven opens to a mess of debris and Bill working in a factory. Some guy gives him the stink eye and they fight. Bill tells Abby things aren't always going to be this way. The three including Linda migrate. They tell people they are brother and sister (Bill and Abby). They travel by train. Bill gets a job as a sacker making three dollars a day. The owner (Sam Shepard) owns a big house Abby asks about. The three play in the fields after work

They work the fields cutting wheat. The farmer (Sam Shepard) notices Sam Shepard and likes her. A guy asks Bill if his sister keeps him warm at night and they fight. The Farmer asks people about Abby - where she's from, what her name is. Bill and Abby get in trouble for messing up three bushels and get docked three dollars. Bill steals some medicine. The Farmer is told he has 1 year to live. Abby tells The Farmer she is from Chicago. They talk. Abby and Bill work from sunup to sundown. They can always get somebody else to work. The Farmer's accountant tells him good news of record profits. 

The Farmer gives Abby a business proposition to stay and work. Bill says he's stuck on her. Bill tells her she should stay. Linda comforts a girl who lost her boyfriend. The people relax the best way they can. After work they play instruments, dance by the bonfire and have a good time. Abby dances with the Farmer which upsets Bill. Abby tells Linda she loves her and then boards a train. An old man asks what Linda did in Chicago - she tells him she worked in a factory.

Bill and the Farmer talk. He tells The Farmer he thought one day he would have a big score. The Farmer tells Abby he thinks he loves her. Bill tells Abby he didn't think he had the guts to tell Abby that. Abby and the Farmer get married. He tells her she's like an angel. Abby begins to like the comfort and perks of being married to a wealthy man. They didn't have to work now. They play in the fields and have casual days.

Bill and Abby go outside after he wakes up. They drink. Bill says he never wanted to fall in love with her. They don't receive letters or cards. The old accountant tells the Farmer he thinks Bill and Abby are a bunch of con artists. The Farmer gets upset. The old man confronts Bill and lets him know he knows what he's doing. The Farmer tells Abby he has come back to life thanks to her. Abby is distant - unsurprisingly. The Amarillo Dispatch newspaper says, "President Wilson Visits Panhandle." The Farmer didn't get better or worse - health wise. Bill and The Farmer go hunting. Two airplanes fly by and land near their home. They are a flying circus. They perform for The Farmer and Abby and they watch a Charlie Chaplin film. The Farmer sees Abby and Bill kissing outside. He confronts her about it. He says he doesn't know how brothers and sisters act where they are from. Bill leaves by one of the performer's planes. Bill tells her she loves the Farmer. 

The Farmer teaches Linda about keys on the piano and about geography. Abby and The Farmer enjoy their honeymoon phase. Bill returns and everyone greets him. Abby apologizes to Bill probably for falling in love with The Farmer. Bill apologizes for pushing her into this - their scheme to get the The Farmer's money. The Farmer watches them kiss from afar. Locusts are in the house and are eating the wheat. A red flag is raised and the Farmer tells them to swat and smoke them  out. They have to get locusts one by one by hand and they throw them in the fire. A wagon and the field catches on fire after The Farmer breaks his lantern on them. He says, "Let them burn!" Abby tells Bill he knows. The Farmer pulls a gun and asks what does she want from him. He ties her up and calls her a liar. 

The Farmer comes to Bill with his gun and Bill stabs him. Bill runs away.The Farmer lays dying and the accountant finds him. Bill and Abby run away and sell jewelry to a man for a boat. Abby vows to live a good life now. That was the first time Linda was on a boat. The accountant shows a picture and asks people where are Bill and Linda. Abby and Bill live in the woods. The police go after Bill when they spot him near the water. He runs for it. The police finally find him and kill him. Abby cries by his side. 

Abby puts the girl up in some kind of foster home. Abby relocates and sees troops come home and she boards a train. The girl and her friend run away from the foster home. 

Michelangelo Antonioni: L'Eclisse

Director - Michelangelo Antonioni
Writer - Michelangelo Antonioni & Tonino Guerra

Cast Character

Alain Delon ... Piero
Monica Vitti ... Vittoria
Francisco Rabal ... Riccardo
Louis Seigner ... Ercoli
Lilla Brignone ... Vittoria's Mother
Rossana Rory ... Anita
Mirella Ricciardi ... Marta





Inside Vittoria's room is Ricardo. Time has emptied in silence shown by the multitude of used cigarettes on the floor. They decide on ending everything between them. She walks to him showing dominance entering his field of vision. She breaks away leaving him looking straight ahead without turning his head - he accepts their relationship is over. The lines in the mirror on her face that is shown while she is looking at Riccardo shows there is a beginning and an end to everything. As she looks outside she sees a phallic water tower persisting her lust and resembling a nuclear bomb.

Riccardo asks her for forgiveness. She says she was happier at 20. She says she will no longer translate articles for him and will have a woman do it instead. She says after being asked that she is not sure if she loves him. Around her is abstract art - hinting at her abstract feelings of him. This is two fold as both cannot communicate or choose not to out of a lack of courage and intimacy. The abstract art shows that he is also old fashioned.

He follows her in his car and meets up with her again. She asks why. He says he always follows her so, "Why not today?" She tells him it was a terrible night. He tells her goodbye then corrects himself to say they will see each other again. He accepts and says they won't call each other. As the stock market she calls for her mother. Piero overhears an insider stock tip from another man and buys 20,000 on Finsider. Vittoria meets her mother who goes to Piero to buy some stock. Outside both Vittoria and her mother shop for some fruit. She doesn't tell her mother she has split with Riccardo. At home her friend Amita comes and Vittoria tells her that she couldn't sleep last night. She tells her she is tired and depressed, disgusted and confused. She tells her friend, "What can I say? There are times when holding a needle and thread, or a book, or a man - it's all the same." She doesn't want convention but anything else. Vittoria meets Amita's friend Marta. Marta says she is hot in this weather but Amita tells her she should be used to it having lived in Kenya. She shows everyone the picture of the country. Ones of trees, jungles and savannas. Vittoria after seeing some tribal pictures of the natives dresses up and dances to the native music. Marta says she is scared of the native violence there.

The two chase after a lost dog. One of the dogs entertains her as it is magnificent at playing tricks. It makes her laugh as she did in the apartment. Outside there is a great shot Antonioni employs. He shows Riccardo on the street as seen through the balcony bars showing he is imprisoned by love. She and Marta take a ride in their friend's plane. They look outside and see the coliseum and canal.

At the city an older man talks to Piero and tells him not to be so eager to buy so many stocks. Piero decides to buy Finsider stock again after having luck the previous day. He meets with his partners buying and selling stocks before the bidding begins. Vittoria's mother arrives and drops salt on the floor for good luck. Piero calls his associates to find out a stock has dropped in another city so he tells Dino to sell immediately. Vittoria arrives and sees Piero. She goes to her mother. Despondent after her losses she wants to stay. Her mother claims the losses are due to politics as there is someone behind the scenes always pulling strings. Vittoria meets with Piero concerned with her mother''s losses. He says not to worry - with money anything is fixable. Piero shows Vittoria one man who lost 50,000,000 lire. She follows him and watches to see how he reacts.

After she leaves she runs into Piero again who is more enamored by stocks than her. She begins to notice him and fakes interest in the stock exchange. Piero tries to explain the stock market is much more complex than simply winning and losing money. The two leave together. In her apartment she shows him pictures of her father. In her room she lays on her bed and Piero tries to make his move but doesn't work. Her mother comes and offers Piero some food. Piero's boss tells the clients about the market and despite losses it is still stable. He assures them foreign countries still buy. Piero upset at his secretary has to find a client who owes 4,000,000 lire. He tells him, "If the market drops, I pay. If it goes up, you win - is that it?" He tells the client that he made him so much money over the years but he got greedy and lost it all.

Piero meets a girl and is angry when she dyes her hair. He tells her go and drives off. At the apartment he talks to Vittoria but to his bad luck a drunk steals his car. The next day they find his car in the water with a whole crew working to pull it out. He tells Vittoria he can fix up the car and sell it. They go to the apartment and Vittoria calls Marta. As they walk by the street Vittoria tosses a piece of wood in a barrel of water. This shows that some unknown force is keeping them together. At his apartment Piero reads the newspaper and answers a call from Vittoria who is too unsure to speak.

Vittoria walks outside to an empty sky looking at the buildings of cold modernity that are emotionally empty. She comes back to the barrel of water still assured that the water is still there. Piero throws a match case in the water next to the piece of wood. The wood lies on the matches and Vittoria flicks the two apart - hinting there would be no sex between the two. He tells her he bought a new BMW which bores Vittoria. His ambition is off-putting because he can never be in the present moment with her. As they talk there is a diamond shaped sign in the distance between the two of them. A diamond is most commonly a symbol of love, excellence and purification. It is also a symbol of power, strength and beauty.

He takes her to his apartment where she sits on the bench. He asks her, "You want to sit there?" hinting his bed would be better. His art is modern and elaborate contrasted by Riccardo's abstract older art. They both reveal their personalities which their age show as well. There is a 10 year age gap between both men, Riccardo being older. As the couple talk they share a joke which opens them up to a connection.She complains to him that he asks too many questions. She tells him, "Two people shouldn't know each other too well if they want to fall in love."

Diamond patterns reappear in his bedroom. She sees two pictures of his parents and feels naked in front of them. Outside she looks and sees many white tables that look like diamonds as well. They show further a relationship between time and space. A montage is shown of buildings outside. Modernity's coldness pierces her. The ominous music as they embrace spells doom. He talks to her about marriage and she is fickle. She only says, "I don't know." This uncertainty angers Piero.

Inside his apartment they play and leave. They promise to see each other tomorrow, the next day and so forth. A montage of shots show modernity overpowering nature. Buildings are everywhere. The broken lines of the pedestrian crosswalk show a lack of permanence in all things. A hole in the barrel of water leaks whatever love between Piero and Vittoria is left. This is shown by the piece of wood and matches inside. A man comes out of the bus reading a newspaper that warns of the nuclear arms race. The draining water from the barrel goes to the sewer.