I Am Shiva, The God Of Death
Another trip to see Michael Clayton reminded me, vividly, of what I love about the movie. Multiple viewings not only let you see small things you didn
April 25, 2024
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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” â some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it â I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury â he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” â and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging â I was with her at that moment â she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy namedâ” “Yeah, sure â you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that Iâm on the phone with you now, after all thatâs been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didnât seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. Thereâs not a case of that. He wasnât using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had â if that were what the accusation involved â the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. Iâm not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, âYou know, itâs not this, itâs thatâ? Because â let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, thatâs what it lacked. Thatâs what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
Great stuff, DP. Couldn’t agree more.
awesome flick.
i want to see it again.
To steal from a previous entry by David:
“Every once in a while, I feel like Armond White is speaking for me in ways that I don’t speak.”
ARMOND DOES CLAYTON (http://www.nypress.com/20/40/film/ArmondWhite.cfm?CFID=5979458&CFTOKEN=44416347)
I actually am not in 100% step in step with Armond on this one. If you were to pin me down to which review most closely reflects my opinion on the films, it would be Manhola Dargis, where she states it is a more finely tuned legal thriller-classier than “The Firm” or “The Devil’s Advocate.” But, Armond make some really correct points on this picture. It is really funny to me that Dave is jumping up and down over this picture and yet was so down on “Syriana” and “Jesse James” because they are faded copies of Malick, Pollack, and Pakula (my paraphrasing of your original arguments). What is this film if not a copy/readjustment of all 70’s conspiracy films (though a very good readjustment)? Also, can we stop with the Paddy Chayefesky was this Biblical prophet who saw this our present “last days” of a rotting future? Our past was never naive/innocent as we look back from the present. The most brilliant argument for this is the current, brilliant first season of “Mad Men”.
One thing that’s slightly misleading about your musings Dave, is that the line you quoted from Clayton may come at the beginning of the film, but it’s in flashforward and chronologically doesn’t come until after most of the action of the film.
Does he have a fairly cyncial attitude about what he does a few days earlier? Perhaps.
SPOILER WARNING (added by editor)
But it seems to me that it’s the way he’s treated by Pollack and Company, the death of his friend and the deaths his law firm is helping to cover-up (or avoid responsibility for) that bring him to the state of disillusionment we see him in, and hear him acknowledge so bluntly when he gets to that hit & run guy’s house.
Still, I agree that it’s a great screenplay, though Original Screenplay is the category of indie quirk recognition and I’m not so sure it’s the likely winner over Juno, or maybe even Ratatouille.
I finally saw it today. Very entertaining. And yes, the theme of smarts vs wisdom is certainly relevant. Watching it I couldn’t help but think, “How fucked up is the someone who wants to be a lawyer these days?” An idea which funny enough haunts the entire film.
It’s one of the few recent Hollywood films that shows a value system and seems to mean it. Everyone associated should be proud. I hope it finds an audience.
It’s a great movie. I think it could go all the way with the major noms. It is far and away one of the best of the year and with Sydney Pollack, steven Soderbergh and Anthony Minghella producing well…that’s a lot of friends in town. Clooney is amazing. The writing is brilliant.
Damn it… SPOILER warnings!!!
SPOILER
One of the things that is so brilliant about it, Laz, is that we don’t know the context at the start and see how much it is progress at the end.
But on both timelines, his role is discussed early and often. He is not unaware… but by the end, he is AWARE.
I’m just amazed at how much more I like the movie with each passing day. It’s like a polaroid picture slowly developing in front of you until you can finally see everything so clearly. It’s an amazing picture and I recently wrote a piece on it and I could have easily written two thousand or three thousand more words on it. It’s just such a rich, dense picture with real characters that are flawed and human.
Funny, your spoiler warning draws more attention to that comment than it otherwise would have, đ
Sorry, I was trying to be vague, but I guess not enough.
On your last point Dave, agreed. At times I wonder if Gilroy’s use of time frame was too gimmicky, but it does seem to work, esp from the character standpoint. And without venturing into spoiler territory again, do you think that first scene should end earlier with him just looking at the horses, and saving the rest for the climax?
Juno’s going to be tough to beat for screenplay but if anyone can do it…all of the serious heat is in adapted screenplay, as usual.
I would like to see Ratatouille be labelled the favourite, but of course it’s not. đ
I liked Juno, but let’s be honest – its going to be completely and utterly overlooked come Oscar time.
People who think the way people talk in Juno are the way “kids” talk in real life are the same people who have been watching too much Gilmore Girls….
“People who think the way people talk in Juno are the way “kids” talk in real life are the same people who have been watching too much Gilmore Girls….”
Do hitmen really talk the way they do in Pulp Fiction?
Do businessmen really talk the way they do in Glengarry Glenn Ross?
Do TV newsmen talk the way they do in Network?
Let’s not start penalizing a film for an original voice because it doesn’t adhere to the verisimilitudes standards of what you think 16 year olds sound like (especially one that’s clearly meant to embody the spirit of Diablo Cody).
If something as craptastic and glib as Little Miss Sunshine can win this category this past year than I think Ms. Cody is certainly in the running.
Terrific movie, but the main thing I took away from Michael Clayton:
27 years have turned “Caddyshack’s” Danny Noonan into “24’s” Gregory Itzin.
Thanks for pointing that out and evaporating part of my childhood, Lex.
I guess the snobs beat the slobs after all.
“You take drugs, Danny?
“Every day.”
“Good. Then what’s your problem?”
Now THAT was a screenplay.
Who stepped on a duck?
I totally agree I really loved this movie. But for a screen play that is so quotable isn’t the actual quote: “I’m not a miracle worker, I’m a janitor.”
I think someone else called him a janitor, Monco… but I could be wrong.
As per Danny Noonan’s advancing years – “He’s an asshole… and he knows it!”
Check back in five years when everybody realizes this film is an empty suit.
This just in: five years from now Devin Feraci watches Michael Clayton and finally understands what all the fuss is about. He then remembers what he once stupidly wrote on The Hot Blog, and sadly it makes him think of a decidedly intellectual but aptly fitting quote, “there is nothing more loathsome than the self one has outgrown.”
Well written post and an incredible movie. I’m going to resist the urge to be snarky because I’ve made this type of mistake more times than I wish to remember; the quote is: ” I’m not a miracle worker, I’m a janitor.”
Definition of a great screenplay: googling my favorite quote from the movie, finding this blog, and being in 100% agreement with the author.
I’m just pissed that it took me this long to see this amazing movie.