What happens to Paul Hackett is like what happens to Buster Keaton
Like everyone else I’m sure, I have a few favorite films that I like to watch every couple of years. American filmmaker Martin Scorcese is behind some of my choices. When going through the Scorcese canon, a less than obvious choice is After Hours (1985). This is one of those bizarre films that works because it’s so unlike most other films. It’s also a wonderful piece of black comedy, something we see successfully done in British cinema all the time, but a genre that almost always fails with American films.
After Hours tells the story of Paul Hackett (coolest film name ever) played by Griffin Dunne. Paul Hackett is having the worst night of his life. Trying to make his way home from Soho, he faces a series of maddingly surreal and dangerous misadventures that make his pointless journey rather “Kafkaesque.” Scorcese actually called this film ”an exercise completely in style.”
Layman’s film critic, Roger Ebert, who has written a book on the work of Scorcese, is also a fan of After Hours. In the Great Films section of his website he includes his take on this sometimes forgotten masterpiece. He describes this film as something approaching “pure filmmaking.” He says “it’s a nearly flawless example of — itself. It lacks, as nearly as I can determine, a lesson or message.” Many viewers have found the level of suspense in After Hours to be unbearbale. Ebert explains that while the film “is technically a comedy [it] plays like a satanic version of the classic Hitchcock plot formula.” Ebert has always been better at exlaining things than describing them.
The film should be available from most major movie outlets. You can read what Roger Ebert has to say about it in his review The time is three a.m. Do you know where your sanity is?
For me the review was worth reading for the quotable:
What happens to Paul Hackett is like what happens to Buster Keaton: just one damned thing after another.
That may not necessarily describe my life, but it’s a cool way to see my name used in print.
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:15 am
Dear Paul,
Great hook in the title, very well written, and great ending. Fun post.
I do not know the movie, and, of course, now have to see it.
I also look forward to seeing one of your movies.
Tschüss,
Chris
March 25th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Paul, I tracked back to your site after you visited Go Into The Story. Thanks for your comments re Slumdog Millionaire. Very cogent. Re After Hours: It’s a gem of a movie and I featured it here as a prime example of a movie story type known as Frustration Comedies. I’ve added your screenwriting blog to my Friends blogroll.
Also great site Guitar Noise. I played music professionally (guitar) for 7 years. Nice to ‘meet’ you.
Scott Myers
March 26th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Nice to meet you too, Scott. I’ve been tuned into your site for a while now. The frequency with which you post makes sure I always have something to read between tasks.
I did read your feature on After Hours. It’s a movie that takes so much unraveling I don’t even know where to begin. It’s better to just enjoy it.
April 23rd, 2009 at 6:54 am
I thought you might be interested in this article: http://www.convergemag.com/artsandhumanities/Languages-in-2020.html
February 10th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
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