Making Movies
(excerpt)
The Contract
SAMUEL BREMMER: American culture, the
film industry, Hollywood has introduced two new mythic figures into
the human psyche. They are the cowboy and the gangster, the
representative of goodness or innocence, and the representative of
evil or corruption. Both are characters who seek that highest of all
American ideals freedom. Besides representing good and evil, they
also represent the country and the city. Americans have always had a
distaste for urban life. It represents rules, law, restrictions. In a
way I suppose the cowboy represents what most Americans would like to
be, while the gangster represents what they fear they might be.
Simplistic, I know, but it is the American mentality. Being a
Canadian I have been both attracted and repelled by the American
vision. It is highly romantic and simplistic. So what am I getting
at? Well, the Canadian, being a spectator at close range, cannot keep
a straight face. We are born sceptics. We laugh. And so that is why,
to answer your question, we made a light comedy out of this gangster
film.
I.
CHICAGO, 1920’S
2.
black limousine skids a round a corner
a man hangs out of a window
sets off the sidewalk with machine gun
fire
two men fall down
a dog bleeds with barks
an old gentleman comforts his heart
two little girls drop their dolls
the dolls scream out
a woman pushing a baby carriage
abandons it for shelter
the sun seeks cover behind a cloud
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