“Dear feature film, it’s your turn to let yourself talk about love…”
Whether it is an instant classic, an excellent production poorly received upon its release, or a failure now enjoying the status of cult film, the time has come for assessments, glasses of champagne, songs of overly sweet cake and the good memories of all those images that we may have forgotten over the years.
Today, we blow out the thirty candles of the film…
IN THE WOOD by Tim Burton
Biographical drama | United States | 127 minutes
Featuring…
Johnny Depp…………………………..Edward D. Wood Jr.
Martin Landau…………………………………..Bela Lugosi
Sarah Jessica Parker………………………..Dolores Fuller
Bill Murray……………………………..Bunny Breckinridge
Patricia Arquette……………………………..Kathy O’Hara
Released in North American theaters: October 7, 1994.
Most of the time, the main objective of biographical dramas is to highlight the genius, the exploit and/or the exceptional contribution of some of the figures who have marked the History of humanity in their own way.
Then, in the early 1990s, Tim Burton once again did things his own way by looking at the journey of the man who inherited the unenviable title of “worst director in the history of cinema”.
(Mis)known for his very low budget feature films Glen or Glenda, Bride of the Monster et Plan 9 from Outer SpaceEdward D. Wood Jr. would unknowingly make his mark on the seventh art by seeking by all means to play in the big leagues, but with means and artistic abilities, let’s say, more than modest…
A scene from the film Ed Wood – Walt Disney Pictures Canada
And yet, even if success and accolades were never there for the late filmmaker who became cult in the decades that followed, Burton was able to draw from this story of repeated failures a story as fascinating as it is inspiring, to which he obviously added his unique visual signature, but without it ever overshadowing its main subject.
Beyond the superb black and white photography of Stefan Czapsky (who collaborated with Burton on Edward Scissorhands et Batman Returns), the way in which Ed Wood was filmed, acted, framed and edited constantly echoes the Hollywood cinema of the time visited. All mixed with some more modern traits of American independent cinema of the 1980s and 1990s, which also displayed a particular affection for monochrome images.
More Ed Wood is also a work that was ahead of its time in many ways, notably tackling themes of homosexuality and gender reassignment in the anything but open and inclusive context of 1950s America, while the director always optimist will assume more and more openly the fact that he likes to wear women’s clothes as the story progresses.
In the end, it all allows Burton to sign another celebration of difference by bringing together a joyful and candid group of discarded people, rejected souls and marginalized people, all gathered around a figure who is more charismatic than talented, but knowing how to surround himself – and take under his wing – individuals who can serve him, and vice versa.
A scene from the film Ed Wood – Walt Disney Pictures Canada
The feature film was the second collaboration between Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, after the remarkable Edward Scissorhands from 1990. The actor easily communicates all the enthusiasm and wonder of his character through his luminous gaze, in each scene that he has the opportunity to shoot, detecting perfection in the worst flaws, and finding new opportunity at every dead end.
If this is one of the most memorable performances of Depp’s career (and the competition is fierce to say the least at this level), the actor also found in Martin Landau (1928-2017) the perfect accomplice and playing partner. The latter offers a performance as funny as it is moving in the shoes of the legendary interpreter of Dracula, Bela Lugosi, with whom Ed Wood had become friends, before giving him the opportunity to return to the cinema through the side door.
But for Wood as for Lugosi, cinema was above all a story of passion.
A few months later, Landau would win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of this grumpy and intractable old man, but also proud and generous, struggling with serious health and consumption problems, and contemplating death. which gets a little closer every day.
Ed Wood would also walk away with the statuette for Best Makeup at the 1995 Oscars ceremony.
A scene from the film Ed Wood – Walt Disney Pictures Canada
30 YEARS LATER…
For Tim Burton, Ed Wood ended up becoming a sort of preamble which would lead, two years later, to the hilarious Mars attacks!a pastiche of science fiction cinema dating from the same era during which Edward D. Wood Jr. was active.
A few years later, in 1999, Frank Oz would in turn celebrate this somewhat daunting, but totally committed approach, specific to the filming of Z series films through his criminally underestimated Bowfingerwhich brought together Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy on screen for the first time.
Ed Wood is certainly one of the most personal films Tim Burton has made. A project which allowed the main party to express all his love for the seventh art by celebrating the courage, resourcefulness, stubbornness and eternal optimism of a man determined to make his way in the profession, and maintaining a blind trust in one’s own vision.
And we can certainly imagine the same stars in Tim Burton’s eyes when shooting this feature film.
Ed Wood is available on Disney+, on Video on Demand, as well as in Blu-ray format.
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