was a troubled production would be like referring to the Hindenburg as an air-traffic control snafu — in his memoirEvans describes the five-year process of making this ambitious drama as a combination of “intrigue, anger, blackmail, deceit, pussy galore, macho grandstanding, back stabbing, and threats to life and career.” He forgot to add kidnapping, murder trials, lawsuits, cocaine, temper tantrums, power struggles and a barrage of studio notes that broke Coppola’s spirit.
The idea of revisiting this not-so-pleasant chapter of his professional life occurred to Coppola a few years ago, when he stumbled across a workprint of his first submittededit on a videotape. The director remembered the good, the bad and the ugly of its making, and subsequent unmaking; Coppola also remembered how, exhausted by the constant threats of the movie being taken away from him, he simply submitted to the studio’s whims.
His team at American Zoetrope was just beginning to gather materials for what would be a third version ofthat hit theaters this past August. But Coppola started tinkering with his early ’80s disaster as a sort of hobby, and the more he slipped what had been considered “peripheral” material back into the narrative, the more he saw the dual-narrative that he’d envisioned back in those early, calm-before-the-constant-storms days start to come together.
Specifically, the filmmaker saw the musical half of the story genuinely spring to life. The majority of the material that’s been added back in focuses on the tension between “Sandman” Williams and his brother/partner Clay, notably when the former tries to go solo and woo the club’s singer Lila Rose . But it also allows the Cotton Club’s performers and the culture in Harlem that informed them to step into the spotlight more.
It hasn’t exactly been transformed into a perfect work: The balance still feels like it tilts a tad toward the paler gangster elements. Some line readings by notable actors remind you that their best work still lay ahead. The notion of Sandman’s struggle to make it as a solo artist isn’t fleshed out as much as it needs to be; Lila Rose’s passing for white so she can sing on Broadway, and the schism that causes, is a barely scratched surface.
I could watch Maurice and Gregory Hines dance all day.
Totally want to see this.. loved the movie..
I loved that movie.
mangled and not maligned?
👍🇨🇦
Why?
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