Post by james on Jan 21, 2010 11:48:13 GMT -5
I meant to post something here, buy forgot to do it!
John Amplas also has a role in a few other Romero films. He's one of the scientists in Day of the Dead, albeit with a full beard and glasses, so you might not recognzie him (doesn't look like Martin at all, plus he's 8 years older). He also plays Father in the Father's Day segment in Creepshow - of course, you can't recognize him there under the makeup and prosthetics. I think he might be in Knightriders, but I haven't watched that one in quite some time.
Martin is a very Catholic movie in the capital "C" sense (yep, I'm Catholic), but there's a strong theme that Catholicism, or at least the old-fashioned (European?) type practiced by Martin's uncle is part of the problem (clearly, his supersitions about vampires come from the same source as his Catholic faith). There's a key scene where a church service is taking place in an empty storefront (I think) because the church had burned down, much as the steel factories had been abandoned. You can read plenty into that if you'd like.
I don't think you guys mentioned one of my favorite scenes in the film. Near the end of the film, Martin joins a local parade, walking among members of a brass band marching down a Pittsburgh street. It's his one attempt at connecting with the outside world that is healthy (and not connected with his vampire fantasy (reality?) ), though it's a small step. And the tragic ending follows not long after.
Something interesting about the scene is that it was improvised on the spot. The parade (which was not staged for the movie) happened to be taking place near where the film was shooting, and Romero took advantage of it, asking Amplas to join in. So it's "cinema verite" of a kind, and it recalls Romero's roots in documentary filmmaking.
Not sure if it was a "hit" (depending on how you're defining success for a small indepenent film), but Martin played the midnight movie circuit in New York City for several years. There's an entire chapter in the book Midnight Movies, by Jonathan Rosenbaum and J. Hoberman, about the movie (I can't recommend the book highly enough, by the way).
Oh, I like Monkey Shines and I won't apologize for it.
John Amplas also has a role in a few other Romero films. He's one of the scientists in Day of the Dead, albeit with a full beard and glasses, so you might not recognzie him (doesn't look like Martin at all, plus he's 8 years older). He also plays Father in the Father's Day segment in Creepshow - of course, you can't recognize him there under the makeup and prosthetics. I think he might be in Knightriders, but I haven't watched that one in quite some time.
Martin is a very Catholic movie in the capital "C" sense (yep, I'm Catholic), but there's a strong theme that Catholicism, or at least the old-fashioned (European?) type practiced by Martin's uncle is part of the problem (clearly, his supersitions about vampires come from the same source as his Catholic faith). There's a key scene where a church service is taking place in an empty storefront (I think) because the church had burned down, much as the steel factories had been abandoned. You can read plenty into that if you'd like.
I don't think you guys mentioned one of my favorite scenes in the film. Near the end of the film, Martin joins a local parade, walking among members of a brass band marching down a Pittsburgh street. It's his one attempt at connecting with the outside world that is healthy (and not connected with his vampire fantasy (reality?) ), though it's a small step. And the tragic ending follows not long after.
Something interesting about the scene is that it was improvised on the spot. The parade (which was not staged for the movie) happened to be taking place near where the film was shooting, and Romero took advantage of it, asking Amplas to join in. So it's "cinema verite" of a kind, and it recalls Romero's roots in documentary filmmaking.
Not sure if it was a "hit" (depending on how you're defining success for a small indepenent film), but Martin played the midnight movie circuit in New York City for several years. There's an entire chapter in the book Midnight Movies, by Jonathan Rosenbaum and J. Hoberman, about the movie (I can't recommend the book highly enough, by the way).
Oh, I like Monkey Shines and I won't apologize for it.
