What a hoot it was to watch John Hurt, quasi-catatonic during much of "Indiana Jones / Crystal Skull," suddenly hitch his thumbs under his armpits as though he were a preening professor or a barrister at court. Hmmmmmm..... I wonder what OTHER movie he did that in ????
"A bride without a head !"
"A wolf without a foot !"
Wait, what? He does this in A Man for All Seasons, too? Wow. I need to look at both movies again. Though knowing that Spielberg is a Fred Zinnemann fan (the influence of The Day of the Jackal is all over Munich), I'd be pleasantly surprised if he were such a fan as to ask John Hurt to recycle this particular detail for Indy 4. Hmm...
"What I don't understand is how we're going to stay alive this winter."
Yep, in the final trial scenes of AMFAS, Hurt also hitches his thumbs under his armpits. Although, it could just be trademark / stereotypical British acting to achieve a look of being "professorial" !
The Day of the Jackal is great --- I've got to see Munich to compare. What else have you heard concerning Zinnemann's influence on Spielberg ?
"A bride without a head !"
"A wolf without a foot !"
I know Spielberg is a big High Noon fan. He raved about it in an AFI interview once. You can kind of see the influence of it on Minority Report, and perhaps even Duel--which Zinnemann himself once claimed to have admired after seeing it on television.
"What I don't understand is how we're going to stay alive this winter."
There are some overt nods to Jackal in Munich. The one that comes to mind is Ciaran Hinds and the all-too-willing girl with the open hotel room. Plus there's Michael Lonsdale playing some sort of anarchist/crime boss.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down someone else's life for his own."
icebox admire ur erudition
ah do we perchance have some Fred Zinneman fans here???....Hands down my favorite director. The vision he had for his films was always upfront...how individuals handle moral courage. One of the greatest ethical directors in film. I don't know how he's looked upon today but I hope his work stays top of mind with future directors. And I'll plug a good one in case you haven't seen it.."Act of Violence"...a noir.
shareAct of Violence is great. My favorite Zinnemann though is probably The Nun's Story.
"I had a big lunch that DIDN'T tempt fate!"
The Nun's Story. Yes, what a fine film. I like to watch that film at least a 2x a year together with his other films. Now that film is so rich and evocative of the turmoil that sometimes occurs between our day to day life and the spiritual. As we can see,many are called and few are chosen.
shareFred Zinneman is one of those directors who often go overlooked because the work well in many genres. My favorite Zinneman other than this film is From Here to Eternity.
It is not our abilities that show who we truly are...it is our choices