C or D: Russell Banks

Banks was there for a screening of Affliction at the Lightbox tonight. I've seen it five or six times now, and more and more I think it's one of the great American films of the past 20 years (and I'm otherwise not a fan of Schrader's own films). There was another thread last year where a couple of people posted about how bad--or at least hammy--they thought James Coburn is, something I strongly disagree with. I find him every bit as terrifying as he needs to be. (Banks said the role was offered to Paul Newman first, then James Garner.) Nolte and Spacek are perfect.

i've always been a schrader partisan, but i admire Affliction quite a bit. it's hard to separate it from the moment when i saw it, when it was an incredibly meaningful and impactful movie for me - i was 13 when it came out on video, right at the moment when adolescence induces a kind of self-awareness that you hadn't known before, and it was huge to me. but i've appreciated it more, and in different ways, as i get older. it takes on new shadings every time i watch it. and Nolte is so goddamn good in it. the burning barn scene...

There was another thread last year where a couple of people posted about how bad--or at least hammy--they thought James Coburn is, something I strongly disagree with.

i bristled at that as well. i think he's really good. he veers a bit into comedy at times - i laugh thinking of his delivery of "don't sass me" - but i dont think that's harmful to the picture. i don't laugh at him for being bad, it's just a reaction to the sudden jolt of malicious energy he gives off when he appears. seeing nolte at the oscars last night, the first thing i thought was that he'd become coburn in affliction.

pretty interesting that it came out the same year as sweet hereafter. thats one i need to revisit. that movie had a similar impact on me, actually.

seeing nolte at the oscars last night, the first thing i thought was that he'd become coburn in affliction.

ha, i was going to post something like this a few minutes ago.

yeah,i saw coburn & schrader introduce the film here in la at a special screening. i thought coburn was a bit hammy but he was probably so happy at that stage of his career to have a decent part that he decided to go all in. and it is scary despite the camp. thought it was a solid adaptation of the novel (banks got a bunch of jeers a few weeks back as well in some other thread, it's been 20 years at least since i read affliction and continental drift so have no idea how i would rate them now but they seemed good at the time)

Banks began the Q&A by saying that people mistakenly take Affliction to be autobiographical...and then proceeded to talk about his violent, alcoholic father (and, the implication was, grandfather), and how he and his younger brother had completely opposite reactions to the situation: Banks was violent and drinking heavily by his early 20s, while his brother stayed clear of all alcohol. He must have meant that James Coburn and his own father drove differently coloured cars.

The Sweet Hereafter was shot simultaneously with Affliction, one in B.C./Toronto and the other in Montreal, and Banks talked about how different the atmosphere was as he went back and forth between sets: American vs. Canadian, Hollywood vs. a bunch of grad students, etc. Being Toronto, Egoyan was in the audience last night, which led to a bit of (I thought) obsequiousness: Banks said that The Sweet Hereafter was the more musical and elegiac film, and that it had something that Affliction missed. I haven't seen The Sweet Hereafter since it came out, but I much preferred Affliction at the time.

Change "obsequiousness" to "flattery"--all I mean is that I don't think Banks would have said that had Schrader been in the audience instead.

He must have meant that James Coburn and his own father drove differently coloured cars.

heh

maybe he means that he didnt murder his dad and burn down his barn.

So where to start? I know the film adaptations, like them both a lot. The Sweet Hereafter's at the library.

Read Sweet Hereafter a million years ago, but I remember liking it. Structurally, it is different enough from the adaptation that it is worthwhile even if you know the film.

I saw him speak before a screening of Affliction at the Lightbox once and got a DVD signed.

Just put Cloudsplitter on hold at my local library.

Read _Sweet Hereafter_ a million years ago, but I remember liking it. Structurally, it is different enough from the adaptation that it is worthwhile even if you know the film.

Thanks, all. I read The Sweet Hereafter. You're right: a different experience from the film. It ended rather patly but I admired how well he situated the citizens of that NY town: their resentments, abuses, sources of pride.

I guess Cloudsplitter's the place to go, eh?

Picked it up from the library yesterday; will try to dive in this weekend.

continental drift any good?