When this came out there was a lot of praise for his direction, but he didn't really go on to do any other good movies, did he ?... (Except for Philadelphia I guess, but I haven't even bothered seeing that)
I remember people were saying he was the new Hitchcock etc, but he just seemed to disappear from the limelight really (Rest In Peace of course xx)
Philadelphia is pretty good.
As for your question I would share the following: “It's possible for me to make a bad movie out of a good script, but I can't make a good movie from a bad script.” — George Clooney
Add to that the fact that TSOL is overrated. Caged Heat still remains Demme's masterpiece
shareThank you so much. It is overrated. I think Anthony Hopkins was good. But the story was not that great.
shareHmmm...It's a good movie but I can buy that it is overrated. I think a lot of the popularity of the movie at the time was the mystique of Hannibal's cannibalism, which added a taboo beyond normal serial killer movies.
shareHe did this, Philadelphia, Stop Making Sense, After Midnight, Swimming to Cambodia, Something Wild, Swing Shift, Melvin and Howard.
That nothing to apologize for.
He was a master director as far as I’m concerned, literally one of the best ever. His trick of having great actors looking directly down the lens was genius, and the realism he creates while also being expressive is unparalleled.
Definitely watch Philadelphia and his other excellent Denzel project - The Manchurian Candidate.
Definitely watch Philadelphia and his other excellent Denzel project - The Manchurian Candidate.
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Eh..that's a fifty/fifty proposition as far as I'm concerned.
I thought Demme's Manchurian Candidate remake was truly awful and truly an insult to the 1962 original.
Moreover, Demme just the year before that defiled ANOTHER (if less profound) classic thriller with his remake of the 1963 pop classic "Charade." He elected not to give his remake the same title, however: it became "The Truth About Charlie." Which actually sounded a lot like the title of Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry.
The Truth About Charlie (Charade remake) came out in 2002.
The Manchurian Candidate remake came out two years later in 2004.
Personally, I believe that this one-two punch of insulting remakes of two beloved classics are what killed off Jonathan Demme's directorial career. Look at his movies after those two. I think he barely got to MAKE any more movies, its mainly TV work.
This is not to disparage Demme's career up to and including Silence of the Lambs (his peak.) Nor the achievement of Philadelphia in 1993(though it really didn't play quite as well as SOTL.) Indeed, between Philadelphia and The Truth About Charlie, I only find one major film -- Beloved, with Oprah Winfrey. I can't remember -- was that a hit or Oscar contender?
All the "good stuff" with Jonathan Demme comes in the years through Philadelphia:
Melvin and Howard
Something Wild
Swimming to Cambodia
Married to the Mob
..and a whole bunch of revered music video and documentary work with an emphasis on Haiti and Caribbean locales.
Demme's career was probably as much in music and documentaries as in dramatic narrative film and thrillers.
CONT
But there can be no denying that the Charade remake and the Manchurian Candidate remake were just so much worse than their origin films:
Charade had been a "star vehicle" for Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in their peak star years. In 2002 it probably would have needed Julia Roberts and George Clooney to get much of the same star power -- and Clooney probably wasn't big enough. Tom Cruise maybe? Or Tom Hanks?
Instead, we had Mark Wahlberg in for Grant(long before Wahlberg had attained full stardom) and Thandie Newton in for Audrey Hepburn( and Newton NEVER attained stardom.)
Charade also had in support future stars Walter Matthau, James Coburn,and George Kennedy. Tim Robbins made a valiant effort at the Walter Matthau part(he even used Matthau's vocal patterns) but...no. And all the great scenes in Charade were pretty much removed and thrown out for The Truth About Charlie. The climax was no climax at all.
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The Manchurian Candidate didn't have a star power problem. Denzel Washington was in for Frank Sinatra from the original, and The Great Meryl Streep was in for Angela Lansbury. Except as it turned out, Meryl Streep was much WORSE in her villainous mother role than Lansbury was, and Denzel was too "put together and self assured" to match Frank Sinatra's shellshocked, half-brainwashed, scared rabbit performance from the original.
But the acting wasn't the problem. The wholesale rejection of the brilliant Cold War era poltical satire and observation was gone. No longer could Communists be villains. It had to be the usual "generic evil American corporation" and one of the most unique political thrillers of all time became "just another thriller" with too many plot turns and no real POV.
Two bad remakes of two great and beloved originals. THAT's what ended Jonathan Demme's top tier career, but he went on to do lots of good things and was roundly celebrated by friends and mentees for his skill and kindness as a filmmaker and a man.
Philadelphia was a GREAT and important film.
Stop Making Sense is the best concert film ever made. Heart of Gold is very good.
I readout liked Swimming too Cambodia, although it wasn't a directorial masterpiece. Simmering Wild was solid.
Demme was a good director who made movies i enjoyed a lot and hit a couple of home runs.