Arizona Dream

Having seen this movie, I felt rather strange. This bubbly feeling in my gut kept me up in the night. I felt I had to do something for this film, confess my love in a letter, send it flowers, buy it Champagne. It left me gasping. I wanted more. So the rest of the night I watched the special features on the DVD.

I realise that it is sad to have emotions about a film that would usually be reserved for living beings, however I am completely unashamed. If this movie was a man, I'd do unspeakable things to it. I don't care what it's "about". I don't give a monkey's about any "plot" that it may or may not have. I have not searched for anything that everybody conditioned to Hollywood films, however good or bad they may be, inevitably searches for in a film. Why do you need to be spoonfed? Can you not just completely let go and enjoy a work of art for its mere beauty?

Sorry, journeying into pretentious land.

This is undoubtedly my absolute favourite Johnny Depp film, it used to be a toss up between Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Dead Man, but I admit that this surpasses them by a fraction. I'd actually like to say that I preferred Dead Man, but I, um, didn't. Sorry. I feel I have cheated on Dead Man.

There are certain scenes in Arizona Dream that show things about Johnny Depp as a performer that I never would have suspected. In this film he stepped into a realm shared by characters in the films of Fellini and Brunuel. It pleases me that he can do art house as fantastically as this and do mainstream as well, although I do not entirely approve of the stuff that is too mainstream (I.E. Pirates).

His character is beautifully complex, he is a kook, but a sexy kook, and he is everything else besides. The other performances are also wonderful. Gallo is a nutcase, Taylor needs therapy, Dunaway is at the same time tyrannical and naive. Sure the characters contradict themselves, but don't we? It just keeps it all the more desirable and fascinating.

For anybody who appreciates surrealist art, this is a must see. For anybody who appreciates Johnny Depp, there is no question that this film is absolutely essential.

Yugoslavian director Emir Kusterica is most well known for his critically acclaimed international films like "Time of the Gypsies" and "Underground"(1995). He did one English language film in Ameica. The film "Arizona Dream" is a highly underrated film that people have seem to forgotten. Which is a shame, since it has an amazing cast of well known actors like Johnny Depp, Vincent Gallo, Faye Dunaway, Jerry Lewis and Lili Taylor. Jonny Depp plays Axel a young twenty something dreamer. In the beginning of the film he has a dream about an Eskimo family. He works at a dock cleaning fish and often drifts away from reality to dreams. Him and his friend Paul (Vincent Gallo) drive to Arizona to visit Axel's uncle Mr. Sweetie (Jerry Lewis)who's a car salesman. I must say Depp and Lewis make a great comic duo. Axel and Paul end up staying with the wealthy Elaine Stalker and her suicidal daughter Grace (Lili Taylor). Axel starts dating Mrs. Stalker, but at the same time has strange feelings for her daughter. The film is very surreal and dreamlike. Mrs. Stalker obsessively dreams of flying, so her and Axel build a flying machine that resembles a Right Brothers style airplane. It's hilarious when the plain repeatedly malfunctions. There's also a floating fish throughout the movie, turtles, an attempted pantie hose suicide and a weird sex scene where Jonny Depp crows like a rooster (must be seen to be believed). Warner Bros. felt that the film was too European. So the film collected dust on their shelf and had a poor limited release. The film does have a magic-realist tragi-comedy style like Emir Kusterica's other Eastern European films. Co writer David Atkins later went on to write the screenplay for Novacaine. Also producer Claudie Ossard has also helped produce other bizarre films like "City of Lost Children". "Arizona Dream" is a quirky and strange masterpiece. Track down a VHS copy, or better yet the 20 minute longer international version. It's quite a cult sensation in Europe.

After watching Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man and Fredrick Thor Fredrickson's Cold Fever I knew that there was going to be a great pairing of acting abilities. This, of course, being that of Johnny Depp and Lili Taylor I was not disappointed. The film, at first, absorbs the viewer into a translucent though engaging tale of exploration into the mind and soul. This makes the viewer belive momentarily that the film that they are watching is going to be fanciful and mystic. Hence there at first is no bond between the characters and the Viewer. However, reality becomes less and less of a point or actuality in the film as it paces through the lives of the characters centering on Johnny Depp's charecter. An ifinitity is subconsiously drawn with him as we watch. Faye Dunnaway, who, at first, seemed utterly mis-cast is brilliant, her potrayal of the pre-menopausal cradle-snatcher is brilliant. Jerry Lewis also makes the film great as gritty realism exists in wealth. It feels like there is a piece of everyone in it, there is depression, love, life and death and the exploration of time. Although the film seems like a dream on celluloid it also makes the viewer understand and more importantly empathise with the charecters and at the end the sadness is alleviated by the theme of life, that life goes on, almost in circles. To anyone who has not yet been seriously touched by a film, watch this. It might change you're mind. 10/10 p.s. Watch for the balloon scene at the beginning!

I was Best Boy on this show. The most pleasant movie experience I've had. Gunnison, Nome (in Feb!), Douglas AZ, Nogales AZ, and a ranch near the Mexican border. I just saw the Director's Cut last night in L.A. ------ Where is the 1000' mag Steadicam shot?! We built an entire cyclorama stage in the alley behind the auto dealer, painted outerspace, rigged a Caddy on a forklift, lit it big (including the only Titan arcs that Mole Richardson had working at the time), and flew a wall up and down for various parts of the 10:00 shot. It was great. Where is it!? That scene took lots of work, time, thought, rehearsal, and we were all very proud of it. I think we did 3 takes, and at dailies (upstairs in the deserted department store next to the hotel) the whole crew was thrilled. Where is that shot?!?!?!?!!?

They say that "Arizona Dream" is Kusturica's best work because it is American, well, it's not that American despite it was filmed there and probably is about the American dream, it is just a story of people's lives, like in all Kusturica's films, and it's just a great work of a great film director, not depending on geographical factors. The characters aren't sexy lady journalists or successful businessmen , they are those who we call usual people - but no one in the world is usual for we aren't made at a factory, and daily routine is much more interesting, and much more humane then any sci-fi-hi-tech-futuristic stuff. all the characters are a bit crazy and so is everything around. There's some magic in there , and something tragic, and everyone's little private dreams, useless and sweet , and relations between people which seem to be one thing but are absolutely another, though the people tied by them may never notice them or never admit, and love all the way through.