This World, Then the Fireworks

This is not a film for everyone. It is dark, sultry, twisted and self indulgent, and that doesn’t have mass appeal nowadays unless Quentin Tarantino is directing and people are shooting each other in the face. It is, however, a terrific piece of filmmaking and as a fifties period piece it is surpassed only by films actually made in the fifties.

It is the story of brother and sister twins who were traumatized as children and turn out quite screwed up as adults. There is the ever present hint of incest looming in their relationship and they are both prone to lascivious escapades. The story serves up a slice of their lustfully demented lives together.

You almost have to be over 50 to appreciate this movie or be someone who likes old black and white films from that era. Director Michael Oblowitz has recreated not just the look, but the feel of the period. Tom Priestly, who went on to be the cinematographer on “The Thomas Crown Affair” did a fantastic job with filters and lighting to give the film an authentic fifties feel. The sets, props, costumes and music were all meticulously accurate. The use of a first person narrative (the story was narrated by Marty [Billy Zane]) was a very popular device in 40’s and 50’s films (think Humphrey Bogart).

Unfortunately, the film was more form than substance since the story was a just meandering film noir libido ride. Still, for fifties nostalgia buffs, this is a treat.

Gina Gershon was fabulous as Carol. She was sexy, seductive, and lewd while simultaneously being vulnerable and fragile. I can’t remember seeing her in a role better suited to her talents, nor can I remember her giving a better performance. Billy Zane was really wrong for this part. His acting was fine, but it failed to capture the character considering the context of the period. Men of this period were known for their strength and impassive response to almost everything. Naturally this would always lead to a great scene marked by a fit of anger somewhere in the film as the pressure became too great for him to bear. Zane was too mercurial in his portrayal of this character. He had the male sex thing down, but he came across as shrill and defensive in a lot of scenes, very un-fifties.

Sheryl Lee gave a terrific performance as Lois, the sex crazed lady cop who becomes obsessed with Marty. We may never hear from her again, but for one film she grabbed the spotlight and ran with it. She was so desperately needy and shameless in her appetite for Marty that it seemed she couldn’t live unless she was breathing the air he just exhaled.

I gave this film a 7/10. It is a 10 as far as filmmaking and period authenticity and the story was about a 5. If you like film noir, unabashed lust and the fifties, this movie is a must see.

I really can't understand why this film has such a poor rating. I rented it totally randomly years ago and was absolutely entranced. It's about good people who do bad things, and bad people who do good things, and about the moral values of society. It has a wonderful visual style, portrays an amazingly consistent world.

The whole film has an air of sadness pervading it that sticks with me five years on.

Difficult viewing, but wonderful.

If you see this for rent or cheap purchase anywhere, grab it and see one of the most individual and haunting films ever.

There are a lot of plot holes and implausibilities in this one, but overall I thought it was worth a look because Sheryl Lee gives a great performance that is full of emotion, conflict, and sensuality. Gina Gershon does a nice job too, and the small-town 1950's atmosphere is nicely done. The odd tension between the siblings is overplayed and some of the character's actions don't seem very credible to me, but still an interesting film as a one-off when better options aren't around.

Billy Zane is perfect as the sociopathic Marty, and his voice-over narration IS the Jim Thompson novella. This World is simultaniously an overblown parody and a loving homage to not only Thompson, but fifties hardboiled thrillers in general. Gritty touches of realism mix with a nostalgiac 50s pastiche and stylized performances and camera work. Sure to be over the heads of most modern viewers (see above review) but if you love film noir, and especially the pulp novels that helped spawn it, this film is beautiful, hillarious, and genuinely misanthropic. All the performances are very accurate to the way the characters acted in the novella. Shot like a combination of a moving Edward Hopper painting and an Italian Giallo thriller. HIGHLY recommended!

I'm a long-time fan of Jim Thompson, and I very much enjoyed THIS WORLD, THEN THE FIREWORKS, a flawed but gritty little project which manages to capture Thompson's hard-edged stylistic virtuosity quite nicely. Regardless, I wouldn't open-handedly recommend it to anyone who's not a foaming-at-the-mouth noir fanatic, as the film's tone of pervasive hopelessness will likely prove unappealing to many. As well, much of the violence is purblindly direct and quite potent.

The lurid tale at hand concerns a dejected Chicago news reporter returning to the rustic environs of his youth(and to the sister he once loved in a rather unwholesome way), and finding that the passing of years has reduced the town to a squalid ragdump, rife with sordid lives and ubiquitary misery. Relentlessly dark and subtly sardonic ultra-noir, with even the most likable characters suppressing some degree of unscrupulous shadiness. Not a joyful diversion, but effective, and surprisingly sincere in its illustration of the source material.

6/10...recommended.