- Reds (film)
Infobox Film | name = Reds
caption = "Reds" movie poster
director =Warren Beatty
producer =Warren Beatty
writer =Warren Beatty Trevor Griffiths
starring =Warren Beatty Diane Keaton Jack Nicholson Paul Sorvino Maureen Stapleton Gene Hackman Edward Herrmann
music =Stephen Sondheim Dave Grusin
cinematography =Vittorio Storaro
editing =Dede Allen
Craig McKay
distributor =Paramount Pictures
released =December 4 ,1981 (USA)
runtime = 194 min.
language = English
Russian
German
budget = $35,000,000 US (est.)
imdb_id = 0082979"Reds" is a 1981 film starring
Warren Beatty andDiane Keaton . It centers on the life of John Reed, the Communist, journalist, and writer who chronicled the Russian Revolution in his book "Ten Days that Shook the World ".Besides Beatty and Keaton, the movie stars
Edward Herrmann ,Jerzy Kosinski ,Jack Nicholson ,Paul Sorvino ,Maureen Stapleton ,Gene Hackman ,Ramon Bieri ,Nicolas Coster andM. Emmet Walsh . It was adapted by Warren Beatty,Peter S. Feibleman (uncredited),Trevor Griffiths ,Elaine May (uncredited) andJeremy Pikser from Reed's memoir. It was produced and directed by Beatty.The film also features, as "witnesses," interviews with the celebrated radical educator and peace activist 98-year old
Scott Nearing (1883-1983), authorDorothy Frooks (1896-1997), reporter and authorGeorge Seldes (1890-1995), and the American writerHenry Miller (1891-1980), among others. Warren Beatty was awarded the Oscar for Best Director for the film. It was also nominated for Best Picture, but lost to "Chariots of Fire ".In June 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. "Reds" was acknowledged as the ninth best film in the epic genre. [cite news | author =
American Film Institute | title = AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres | work = ComingSoon.net | date = 2008-06-17 | url = http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=46072 | accessdate= 2008-06-18] [cite web | title= Top 10 Epic | url = http://www.afi.com/10top10/epic.html | publisher=American Film Institute |accessdate= 2008-06-18]Cast
The Witnesses
"Some are very well known, others less so."
*
Jacob Bailin
*Roger Nash Baldwin - "(founder of the ACLU)"
*John Ballato
*Harry Carlisle
*Kenneth Chamberlain
*Andrew Dasburg
*Tess Davis
*Will Durant - "(Philosopher, historian, and writer)"
*Hamilton Fish III - "(Congressman)"
*Adele Gutman Nathan
*Blanche Hays Fagen
*Dorothy Frooks - "(Author, publisher, military figure and actress)"
*Hugo Gellert - "(Illustrator and satirist)"
*Emmanuel Herbert
*George Jessel - "(Actor, singer, songwriter, and movie producer)"
*Isaac Don Levine
*Arthur Mayer
*Henry Miller - "(Writer)"
*Scott Nearing - "(Conservationist, peace activist, educator and writer)"
*Adela Rogers St. Johns - "(Journalist, novelist, and screenwriter)"
*Dora Russell - "(Feminist and progressive campaigner)"
*George Seldes - "(Investigative journalist and media critic)"
*Art Shields
* Jessica Smith - "(Editor and activist)"
*Arne Swabeck - "(American Communist leader)"
*Bernadine Szold-Fritz
*Galina von Meck
*Heaton Vorse
*Will Weinstone
*Rebecca West - "(Feminist and writer)"
*Lucita Williams Production
Warren Beatty came across the story of John Reed in the mid 1960s and film editor
Dede Allen remembers Beatty mentioning making a film about Reed's life as far back as 1966. Later, in the 1970s Beatty would begin to write the first drafts of what would later become "Reds", but the process stalled. In 1976, Beatty though would find a suitable collaborator inTrevor Griffiths who began work but was delayed when his wife died in a plane crash. [cite news | author =Peter Biskind | title = Thunder on the Left | date = 2006-03 | url = http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2006/03/reds200603?currentPage=1| accessdate= 2008-06-23] The first draft of the script was finished in 1978 but Beatty had problems with it and the two spent four and a half months on fixing it and later Beatty's friendElaine May would also collaborate on the script.Beatty originally had no intention of acting in the film or even directing it because he had learned on various projects that producing a film alone is a difficult task. He considered
John Lithgow for the part of John Reed because the two looked similar but eventually Beatty decided to act in the film and direct it himself. Jack Nicholson was cast asEugene O'Neill overJames Taylor andSam Shepard . [cite news | author =Peter Biskind | title = Thunder on the Left | date = 2006-03 | url = http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2006/03/reds200603?currentPage=4| accessdate= 2008-06-23]When principal photography began in August 1979 the original intention was for a 15 to 16 week shoot but it would take one whole year to just shoot the film. The process was slow because it was shot in five different countries and at various points the crew had to wait for snow to fall in
Helsinki (and other parts ofFinland ), which stood in for theSoviet Union , and for rain to stop inSpain . Beatty would also not stop the camera between takes and would have it continuously roll. He also insisted on a large amount of takes.Paul Sorvino said he did as many as 70 takes for one scene and actressMaureen Stapleton had to do 80 takes of one particular scene which caused her to quip to Beatty, "Are you out of your fucking mind?". [cite news | author =Peter Biskind | title = Thunder on the Left | date = 2006-03 | url = http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2006/03/reds200603?currentPage=7| accessdate= 2008-06-23]Diane Keaton and Beatty's romantic relationship also began to deteriorate during the filming as Peter Biskind writing about the making of "Reds" said, "Beatty’s relationship with Keaton barely survived the shoot. It is always a dicey proposition when an actress works with a star or director—both, in this case—with whom she has an offscreen relationship. ... Keaton appeared in more scenes than any other actor, save Beatty, and many of them were difficult ones, where she had to assay a wide range of feelings, from romantic passion to anger, and deliver several lengthy, complex, emotional speeches. George Plimpton once observed, “Diane almost got broken. I thought [Beatty] was trying to break her into what Louise Bryant had been like with John Reed.” Adds executive producer Simon Relph, “It must have been a strain on their relationship, because he was completely obsessive, relentless.” [cite news | author =Peter Biskind | title = Thunder on the Left | date = 2006-03 | url = http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2006/03/reds200603?currentPage=8| accessdate= 2008-06-23]The editing process began in spring of 1980 with as many as 65 people working on editing down and going over approximately two and a half million feet of film. [cite news | author =
Peter Biskind | title = Thunder on the Left | date = 2006-03 | url = http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2006/03/reds200603?currentPage=9| accessdate= 2008-06-23] Post-production ended in November of 1981 more than two years after the start of filming. Paramount stated that the final cost of the film was $33.5 million dollars, which would be the rough equivalent of around $80 million today. [cite news | author =Peter Biskind | title = Thunder on the Left | date = 2006-03 | url = http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2006/03/reds200603?currentPage=10| accessdate= 2008-06-23]Awards
The movie won
Academy Awards for:
* Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Maureen Stapleton playingEmma Goldman )
* Best Cinematography (Vittorio Storaro )
* Best Director (Warren Beatty)and was nominated for:
* Best Actor in a Leading Role (Warren Beatty)
* Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jack Nicholson)
* Best Actress in a Leading Role (Diane Keaton)
* Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
* Best Costume Design
* Best Film Editing
* Best Picture
* Best Sound
* Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082979/awards "Awards for "Reds"] at IMDb] .References
External links
*
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