Hell in Heaven

To those who give their lives, so that others may live - to the firefighters of the world - this picture is gratefully dedicated.

This painting is dedicated to those who give their lives so that others can live - firefighters of the whole world .

The film takes place in San Francisco . Architect Doug Roberts ( Paul Newman ), who designed the world's tallest 138-story skyscraper, is invited to open it. About 400 guests from high society are invited to the celebration hall on the 135th floor. During a check before the opening, Roberts finds out that the building was handed over with gross violations of technology and security systems. Son-in-law of the head of the construction company "Duncan Enterprises" Roger Simmons, responsible for the wiring of the building, saved on the budget. As a result, the electrical circuits were not designed for the loads that may occur during operation. The chains are struggling to cope with the current load, and before the grand opening, the party organizers gathered to turn on the full illumination of a skyscraper. James Duncan, the chef at Duncan Enterprises, is aware of the problems, but doesn’t even want to hint to important guests, potential customers, that his skyscraper is not all right.

Meanwhile, the grand opening begins, when the external lighting of the building is turned on, the wiring overheats and a fire starts on the 81st floor. All unnecessary circuits, including the fire alarm, were turned off, so the security service found out about the fire when it had already covered an entire floor. Initially, those in charge try to hide information from the guests, believing that the fire does not develop into a catastrophe. However, this cannot be done, the flame covers several floors and panic begins in the hall for celebrations. On call, a San Francisco fire department arrives under the command of Michael O'Halloran ( Steve McQueen ) and proceeds to extinguish. The evacuation of guests using elevators is quickly interrupted - all the mines are engulfed in flames. The stairs are also impassable. The helicopter rescue attempt from the roof fails - due to strong winds, the aircraft crashes during landing. Due to the fire, a gas pipeline explodes inside the building. Roberts' girl - Susan - gets stuck in an elevator on the 110th floor, hanging in a mine, and is saved only by a miracle - the elevator car can be removed from the wall of the building by helicopter. Part of the victims can be saved by the invention of firefighters - a bungee with a cradle, which lowered the victims to a nearby skyscraper, but it is too slow, and panicked guests disabled it.

As a result, firefighters have to take a desperate step - to blow up tanks with a million gallons of water on the 138th floor of the building. At risk to their lives, O'Halloran and Roberts manage to detonate the C-4 charges, and the stream of water crashes down, knocking down the flames. Those who did not have time to bind themselves were washed away with water. The fire was extinguished, but about 200 people died as a result. In the final scene, O'Halloran, already on earth, remarks:

Today, about 200 people died. Tomorrow ten thousand may die in such a fiery trap.

Original text

The body count was only 200. One of these days 10,000 people are going to die in one of these firetraps.

Roberts agrees with him that it is necessary to consult with firefighters in the construction of such high-rise buildings.

Background

In 1972, the 110-story World Trade Center (WTC) broke the height record held by the Empire State Building for over forty years. A little over a year later, the highest achievement was seized by the Sears Tower ( Chicago ) ^{[4] [9]} . With a new round of “building race”, the theme of skyscrapers has become very popular in the media and works of art. Even at the construction stage, a fire alarm was recorded several times in the WTC, and these events were very negatively reflected in the press ^{[10] [11]} . Also in the early 1970s there were several tragedies in high-rise buildings. On December 25, 1971, the largest catastrophe in the history of fires occurred - at the Tae Yon Kak hotel in Seoul , 163 people died, trapped in a fire trap of a 21-story building ^{[12] [13]} .

Impressed by the events associated with the World Trade Center, in 1970-1973 several literary works were created. So, in the novel "The Tower" by Richard Stern, a fictional 140-story building was built next to the north tower of the center. In Glass Hell (authors Thomas Skortia and Frank Robinson) featured a 66-story skyscraper built in an unnamed US city. Both novels, describing the strongest fire that engulfed the buildings, in the plot only slightly differ in the ending ^{[5] [14]} .

The success of The Adventures of Poseidon (1972) brought producer Irwin Allen high status in the cinematic world, and he decided to continue to develop the path of the disaster film. In 1973, the two largest movie studios in the United States became interested in a promising topic and a competition began between them for potential future bestsellers ^[15] . Warner bros acquired the rights to the novel “The Tower”, and 20th Century Fox - to the novel “Glass Hell”. Companies paid for the rights of about $ 400 thousand each ^[16] . However, both books have not yet been published. The first edition of the Tower appeared on the shelves on November 5, 1973 ^[17] , and The Glass Inferno in 1974 ^{[5] [18]} .

Allen, who was scheduled to be charged with a future film adaptation of 20th Century Fox, found out that his competitors were about to make a film with an almost similar scenario. There is also a version that Allen initially took a chance and acquired the rights to the “Tower” with his money. He then made an appointment with Warner’s management and, risking his reputation, said that rivals from 20th Century Fox had already begun preparing the film adaptation of Glass Hell, after which Warner representatives, succumbing to a bluff, bought the rights from Allen. Be that as it may, in the end, Allen offered the two studios a joint project, since such films released at the same time could only interfere with each other at the box office ^{[~ 1]} . Company management agreed. It was planned to split the 14 millionth budget and equally divide future profits ^{[~ 2]} . This was the first such event in the history of US cinematography. On September 17, 1973, an official announcement was published about the beginning of work on the film ^{[19] [20]} .

Preparing for filming

Preparation for the filming of the film began in April 1974. Alain took the majority of those with whom he successfully worked in The Adventure of Poseidon into the new project. First of all, Bill Abbott . An authoritative visual effects specialist with whom Allen worked together for more than twenty years, has already retired, but returned to active work at the request of Allen ^[21] . Assistant producer Al Gale, artist William Kreber, set designer Rafael Bretton, composer John Williams and others were also called in ^{[22] [20]} . Writing a script that combines works was entrusted to an experienced specialist, an Oscar winner, Stirling Sillifant, who also worked with Allen for a long time. The writer borrowed characters from both novels and developed a combined plot. The ending, with extinguishing the fire with water from the tanks on the top floor, was taken from Glass Hell. In preparing the script, Sillifant constantly consulted with visual effects specialists and firefighters. The writer visited several high-rise buildings around the country and, to his surprise, noted that there were no uniform fire safety standards, and did not find a clear procedure for saving people from heights of more than 20 floors. The newly built skyscraper in Los Angeles generally lacked sprinklers . All these impressions influenced the created scenario. As he later recalled, there was nothing in the plot that he invented that artists and stuntmen could not subsequently portray on the screen ^{[23] [24]} .

Some of the characters retained the names from the books (Paul Simmons, Paula Ramsay), but for the majority they came up with new names and incarnations. At the stage of preparation for the shooting, an important decision was also made - which of the main characters will die in the final scene. The management of the studios believed that one of the three main characters: O'Halloran, Roberts or Duncan - should die to achieve the proper dramatic effect. After long deliberation, they decided to keep everyone alive, but additionally kill someone else from the secondary characters (the choice fell on the bartender Carlos). The working version of the script was completed in December 1973 ^[25] .

The artists of the team of William Krebber painted over two thousand preliminary sketches , and 5 floors of a 138-story skyscraper were created on them ^[21] . In eight pavilions, 57 sets of scenery for various scenes of the picture were built and placed (only 8 of them survived to the end of the filming). A month before the shooting, Bill Abbott took a large number of shots of San Francisco at dusk from carefully calculated angles in order to further use them when shooting ^{[16] [26]} .

Casting

Steve McQueen was almost immediately approved for the main role in the film, and at first he was planned for the role of architect. The remaining actors were selected in the first version as follows: Ernest Borgnine - the chief of firefighters, Bert Lancaster - the head of the construction company. The image of an elderly adventurer and a rich lady should have been embodied by Peter Ustinov and Olivia Dey Havilland . Later plans completely changed. Borgnine and Lancaster could not take part in the filming. Dae Havilland agreed to act only if David Niven would have taken part in the film with her, but he was busy. The old couple was replaced by the stars of the silver screen of the 1950s: Fred Astaire and Jennifer Jones. “Hell in Heaven” was the last work of Jennifer Jones in the movie ^{[27] [25]} .

William Holden, who received the role of the head of Duncan Enterprises, was initially unhappy because his character talked too much on the phone, without much action on the screen. He called the script of the picture "wretched", but agreed to act in film. Holden's fee was $ 750 thousand, becoming the largest in his entire career ^[28] . Having got acquainted with the script, McQueen wanted to change his role to the chief of firefighters, and to take someone in the place of the architect “with a caliber no less than me,” as he himself put it. The producer trusted the instinct of an experienced artist. McQueen himself proposed the candidacy of his friend and rival Paul Newman, who agreed to participate in the project ^[29] . William Holden fully supported this decision: “Newman is a first-class actor and can draw any trash with his game” ^[30] . Newman and McQueen agreed on the same fee ($ 1 million) and 7.5% of the total fees to each ^[28] .

The confrontation between the two actors had their own background. In 1963, McQueen got a role in the film Love with a Stranger , after Newman refused it. At the time, when they were preparing to shoot the film “ Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ”, McQueen was supposed to become Newman’s partner, but due to disputes about the size of the fee, he was replaced by the then not so famous Robert Redford ^[31] . All this subsequently fueled the rivalry on the set between actors for star status ^[32] . In the 1974 film, Newman and McQueen not only received the same fee, but McQueen also made sure that they had exactly the same text in volume ^[33] . Steve even asked the scriptwriter to add twelve lines to his role, although laconic heroes were more suitable for his acting style. The subject of rivalry also became captions. In them, the names of two stars in one frame are shown diagonally so that there is no disagreement about who has the higher status in the picture ^{[25] [34]} .

Scenery and Special Effects

The greatest difficulties arose when working on a luxurious reception hall - a garden and a restaurant where the key events of the film take place. The hall decorations in the pavilion occupied an area of ​​about 1000 m², and the Panorama of night San Francisco surrounding them, about a hundred meters long ^[35] , was itself a work of art: the backdrop was made up of photographs of the city, manually created figures of houses and trees illuminated flickering lights against the background artificial water of the gulf. The "lights" of the city were created by pinholes in the backdrop and placed behind quartz light sources . The “waves” on the surface of the “water” were created from chopped silk blown by fans.The floor of the reception hall in some places was specially raised to a height of 3 meters from the floor of the pavilion. First of all, it helped the actors protruding from the “windows” with a sense of real height. Water that was about to be lowered from above could freely flow down under the scenery. It was also necessary to depict the slope of the bungee coming down to rescue the captives of the fire. The cost of only this part of the scenery and panorama was about $ 300 thousand. ^{[21] [26] [28]} .

Отдельной задачей стало создание модели небоскрёба. Для натуральности пришлось создать две модели, каждая высотой около 20 метров и закрепить их на растяжках. Первая была моделью 40 последних этажей здания, специально созданная в таком масштабе , чтобы соответствовать имеющимся миниатюрным моделям вертолётов. Вторая была полной 138-этажной репликой ^{[36] [37]} . Здесь декораторам также пришлось пойти на компромисс. Более высокая модель здания стоила слишком дорого, и возникли бы проблемы со съёмками сверху. В меньшей модели игрушечный «пожар» смотрелся совсем ненатурально ^[26] . Эффект «пожара» на этаже создавался при помощи горелок со специально подобранными бытовыми газами. Пробовали также и горючие жидкости, но обращение с ними было слишком опасным и неуправляемым. Бутан давал голубое пламя без дыма, а ацетилен — пламя красного оттенка с чёрным дымом. Комбинируя горелки и поток воздуха, создатели добивались необходимого визуального эффекта. Для зрелищности искусственный пожар приходилось снимать с высокой скоростью — до 96 кадров в секунду, и затем воспроизводить с нормальной скоростью 24 кадра в секунду ^{[16] [26]} .

В качестве декораций внутреннего убранства помещений были подготовлены проекты самых передовых элементов дизайна. Продюсер попросил художников в изображении интерьеров и мебели попытаться предсказать будущие тенденции ^[22] . Для оформления использовались картины из коллекции музея Нортона Саймона , в том числе четыре подлинника Пабло Пикассо ^{[27] [28]} .

Буквально за несколько дней до начала съёмок Бирок и Кёнекамп получили возможность испытать только что появившуюся на рынке негативную цветную плёнку Eastman 5247 . Результаты тестов были положительными, но всё же создатели не рискнули 2 миллионами футов (600 км) непроверенной плёнки в ответственном проекте. Для большей части картины, в итоге, была использована опробованная Eastman 5254. Только для работы с миниатюрами Аббот попробовал Eastman 5247, которая давала более резкое изображение ^[38] .

Большинство сцен были сняты при помощи камер Panavision PSR, Mitchell Mark II и Arriflex ^[21] . При съёмках некоторых моментов, когда оператор оказывался под сплошным потоком воды, пришлось использовать специальную модель камеры Panavision для подводной съёмки ^[16] . Кёнекамп, оценивая свой вклад в создание фильма, сказал, что это была из тех картин, где вклад оператора в конечный результат очень велик. «Мне дали шанс и я сполна им воспользовался», вспоминал он ^[21] .

Location

The 138-story glass tower, about 460 meters (1,500 feet) high, the scene of the film is a fictional skyscraper ^{[13] [~ 3]} . In the initial shots, it fits into the city landscape using rotoscoping technology. According to the creators of the film, it is located approximately where the tallest building in San Francisco is currently located - the Transamerica skyscraper (260 m, 48 floors). Scenes inside the lobby of the skyscraper were filmed on the ground floor of the Hyatt Regency San Francisco ( ³⁹⁾ .

The outer part of the first floors of the tower was filmed near the Bank of America office at 555 , California street . The Century City office in Los Angeles was used as the technical floors of the building, generators, and air conditioners. Roger Simmons House was rented at 2898 Vallejo Street (San Francisco) ^[40] .

San Francisco buildings and panoramas were used for secondary landscape and field surveys. In particular, fire engines are driving out of alarm at fire station No. 38, located at 38, Laguns Street ^[39] .

Shooting

The main shooting of the picture began on May 7, 1974. Most of them were organized in the pavilions of the 20th Century Fox company. Field shooting took place on the streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco ^[41] .

The high technical complexity and danger of some scenes made us carefully approach security issues on the set of the future action movie - the actors were insured for a total of $ 50 million ^[27] . Near each actor, in scenes related to fire, a separate fireman was on duty, responsible for ensuring that the fire did not spread to the body, hair or clothes. In total, about twenty extinguishing specialists from San Francisco were employed in the filming of the episodes and on the safety net ^[42] . The consultant of the picture was the commander of one of the fire departments of San Francisco, Jack Cavello. Steve McQueen went through a little training under the guidance of another painting consultant Peter Lucarelli, traveled with the brigade, and even took part in putting out one of the fires ^[43] . The safety precautions were fully justified - none of the staff and actors were injured during the filming. In the picture, a total of up to 300 stuntmen were involved ^{[16] [44]} .

John Gillermin is indicated in the credits as the director, but Irwin Allen was at the head of the team creating Hell in Heaven ^[45] . For better process control, Allen divided the team into two large parts: the “action” group and the “dramatic” group ^[21] . The picture was shot by three directors. John Gillermin was responsible for the dramatic scenes, Bill Abbott for action scenes and scenes related to special effects and miniatures, and Jim Freeman and Joseph Birok were responsible for some of the stunt scenes and aerial shots ^[27] . To shoot some episodes, we had to use up to four teams of cameramen located at several points in the pavilion. Actually, the creators did not have before faced with a picture where the catastrophe was portrayed with a similar scale ^[16] . The total number of personnel involved in making the film, due to technical difficulties, was about twice as much as was usually required for such a film, and exceeded a thousand people ^{[20] [36]} .

The stars responsibly approached the work and the shooting moved according to plan, without any scandals. Only Faye Dunaway constantly allowed herself to be late, because of which she had unpleasant proceedings with partners in the episode ^[28] . Fears that the McQueen-Newman duo would not work out were unnecessary, an atmosphere of mutual understanding and support immediately appeared between the actors ^[46] . McQueen was known for his rather heavy character, but, in the words of Hillermin, he acted on the set “like a manual kitten”. Before starting work on the picture, Steve approached the director with an unexpected problem - he absolutely did not like the look of the fire helmet that the costume designers initially picked up: “I look like an idiot in him,” he complained. Gillermin did not spare time and found another helmet of an outdated type, which the actor liked unusually. After that, they easily found a common language ^[47] . There were several episodes in the film in which the characters perform dangerous tricks. Newman and McQueen preferred, wherever possible, to perform them on their own, without using the services of stuntmen. This rivalry greatly unnerved the producer, but he could not do anything. In a helicopter jump scene, McQueen, wearing a refractory suit, jumped from a height of four meters into the fire ^[48] .

Some scenes used special effects with rear projection (“ blue screen ”) and their combination with “live” frames. So, the risky moment in which the hero of Paul Newman catches the heroine Jennifer Jones, swinging on the armature, was shot separately. Newman and even Jennifer Jones themselves hung on their hands, since in this scene it was very difficult to replace them with an understudy ^[49] . Directly the moment when the hero of Newman catches a woman was arranged inside the frame using the “blue screen” technology ^[16] . Also, with the help of rear projection, shots were taken of the elevator shaft going 130 floors down, where the hero of Newman descended ^[36] .

For the sake of one small scene in which guests go up in the outdoor elevator and watch the city look down, it also had to be seriously refined. Bill Abbott tried to create a view by combining images from a real landscape - using the “blue screen”, but it did not look too believable. They tried to remove one of the skyscrapers in a real outdoor elevator - however, the trip was too short and the height was small. This option was also tested: an artificial elevator car rose above the city suspended on a cable under a helicopter. Failure again - even with the smoothest lift, the helicopter significantly rocked the cabin from side to side. Then I had to create another panorama of the city, assembled manually from models of buildings, streets and trees. Then the camera slowly rose above the panorama, to a height of 25 feet (7.5 m). These frames were combined with what guests see from the inside of the elevator ^[26] .

I have no idea which of the scenes of horrific are shot in the scenery, which are in kind and which are using miniature layouts. I don’t even want to know. The pleasure of such films is that viewers believe in what is happening on the screen, thanks to the talent of stuntmen, artists and, most importantly, editors who sewed everything so that no seams are visible

Original text

I have absolutely no idea which scenes of crematory horror were filmed in life-size studio mockups, in real locations or in miniatures - and I don't particularly want to know. The fun in a movie like this is in being fooled by the talents of the stuntmen, the production designers and especially by the editors, the men who fit all the pieces together without the seams showing

- Vincent Canby ^[50]

Even at the stage of pre-production, sketches and preparation for filming, Könekamp began to wonder how to shoot fire in the mise-en-scenes with the participation of people ^[51] . In general terms, the fire was simulated by propane burners. Gas gave a visually beautiful flame, but it had a high temperature (higher than in a normal fire). The operators, respectively, could not get close enough to the shooting point. Because of this, the duration of each such separate scene did not exceed 20-30 seconds ^[16] . Wherever possible, the risk was minimized as much as possible. The scene where the heroes, according to the director, opened the elevator door and a ball of flame burst inside, was potentially extremely dangerous. The flame was created by several burners, and the actors inside the elevator were protected by a transparent plastic partition. Two cameras filming an episode from behind the actors were positioned so that the partition was not visible in the frame if possible ^[16] .

The specifics of the work on the painting was such that some scenes had to be shot in one take, as the scenery was completely destroyed by fire and water ^[49] . In most cases, however, a team of artists and technicians in the interval between takes restored the scenery. While the Biroka team restored one scenery, the film crew of Könekamp operators burned another under the lenses. Before each shooting day, the groups precisely planned the sequence of transition from decoration to decoration so that there was no downtime ^[16] .

You can’t even imagine how much you can burn in just 30 seconds. Then a special team rushed to repair, paint over and drape all the damage. After 10-20 minutes, usually everything was ready for a new take

Original text

"You wouldn't believe the damage that we could do to a set during a 30-second take. Then, those crews would get out there and replaster and repaint, bring in new carpeting and drapes, and clean up. In 10 to 20 minutes, we would be ready to shoot again.

- Joseph Birock ^[16]

The most difficult and technically dangerous scenes were in the celebration hall on the 135th floor. Only this room, fire and extinguishing the fire was filmed for about 3 weeks. To capture the fire, it took from five to seven cameras to capture the flow of water to eight cameras. The combination of water and fire in some shots only added problems, especially to illuminators. Even a small amount of liquid falling on a hot spotlight could damage it. As a result, we had to compose the scene, if possible, so that the fire itself in it was a "lighting device." Pyrotechnics had to carefully select components so that the fire, if possible, was smoke free, creating the necessary brightness of the lighting ^[52] .

Irwin Allen, recalling the filming of the final scene, said this: “For all the years of my work in the movie, this was the most terrible moment.” The episode was captured in one take from eight cameras - after shooting the scenery was completely destroyed. For the actors, the scene was not much different from what the characters on the screen had to go through. 50 cubic meters of water from 6 tanks raised above the scenery fell on the performers, and water cannons were also used ^[53] . Fred Astaire was very afraid of the episode, and McQueen even jokingly said goodbye to his wife before shooting, "bequeathed" her a car to her if something goes wrong ^{[49] [16]} .

Filming was completed on September 11, and the film was released on December 16, 1974.

Awards and nominations

The data on the awards and nominations was prepared on the basis of the information from the site imdb.com ^[54] .

Criticism

The painting “Hell in a Skyscraper” is one of the most significant achievements in the disaster film genre of American cinema of the 1970s . Warmly received by the audience, it received conflicting assessments of criticism, among which, in general, positive reviews prevailed ^[55] . First of all, experts noted a detailed plot, in so far as pure action is concerned. With a significant duration of 2 hours 45 minutes, the picture does not release the attention of the audience. Well-designed and balanced storylines (in contrast to the same " Earthquake ") convey the tragedy of the situation, the romantic part of the plot, humor and suspense ^{[56] [57] [58]} . Roger Ebert called the film a masterpiece in the field of tricks and special effects ^[58] . Variety magazine rated the picture as the pinnacle in the career of producer Alain ^{[49] [59]} . Mike Vezina noted that the picture was an achievement in the field of special effects for his time ^[36] .

Noting the flaws, the critics could not ignore the frankly commercial principle prevailing in the film and the complete predictability of the dramatic component of the plot, moving strictly along the rails prescribed by the canons of the genre. EFilmCritic reviewer Norman Maine called the dramatic part stupid ^[15] . The critic Mitchell Hattaway wrote: “... hand on heart - what difference does it make in the plot. The main pyrotechnics ! ” ^[14] . According to Vincent Canby, actors in such films can not be bothered - they just need to play their own character, and the melodrama in the plot will receive everything necessary for development ^[50] . The New York Times critic was very skeptical about the artistic merits of the film:

John Gillermin is considered the director of the film, but it is difficult to understand what his contribution is, except, perhaps, changing a couple of lines in the dialogs. Pictures such as "Hell in the Heavens" are not so much removed as erected as a building. Dramatically they are tortured and stupid, but visually it is a first-class sight. Leaving the cinema, the viewer is unlikely to come up with deep ideas about American architecture or business, but will get his share of a bright and absolutely safe nightmare.

Original text

John Guillermin directed the film, but it's difficult to know exactly what he might have done aside from suggesting a few line readings, perhaps. Movies like "The Towering Inferno" appear to have been less directed than physically constructed. This one is overwrought and silly in its personal drama, but the visual spectacle is first rate. You may not come out of the theater with any important ideas about American architecture or enterprise, but you will have had a vivid, completely safe nightmare.

- ^[50]

The creators did not hide that the film is a carefully calculated product created for profit ^[14] . At the same time, however, it is worth noting that the later paintings of Alain, shot exactly according to the same recipe, failed, meanwhile “Hell in the Heavens” became an event at the box office and was recognized as a classic of the disaster film ^[60] . Alain did not invent anything extraordinary, and borrowed the intrigue from the classical works of his predecessors: from numerous “ Titanics ” to his own “Adventure of Poseidon” ^[45] . High society gathers for a luxurious welcome. Everyone is absolutely confident in the reliability of the most modern building and technology. Luxury and brilliance instantly turn into chaos and death. The most persistent and cold-blooded begin to look for a way to salvation. This string is flavored to the extent necessary with a romantic filling. Where the plot is slightly sagging, you need to kill a couple of characters. It ends with a miraculous salvation, to which not everyone will get ^[14] .

The formula is simple: put a group of people with different backgrounds, backgrounds, problems and backgrounds in a situation that threatens their lives.

Original text

The formula is simple: Place a group of people from diverse backgrounds each with their own problems and back story, into the situation that threatens their lives

- Irwin Allen ^[61]

Events become a test for the professionalism and human qualities of the heroes, highlighting those who will be leaders and saviors ^[62] . The heroes of the picture represent a section of American society: a rich man, a professional, a glamorous beauty, a politician, a “blue collar”. There is no villain in this series (except, perhaps, Roger Simmons). The villain in the film, in fact, is an uncontrollable element - fire ^{[18] [63]} .

Critics of the 21st century note that the film is difficult to compare with modern fighters - the views of the 1970s are fundamentally different from the current ones. If the film was being shot now, then modern directors would fit a similar plot in two hours ^{[36] [64]} . However, even the current generation of viewers who grew up on CGI attracts a special charm that gives the picture the reality of special effects ^[56] . The highest paid movie stars of the world find themselves completely in the shoes of their on-screen heroes - they die out from explosions, burn in fire and drown in water. The film is a good example of the formula for the success of cinema of the 1970s. The spectacle is created not only by high-class special effects and a carefully constructed visual side - rather, the plot, drama and acting are emphasized by special effects ^{[18] [59]} .

Успех картины в значительной мере обеспечен актёрским тандемом Ньюмана и Маккуина ^[55] . Образ, созданный Полом Ньюманом, словно шагнул со страниц романа Айн Рэнд « Источник », переняв многое у главного героя — энергичного архитектора Говарда Рорка ^[65] . Скупая, несколько флегматичная актёрская манера Стива Маккуина, которую он передал своему герою, шефу пожарных, очень подходит к образу положительного героя. «Картина держится на немногословном авторитете Маккуина» ^[66] . Выдержка и профессиональный подход главных героев в самых тяжёлых сценах — именно то, что нравится зрителям в подобных фильмах ^[63] . Соперничество двух звёзд на съёмочной площадке, как оказалось, не помешало творческому процессу и благотворно сказалось на конечном результате ^[18] . Критики также отметили ветеранов Голливуда Фреда Астера и Дженнифер Джонс, выгодно противопоставленных молодым героям картины ^[67] . Они не отрабатывали номер приглашённых звёзд, а полностью вжились в своих героев. Мастерство Фреда Астера было заслуженно отмечено премией «Золотой Глобус» за роль второго плана ^[68] .

Значение и признание

Небоскрёб — популярный герой американских фильмов ещё со времён Гарольда Ллойда , в фильме « Наконец в безопасности! » (1923). Традиции американского фильма-катастрофы были продолжены в 1930-х годах такими работами как « Сан-Франциско » и «В старом Чикаго» . В дальнейшем высотные здания часто играли важную роль в голливудских картинах, на что в значительной степени повлияли книги Айн Рэнд «Источник» и Кеннета Феринга «Большие часы» (« The Big Clock »), вышедшие в 1940-х годах ^[69] .

В начале 1970-х годов «большая четвёрка» фильмов-катастроф сформировала новые традиции этого жанра. Первым успех сопутствовал « Аэропорту », затем последовал «Приключение „Посейдона“» , и, наконец, « Землетрясение » и «Ад в небоскребе», которые вышли почти в одно время. У последних двух фильмов вообще очень много общего: схожая сюжетная линия, главный герой — преуспевающий архитектор, явственно прозвучавшие с экрана призывы не строить высокие небоскрёбы ^[70] .

Истоки впечатляющих кассовых достижений этих картин исследователь Фред Каплан нашёл в стремлении к бегству от реальности , свойственному кинематографу периода « новой волны » ^{[71] [21]} . Создатели экшн-картин попали в удачное для данного жанра время. Эксперименты «новой волны» конца 1960-х — начала 1970-х годов были больше вызовом, чем приманкой для зрителя, изголодавшегося по зрелищу, и не давали кассы. Высокобюджетные картины с громкими актёрскими именами прозвучали в унисон с запросами аудитории ^[63] . Обозреватель Slant Magazine написал о том, что эти картины надолго «закрыли» тему катастрофы на голливудском экране ^[9] . На 47-й церемонии вручения премий американской киноакадемии фильм Ирвина Аллена закономерно оказался среди фаворитов. «Ад в поднебесье» имел реальные шансы забрать «Оскар» в более значимых номинациях, если бы в этом же 1975 году не вышел « Крёстный отец 2 » Фрэнсиса Форда Копполы ^{[14] [72]} .

Ещё один момент, вызвавший интерес у зрителя в картине «Ад в поднебесье» — аллегорическое изображение американского общества в целом ^[18] . В книге «Camera politica» Майкл Райан и Дуглас Кельнер исследовали настроение картины как критики индустриального капитализма второй половины XX века. Главные герои картины, бездушные дельцы, ради наживы и призрачного символа успеха в виде многоэтажной башни готовы на всё. Хозяева здания больше озабочены статусом и имиджем, чем практической необходимостью здания и вопросами безопасности ^[65] . Пожар становится их метафорическим наказанием за грехи. Спасение приходит от «синих воротничков» , рабочих людей. Символ избавления — герой-профессионал, хладнокровно просчитывающий каждый свой шаг ^[73] . В ходе опроса, проведённого среди зрительской аудитории, исследователи выявили определённую тенденцию. Представители низшего и среднего класса в большинстве своём считали, что показанные в фильме случаи коррупции — не отдельные факты, они присущи всему корпоративному бизнесу . Драматургия фильма озвучила проблемы 1970-х годов: всеобщее недоверие к будущему, надежда на профессионалов, а не на тех, кто предпочитает зарабатывать деньги ^[74] .

Более поздние попытки дальнейшей эксплуатации тем, поднятых в классических фильмах-катастрофах, имевшие место в таких работах как «Ураган» , « Рой » и « Когда время уходит » (почти с той же командой и продюсером), не принесли ничего кроме финансовых потерь ^[75] . Так, например, созданный Ирвином Алленом в 1980 году фильм «Когда время уходит», с Полом Ньюманом в главной роли, и бюджетом $20 млн собрал в прокате всего $3,8 млн. Тем не менее, сюжетный ход о небоскрёбе, как о важном герое фильма, перекликающийся с «Адом в поднебесье», имел место во многих картинах 1980—1990-х годов, таких как «Небоскрёб» , « Крепкий орешек », « День независимости », и даже был спародирован в мультсериале « Симпсоны » (серия Itchy & Scratchy Land ) ^[68] . Снимались также картины, которые критики называли клоном «Ада в поднебесье», например телевизионный фильм «Fire! Trapped on the 37th Floor» (1991) ^[76] . В 1982 году вышла видеоигра для Atari по мотивам фильма ^[77] .

Тема оставалась популярной вплоть до конца 1990-х годов, но после событий 11 сентября 2001 года сюжет картины приобрёл зловещий оттенок ^[78] . История творения Минору Ямасаки и дискуссий вокруг здания повлияли на картину ещё до начала съёмок. Целая серия инцидентов, связанных с пожарами до и после выхода фильма на экраны, привлекла к нему дополнительное внимание. В 1975 году в ВТЦ произошёл пожар, который прошёл по очень схожему сценарию с тем, что было показано в фильме. Жертв не было, но ущерб составил свыше $1 млн ^[10] . В дальнейшем судьба фильма и реальных небоскрёбов снова оказалась связана. О картине вспомнили в ходе анализа последствий терактов 9/11 и всплывших фактов о том, как инженер Джон Скилинг предположительно сэкономил на возведении несущих колонн в ВТЦ. Пророческий смысл появился и в словах героя Стива Маккуина о тысячах жертв, а также в предложении героя Пола Ньюмана сохранить останки небоскрёба в назидание потомкам ^[65] . То же самое предлагали сделать и с останками ВТЦ. Своеобразным предзнаменованием будущих событий стала и дата окончания съёмок фильма 11 сентября 1974 года ^[18] . Картина « Башни-близнецы » Оливера Стоуна также создана в значительной степени под влиянием «Ада в поднебесье» ^[18] .

Авторы картины, после её выхода на экраны, получили почётные каски от пожарных частей со всей страны ^[24] . Однако проблема тушения пожаров в высотных строениях по сей день остаётся актуальной ^[79] . Способы, которые использовались в картине, включая эвакуацию люлькой, рассматриваются как вполне возможные, хотя основная надежда возлагается на современные материалы и наличие систем предупреждения и противопожарной безопасности ^[6] .

Великие фильмы-катастрофы 1970-х годов стали символом уходящей в прошлое технологии: Stop-motion анимации , съёмок миниатюрных моделей и других безкомпьютерных спецэффектов. Для того времени характерным было изображение трагедии, вызванной природными катаклизмами или человеческим фактором ^[80] . Подобный подход был также связан и с ограниченными техническими возможностями кинопроизводства того времени. Позже, с фильма « Челюсти » и саги « Звёздные войны », началась новая эпоха. Зрителям представили более сложно завязанные сюжеты, когда катастрофа была вызвана комбинацией различных, в том числе и фантастических, факторов ^{[33] [58]} . Коммерческий успех «Ада в поднебесье» в значительной степени повлиял на формирование современной системы производства высокобюджетных картин в американском кинематографе. Крупнейшие студии стали фокусироваться на выпуске в прокат отдельных «мегахитов», в которых выгодно вкладываться в мощную команду и дорогостоящие специальные эффекты. Типичный бюджет блокбастера начал быстро расти от $10 млн в начале 1970-х годов до $40 млн к концу 1990-х годов ^[81] .

Ирвин Аллен использовал тот же испытанный подход, что и в «Приключении „Посейдона“». Написать музыку к фильму поручили Джону Уильямсу, именитому специалисту, который в то время считался штатным композитором студии Universal Studios ^[70] . При этом заглавную песню «We May Never Love Like This Again» написали Эл Каша и Джоэл Хиршхорн. Песню, как и в «Приключении „Посейдона“», исполнила Морин Макговерн и композиция снова была удостоена «Оскара». В фильме звучит только один куплет и припев, но таково было желание продюсера: лирическая композиция не должна была отвлекать зрителя от развития событий. Свою музыкальную тему к фильму также написал и Фред Астер, но продюсер посчитал, что она звучит старомодно и в фильм её не включил ^[82] .

Критики оценили музыку Уильямса в фильме как одну из наиболее значительных работ в творчестве композитора ^[83] . Оркестровка и мелодия адекватно передают творческий замысел ^[83] . Как и во многих других фильмах, открывающая тема (полёт вертолёта над городом) — конёк Уилямса, который сразу захватывает внимание слушателя. Стиль характерной лёгкой эстрадной и поп-музыки 1970-х годов от приподнятого настроения в начале плавно переходит к хаосу и саспенсу в середине, драме и опустошению в конце, что весьма характерно для блокбастеров того времени. Финальная 9-минутная композиция картины отчётливо перекликается с более поздней работой композитора в « Звёздных войнах » ^[84] .

LP-диск с саундтреком к картине вышел в 1975 году. В 1999 году вышла версия на CD-диске . В 2001 году компания Warner Bros. в серии Silver Age издала специальное издание CD-диска с 22 композициями (плюс 6 дополнительных дорожек) из фильма ^[84] .

«Ад в поднебесье» называли в числе первых кандидатов для дебютного выпуска первой коллекции фильмов на VHS / LD в конце 1977 года ^[85] . Релиз фильма на VHS состоялся в ноябре 1979 года и был подготовлен компанией Magnetic Video ^[86] .

Первое издание на DVD имело место в 1999 году. DVD-релиз (Special Edition) вышел 9 мая 2006 года ^[87] , и включал в себя диск с дополнительными материалами, которые отсутствовали в первом издании. В цифровом издании сохранена оригинальная кинотеатральная анаморфированная пропорция 2.35x1. Большинство специалистов отметили хорошее качество переноса видео. Английское издание DVD включает в себя DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround в формате 48 kHz/24-bit и несколько других форматов, включая Dolby Surround 4.0. Перенос в оригинальной звуковой дорожки в формат Dolby Surround вызвал определённые трудности. Звук был оценен на «удовлетворительно» из-за того, что ему несколько не хватает объёма ^{[64] [88]} .

Критики отметили наличие подробного набора дополнительных материалов, среди которых можно отметить 33 удалённых при окончательном монтаже сцены (общей длительностью 45 минут). Наиболее интересна полная версия романтической сцены с участием Роберта Вагнера и Сьюзен Фленнери ^[88] . Версия «Ада в поднебесье», транслировавшаяся по кабельному телевидению, включала в себя многие из этих удалённых сцен ^[60] . Интервью с Ирвином Алленом 1977 года дополняет картину. Несколько документальных подборок раскрывают секреты производства картины, включая детальный показ работы над финальной сценой фильма. Дорожку аудиокомментария озвучил историк кино Ф. Х. Финни. Комментарий по поводу качества и роли в мировом кино визуальных эффектов картины дал известный голливудский специалист Майк Визина (известный по фильмам « Я, робот », « 2012 » и другим) ^[64] .

Blu-ray издание ( 1080p подвергнуто ремастерингу в формат MPEG-4 ) вышло 14 июля 2009 года ^{[64] [87]} .

• Адский небоскрёб

Comments

Sources

• Marshall Terrill. Steve McQueen: Portrait of an American rebel . — Penguin Group USA, 1994. — 463 с. — ISBN 9781556114144 .
• Merrill Schleier. Skyscraper cinema: architecture and gender in American film . — U of Minnesota Press, 2009. — 367 с. — ISBN 9780816642823 .
• Paul Green. Jennifer Jones: The Life and Films . — McFarland, 2011. — 270 с. — ISBN 9780786460410 .
• Charles Loring. "The Towering Inferno" How it was filmed (англ.) // American Cinematographer. — 1975. — Vol. 56 , no. 2 (февраль) . — P. 158-161 .
• Michael Ryan, Douglas Kellner. 2. Crisis Films // Camera politica: the politics and ideology of contemporary Hollywood film . — 3. — Indiana University Press, 1988. — Т. 604. — 328 с. — ISBN 9780253313348 .
• David Hammond. "Action unit" lives up to its name while shooting "The Towering Inferno" (англ.) // American Cinematographer. — 1975. — Vol. 56 , no. 2 (февраль) .

• Детальное описание Blu-ray релиза (англ.)
• Дополнительные материалы. Интервью с продюсером фильма
• Список сцен. Отличия прокатной и TV версии картины
• Неофициальный сайт фильма
• Коллекция набросков художника постановщика фильма Джозефа Муссо
• Страница на сайте Ирвина Аллена, посвящённая фильму