"He said, she said" - melodrama, comedy directed by Ken Quapis and Marisa Silver. The plot tells about the acquaintance of two journalists of the Baltimore Sun newspaper, which has grown into an office romance. Kvapis and Silver directed the two halves of the picture, a glance at the events of the main characters of Dan and Lori, respectively. The picture was filmed in Baltimore in 1990. It was released in 1991. Melodrama disappointed critics, having received very negative reviews.
| He said she said | |
|---|---|
| He Said, She Said | |
 | |
| Genre | melodrama , eccentric comedy |
| Producer | Ken Quapis , Marisa Silver |
| Producer | Frank Mancuso, Vicky Williams |
| Author script | Brian holfeld |
| Operator | Stephen Barum |
| Composer | Miles Goodman |
| Film company | Paramount pictures |
| Duration | 115 minutes |
| Fees | $ 9,800,000 [1] |
| A country |  USA |
| Tongue | English |
| Year | 1991 |
| IMDb | ID 0102011 |
Content
Story
The film opens with a live broadcast at one of the Baltimore television studios. The host, Laurie Brayer, having an argument with her partner on the TV show Dan Henson, throws a coffee mug at his head. The management and staff of the channel in complete turmoil, close to panic - the consequences of the incident are unpredictable ...
Events return the viewer a while ago. Dan Hanson and Laurie Brier are young Baltimore Sun journalists. The first led a column of obituaries, the second - a section on engagement and weddings. The staff columnist of the newspaper retired, and the editor-in-chief did not decide who to give the section on the pressing problems of the city. Then he made a " Solomon's decision ": to lead the column together, dividing it into "male" and "female" halves. The venture is unexpectedly successful with subscribers, and soon a film-like, eccentric couple is invited to television. Together, they should be broadcast on local television programs "He said, she said" (He said, she said). Witty skirmishes leading to the problems of the city attract a wide audience to the transfer. Business relations gradually flow into a passionate office romance.
However, Dan and Laurie are completely different people. He is a conservative, she is a liberal. He is cheerful and cheeky, he maintains a reputation as a womanizer. Lori is more concerned with earthly problems; she is focused on a career. At first, relationships develop more or less “normally,” and it even goes as far as meeting Lori’s parents. But Dan fears commitment and begins to doubt the correctness of the decision. In addition, the novel is interfered with by the former girlfriend Dan Linda, who is trying to restore a broken relationship ... Before the next broadcast between lovers, there is a tiff on the basis of jealousy. The popular show is under threat, and the producer asks the couple to make up. Dan and Lori, rethinking their mistakes, try to meet each other and, as a result, find a way out of this situation.
Everything ends well [2] .
Cast
- Kevin Bacon - Dan Hanson
- Elizabeth Perkins - Laurie Brier
- Sharon Stone - Linda Metzger
- Nathan Lane - Wally Thurman
- Anthony Lapalla - Mark
- Stanley Anderson - Mr Weller
- Charlaine Woodard - Cindy
- Danton Stone - Eric
- Erica Alexander - Rita
- Ashley Gardner - Susan
Creation
An unusual idea for the script came from Brian Hochfeld as a result of observing the novel and the relationship of his friends Ken Quapis and Marisa Silver, who became the directors of the future film [3] . Filming took place for 10 weeks in early 1990 in Baltimore. The choice of location was influenced by the fact that Baltimore was considered by many leading directors to be the best natural background for a film about a big American city. The local production company Maryland Film regularly received the highest professional ratings from leading experts. Several popular films by Barry Levinson and John Waters ( “Eatery , ” “Hairspray,” and the recent hit “Rain Man” ) were filmed specifically in Baltimore [4] [5] .
The name of the picture came up with Marisa Silver. “He said, she said” is a phraseological unit widely used in English-speaking speech and literature. He gained popularity back in 1948 after the single "He sez, She Sez" Marion Hutton ( en ). It is often used in a humorous context, associating with a well-known joke: “if a man / woman says something, then in fact it means ...”. As scriptwriter Brian Holfeld noted, the phrase was on everyone’s lips in 1990 after the high-profile court hearings of Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas ( en ) [6] .
The world premiere of the film took place on February 22, 1991 in Baltimore at the Senator Cinema [7] . After the film was shot, the film directors Silver and Kvapis got married [5] .
Build
The first half of the picture sets out a look at the events of Dan, the second - Laurie. The first half was directed by Ken Quapis, the second by Marisa Silver. The film is not about business or journalism, but rather about the relationship between the sexes [8] . The whole plot construction of the picture is as bipolar as the title in the picture credits: “He said” in a strict computer font, “She said” handwritten font [8] . Criticism Owen Glieberman called the creators a similar plot plot: “When action switches over to Lori’s point of view, it turns out that we have to watch the whole damn story again,” he noted [9] . “A joke told twice doesn't get any funnier,” echoes Janet Maslin (NY Times) [10] .
Criticism
The picture received mostly negative reviews from critics. The idea seemed to specialists much more interesting than the final result. An attempt to go beyond the melodramatic clichés was unsuccessful. The film was called “Rasomon for yuppies ” [11] . As the main drawback, analysts called the fact that the screenwriter of the painting is an obvious newcomer [11] [12] . Peter Travers noted the extremely flimsy picture of the relationship in the style of the picks of Tracy and Hepburn . The critic rated the directing and comedic component as “very weak” [3] . Roger Ebert, noting the unfinished scenario and hearing-cutting dialogues, vividly remarked that the picture does not develop the intellect of the audience, and it definitely requires an “ IQ transfusion ” [12] .
Receiving the story with an attempt to show how the observer is dependent on his attitude is not new. The idea of the film was compared with "Citizen Kane" , "Ecstasy" , "Hilary and Jackie . " In these paintings with different variations, the story is “of the same story from different points of view” [13] [3] [14] . In contrast to the philosophical picture of Kurosawa, “Rashomon” , which was often compared to the comedy “He said, she said,” a glance from several points follows only entertaining goals [13] .
Despite the attempt to objectively look at the question and give equal rights in the presentation of the point of view of each party, the picture turned out to be asymmetric, and “does not draw any conclusions at all” [ opinion attribution needed ] . The film does not give an answer to the main question: how to build a balanced relationship and a happy marriage [ opinion attribution needed ] . Previously, a woman depended on a man economically, and a man depended on a woman emotionally; however, how to build gender relations in modern society, the plot does not inform. It only plays up the rather standard situation of melodramas in the spirit of Shir Hait : Dan (man) has to adapt to Lori (woman), but not the other way around [15] . Actually, the picture does not have a sane ending. [ opinion attribution needed ] . As a result, it turns out that two such different heroes cannot live without each other. However, the authors did not give an explanation of why this happened. [ need attribution of opinion ] [16] .
Virtually the only bright spot for critics was the acting of the leading characters, although the supporting characters did not support them at all [11] [12] . Owen Gliberman ( EW ) was impressed by Elizabeth Perkins, noting that she coped well with the challenge of playing an eccentric comedy [9] . The charm of the ex-girlfriend of the main character, performed by Sharon Stone, at the same time, makes the viewer think about what made the main character leave her, and calls into question the idea of the whole story [10] .
Notes
- ↑ Staff. Boxoffice data (English) . boxofficemojo (01/09/2017) The date of appeal is January 9, 2017.
- ↑ Nathanson, 2001 , p. 50.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Peter Travers. He Said, She Said . Rolling Stone (Feb 22, 1991). The date of appeal is January 9, 2017.
- ↑ Marby, 1990 , p. 17
- ↑ 1 2 Christina Tkacik. Retro Baltimore: Charm City is one degree from Kevin Bacon (Eng.) . baltimoresun (25 Aug 2016). The date of appeal is January 9, 2017.
- ↑ Safire, 2004 , p. 145.
- ↑ Dininni, 1990 , p. 18.
- ↑ 1 2 Nathanson, 2001 , p. 51.
- ↑ 1 2 Owen Gleiberman. He Said, She Said . Entertainment Weekly (Mar 1, 1991). The date of appeal is January 9, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 Janet Maslin. A Twice-Told Tale of Reportorial Romance (English) . New York Times (01/09/2017). The date of appeal is January 9, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Rita Kempley. 'He Said, She Said' (English) . The Washington Post (Feb 22, 1991). The date of appeal is January 9, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Roger Ebert. He Said, She Said . rogerebert (Feb 22, 1991). The date of appeal is January 9, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 Parshall, 2012 , p. 14.
- ↑ Falzon, 2014 , p. 63.
- ↑ Nathanson, 2001 , p. 53.
- ↑ Nathanson, 2001 , p. 55.
Literature
- Peter F. Parshall. Altman and After: Multiple Narratives in Film . - Scarecrow Press, 2012. - p. 1. - 264 p. - ISBN 9780810885073 .
- Paul Nathanson, Katherine K. Young. Spreading Misandry for Men in Popular Culture . - McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 2001. - p. 2. - 370 p. - ISBN 9780773522725 .
- William Safire. The New York Times Magazine . - Simon and Schuster, 2004. - p. 3. - 384 p. - ISBN 9780743258128 .
- Christopher Falzon. Philosophy Goes to the Movies: An Introduction to Philosophy . - Routledge, 2014. - p. 4. - 346 p. - ISBN 9781317812876 .
- John Marby. "He Said" brings $ 3 mil to Baltimore (Eng.) // Hollywood Reporter . - 1990. - No. №314 . - P. 20 . - ISSN 0018-3660 .
- Paulette Dininni. Upcoming Premieres (eng.) // Hollywood Reporter . - 1990. - No. No. 316 . - P. 21 . - ISSN 0018-3660 .