Harvey Keitel Movies
Sporting a Brooklyn accent and bulldog features, Harvey Keitel first gained recognition with a series of gritty roles in the early films of Martin Scorsese, and he was for a long time cast as one lowlife thug after another. His career experienced a renaissance in the 1990s, when roles in such films as Thelma & Louise, Bad Lieutenant, and The Piano demonstrated his versatility and his willingness to let it all hang out (literally) in the service of an authentic characterization.A product of Brooklyn, where he was born on May 13, 1939, Keitel grew up as something of a delinquent. At the age of 16, his truancy was put to an end when he was sent to Lebanon with the Marine Corps. Upon his return, he sold shoes and nurtured an interest in acting. He studied the craft with Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler and began appearing in off-off-Broadway productions. When he was 26, fate struck in the form of a casting ad placed by Scorsese, at that time a fledgling student director at New York University; Keitel's response to the ad began a collaboration that would last for years and produce some of the more memorable moments in film history. Keitel and Scorsese made their onscreen feature debuts with Who's That Knocking at My Door? (1968), in which the former played the latter's alter ego. Five years later, they collaborated on Mean Streets; that and their subsequent collaborations of the '70s, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) and Taxi Driver (1976), were some of the decade's most memorable films. Unfortunately, despite these achievements, Keitel's career suffered a great blow when he lost the lead in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now to Martin Sheen. He spent much of the '80s appearing in obscure and/or forgettable films, save for Scorsese's controversial The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and by the time he was cast in Thelma & Louise in 1991, he was in a career slump.
1991 and 1992 marked a turning point in Keitel's career: his role in Thelma and Louise as a sympathetic detective -- much like his role in that same year's Mortal Thoughts -- helped him break through the stereotypes surrounding him, and his Oscar nomination for his portrayal of gangster Mickey Cohen in Bugsy (1991) put him back in the forefront. Keitel's work in 1992's Bad Lieutenant, Reservoir Dogs, and Sister Act further established him as an actor of previously unappreciated versatility, and in 1993 he proved this versatility when he starred in Jane Campion's exotic art drama The Piano, in which he famously appeared in the nude as Holly Hunter's lover.
Keitel continued to demonstrate his ability to play both hard-boiled gangsters and rough-edged nice guys throughout the rest of the decade, turning in one solid performance after another in such films as Pulp Fiction (1994), Clockers (1995), and Copland (1997). One of his most memorable characterizations, cigar shop owner Auggie Wren, came from his collaboration with Paul Auster on Smoke and Blue in the Face (both 1995); he also worked with Auster on his 1998 romantic drama Lulu on the Bridge. In 1999, Keitel could be seen in variety of films, notably Tony Bui's Three Seasons, in which he played an American soldier searching for his lost daughter in Vietnam, and Jane Campion's Holy Smoke, in which he played a man sent to deprogram Kate Winslet of the teachings she received while part of a religious cult. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Set in Germany in 1946, Taking Sides tells the story of the investigation of Wilhelm Furtwängler (Stellan Skarsgård), the renowned conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras, by the American occupying army. Major Steve Arnold (Harvey Keitel) has been told by his superiors that they want Furtwängler convicted of being a willing participant in the crimes of the Hitler regime, by virtue of his supposed support for and support from the Hitler government. They haven't got the time or resources to go after every ex-Nazi, so they want Furtwängler, as the biggest cultural target they can hit. Arnold does his loud, boorish best to first humiliate and then attack the conductor over the supposed favoritism that he was shown by Hitler, Goering, Himmler, et al. and his conducting of a concert at the 1934 Nuremberg rally and at Hitler's 53rd birthday. Arnold finds, to his eventual distress but not dissuasion, that nothing is as simple as he would like to make it. His civilian secretary, Emmi Straube (Birgit Minichmayr), a concentration camp survivor whose father was part of the German Army plot to kill Hitler, and Lt. David Wills (Moritz Bleibtreu), a German-born Jew representing the War Crimes Tribunal, keep trying to remind Arnold that life and politics in Germany only deteriorated gradually after 1933, and in ways that couldn't always be anticipated by those who were there. Germans who chose not to leave weren't necessarily casting their lot with Hitler, but with protecting what was decent or even great about Germany, including her orchestras and music. Arnold knows nothing about music and even less about Germany and her people, and won't be deterred from his goal. Wills and Straube wish to resign from working with him, until they realize that they're facing the same choice that Furtwängler faced -- to leave a horrendous situation and have no way of affecting its conduct or outcome, or remain and do their best to stand up for decency and truth. In the process of doing that, they find out that Furtwängler is not only a great artist -- which they knew already -- but a great and brave man, who also has his flaws. The latter include an outsized ego that may have caused him to participate a little too willingly at times in the dangerous game he played of maintaining the excellence of Germany's musical institutions while protecting them (and also many musicians) from the worst ravages of the Nazi regime, at the same time also keeping lesser, more compliant figures from usurping his control. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Stellan Skarsgård, (more)
A man struggling to do the right thing for his child finds himself at odds with his family in this emotional drama. Tony Romano (Harvey Keitel) runs a successful clothing company in New York City; eager to share his good fortune with his family, Tony's daughter and younger son both have important positions in the firm, while his wife Fern (Mary Kay Place) has a solid business of her own running a flower shop. Tony's oldest son Jeff (Brad Rowe), however, lives in Los Angeles and is trying to get a career as a screenwriter off the ground. Jeff is already a father as the result of a short and ill-advised romance with a woman with poor self-esteem, and when he finds himself falling for Kelly (Rachel Blanchard), who works at a plasma center where Jeff sells his blood, history repeats itself and Kelly finds herself pregnant. Jeff and Kelly initially decide that an abortion would be the logical answer, but in time Kelly changes her mind, and Jeff feels he must handle his share of the responsibilities. Tony is convinced Jeff will be throwing his life away if he stays with Kelly to raise the baby (especially since Jeff admits he doesn't love her); while Jeff is determined to do the right thing for his child, he is torn between his need to face up to his responsibilities and his love for his father. Nailed was the first feature film from writer and director Joel Silverman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Brad Rowe, (more)
Actor, writer, and director Tim Blake Nelson adapts this grim look at the Holocaust from his own play, based on Miklós Nyiszli's book, Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account. The film centers on the Sonderkommando: Jewish concentration camp prisoners whose job was to herd their fellow Jews into the gas chamber, and to dispose of the bodies following the execution. In return, these prisoners received food and a little more time before their own executions. As the members of the sonderkommando struggle to orchestrate what would be the only armed insurrection in Auschwitz, a group of them discover a 14-year-old girl who somehow survived the gas chamber. The girl becomes a symbol for their own spiritual salvation and they become obsessed with keeping the girl alive, even if it endangers the uprising that could save thousands. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Arquette, Daniel Benzali, (more)
Henry James' classic tale of terror The Turn of the Screw receives yet another screen adaptation in this thriller shot in Spain. A young woman (Sadie Frost) is hired to serve as a governess for two children, Miles and Flora (Nilo Mur and Ella Jones). She is hired by their uncle, the Master (Harvey Keitel), who became the guardian of the youngsters after the death of their parents. While the governess is initially enthusiastic about her job, Miles and Flora soon prove to be quite a handful, and the housekeeper Mrs. Grose (Lauren Bacall), who oversees most of the activities at the Master's estate, is openly antagonistic to her. Before long, the governess discovers the house bears a dark secret involving Miss Jessel (Dayne Danika), the previous governess, and Fosc (Agusti Villaronga), the Master's former valet. El Celo was the first feature from director Antoni Aloy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sadie Frost, Lauren Bacall, (more)
The youngest child of the family often has the most problems -- so why should things be different for the Prince of Darkness and his offspring? Satan (Harvey Keitel) is considering retirement, and is pondering which of his sons should take over the family business -- ambitious Adrian (Rhys Ifans), strapping Cassius (Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr.), or Nicky (Adam Sandler), an accident-prone demon who prefers to stay in his room playing his favorite heavy metal tunes. When Satan decides to stay on for another 10,000 years, Adrian is outraged, and leaves Hell to go to New York, where he and Cassius attempt to round up enough souls to vote Satan out of power. Satan, understandably upset, sends Nicky to bring Adrian and Cassius back home, but Nicky finds life on Earth is more complicated than he expected. Things don't get any easier when he develops a crush on Valerie (Patricia Arquette), a good-hearted mortal woman. Little Nicky also features Michael McKean as a city official trying to put Nicky behind bars, Kevin Nealon as Hell's gatekeeper, Rodney Dangerfield as Satan's father, Robert Smigel as the voice of Beefy -- a talking dog who is Nicky's guide on earth, Allen Covert as Todd -- Nicky's new roommate, and Peter Dante and Jonathan Loughran as a pair of metalheads who dig Satan. Jon Lovitz and Reese Witherspoon play cameo roles, and Regis Philbin and Ozzy Osbourne appear as themselves. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Sandler, Patricia Arquette, (more)
A seemingly-minor electronic error sets the world on the verge of nuclear annihilation in this made-for-TV adaptation of the novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler (which was previously filmed in 1964). Due to the burn-out of a piece of circuitry, a computer orders a U.S. Air Force jet on a strategic bombing raid, destroying targets in Russia with nuclear weapons. As Generals Bogan (Brian Dennehy) and Black (Harvey Keitel) desperately search for a way to recall the planes once the mistake has been discovered, the bomber's commander, Col. Grady (George Clooney) sets out on his mission with grim determination, while the President (Richard Dreyfuss) and his translator (Noah Wyle) stay in contact with the Soviet premier, trying to convince him that this was all a terrible mistake. Fail Safe was first presented as a live television broadcast which aired on CBS on April 9, 2000. The supporting cast includes Hank Azaria, Don Cheadle, James Cromwell, and Sam Elliott. Star George Clooney spearheaded the unique project and served as executive producer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Clooney, Noah Wyle, (more)
In this World War II action thriller, American reconnaissance agents learn that a German submarine is sinking. The doomed ship carries an Enigma Machine, a special coding device that allows high-level Axis forces to send messages that can't be read without a similar encryption mechanism. Obtaining a working Enigma device would be invaluable for the Allied war effort, so a U.S. sub is sent out to rescue the machine. However, German forces have already picked up the sub's distress signal and are en route to rescue their comrades. U-571 features a distinguished cast, including Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, and Jon Bon Jovi. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, (more)
It's said that sex and religion are two subjects that no one can discuss without arguing; writer/director Jane Campion tackles both head-on in this satiric comedy drama. On a trip to India, Australian Ruth (Kate Winslet) has a spiritual awakening and embraces the teachings of a guru named Baba. Back home in Sydney, Ruth's mother and father (Julie Hamilton and Tim Robertson) are appalled to learn that their daughter now answers to the name Nazni and has no intention of returning. Mother visits her daughter in India in hopes of convincing her to come home, but it's not until she suffers a life-threatening asthma attack that Ruth agrees to return for a visit. Mother pretends to arrange a meeting with Ruth's father, who has been ill, and this trick lands Ruth in the clutches of P.J. Waters (Harvey Keitel), an American exit counselor who deprograms members of religious cults. Waters begins to loosen Ruth's belief in Baba's teachings, but P.J. finds himself sexually attracted to Ruth, and in time she allows him to seduce her. Ruth soon turns the tables on P.J., as she discovers that sex allows her to make mincemeat of his long-held beliefs as a macho, misogynist male. Jane's sister Anna Campion, herself a director, co-authored the screenplay; Pam Grier appears in a supporting role as P.J.'s partner and girlfriend. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kate Winslet, Harvey Keitel, (more)
- 1999
- PG13
Winner of an unprecedented three major awards at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival (including the Grand Jury, Audience and Cinematography awards), this first feature by 26-year-old Tony Bui is a poetic narrative about the "new" Vietnam, and is the first American independent film to be shot on location in that country. The film weaves three separate stories about four characters in Saigon and how their paths cross. In the first, a young Vietnamese woman is working for a reclusive writer who has lost his fingers to leprosy. As she sings, her master becomes infatuated with her and finds inspiration in her music, just as she finds inspiration in his words. Their union in one of song, love, friendship and aid. Second is Hai, a cyclo driver who falls for a young prostitute with high ambitions. After saving her from a few hostile clients, she lets him drive her around. Eventually Hai enters a cyclo race in hopes of winning enough money to spend one night with his beloved. Finally, a young boy named Woody sells gum, watches and lighters to passers-by in the streets. In a bar he meets an American soldier (played by Harvey Keitel) who is searching for his missing daughter. When Woody suspects the G.I. of stealing his suitcase, he goes looking. What he finds is best left unanswered. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Duong, Nguyen Ngoc Hiep, (more)
A child discovers a whole new world when he runs away from home in the family drama Prince Of Central Park. JJ (played by Frankie Nasso) is a boy living in New York with his foster mother (Cathy Moriarty). To say they don't get along is an understatement; one day JJ decides he's so tired of her abuse and tirades that he leaves his home for good, determined to make a home for himself in Central Park. JJ soon meets another resident of the park, an eccentric who calls himself the Guardian (Harvey Keitel); while the Guardian seems frightening at first, he soon proves to be a true friend to JJ. JJ also makes friends with Rebecca and Noah (Kathleen Turner and Danny Aiello), a couple who never entirely recovered from the death of their son several years ago. Rebecca and Noah take JJ under their wings, and JJ helps them come to terms with their loss. Prince Of Central Park was the first family film from the production company of Seagal/Nasso, co-founded by stone-faced action star Steven Seagal. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathleen Turner, Danny Aiello, (more)
After the death of his wife, Byron (Jonathon Schaech) finds himself chronically depressed, so he decides to hop into his junk heap of a car and drive to Memphis. Along they way he picks up a hitchhiker (Harvey Keitel) in a pink jacket who informs Byron he's Elvis Presley and wants to go back home to Graceland. As one might expect, Byron is convinced this guy is a few doughnuts short of a dozen, but the closer they get to Memphis, the more he wonders if there isn't a bit of Elvis in him after all, especially after he picks up a beautiful Marilyn Monroe impersonator (Bridget Fonda). Priscilla Presley was an executive producer for this film, which features several scenes filmed inside Graceland. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Johnathon Schaech, (more)
Susanna Styron made her feature directorial debut with this family drama, an adaptation of a 1978 short story by her father, novelist William Styron (Sophie's Choice). Paul Whitehurst (voice of Martin Sheen) recalls Depression-era events in Tidewater, Virginia, when he was ten years old. In the summer of 1935, lonely young Paul (Scott Terra), with his strict father (Darrell Larson) and fatally ill mother (Deborah Hedwall), is raised in a boring, middle-class way of life, so mundane it leads him into a friendship with the lower-class Dabneys, once aristocratic but now reduced to poverty on the former Dabney plantation. Bootlegger Vernon (Harvey Keitel) is married to earthy beer-drinking Trixie (Andie MacDowell), and Paul enjoys the fun-loving lifestyle of this couple and their seven children. Shadrach (John Franklin Sawyer), a 99-year-old former slave, turns up one day at the Dabney house after walking barefoot from Alabama to Virginia, where he was born into slavery. Since Shadrach's wish to be buried on the Dabney's land violates Virginia law, the request sets a variety of racist attitudes and conflicts into motion. Shown at the 1998 LA Independent Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Andie MacDowell, (more)
Writer Paul Auster made his solo directorial debut with this romantic drama about an affair between a middle-aged musician and an aspiring actress. Hit by a stray bullet during a nightclub shooting, jazz saxophonist Izzy Maurer (Harvey Keitel) can no longer play, and he falls into a depression. His ex-wife Hannah (Gina Gershon), now attached to producer Philip Kleinman (Mandy Patinkin), turns up unexpectedly to take care of Izzy. Izzy meets Kleinman, and he also has an encounter with actress-director Catherine Moore (Vanessa Redgrave), who's planning a production of Pandora's Box. Walking around Lower Manhattan, Izzy finds a man's body with a phone number and a stone that emits a blue light with healing properties. When he phones the number, he speaks with actress Celia (Mira Sorvino), who just happens to be listening to his music. They fall in love, and Celia gets Izzy a job as a busboy at the restaurant where she works. Both are fired when he goes into a jealous rage over the attention she receives from one of her customers. After Celia leaves to act in a film in Ireland, anthropologist Dr. Van Hom (Willem Dafoe) turns up, searching for the healing stone. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, (more)
Popular Italian comedian Leonardo Pieraccioni shfts gears to take on the traditions of the American Western in this family-focused drama. In Il Mio West, Pieraccioni plays Doc, a physician in a small town in the American West. Doc is a peaceful man opposed to hunting, ecological waste and eating meat; he heals the community's ills and lends a voice of reason when personal differences threaten to become violent. The community's peace is shattered when Doc's father, Johnny Lowen (Harvey Keitel) comes home, 20 years after he abandoned his family. As one might expect, Doc has issues with his father, and it doesn't help that Dad was a famous gunslinger whose presence attracts Jack Sikora (David Bowie), an vicious outlaw who has sworn to kill Johnny. Il Mio West was filmmed on location in the Tuscan mountains; in the original Italian language version, Keitel's voice was dubbed by Giancarlo Giannini. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leonardo Pieraccioni, Harvey Keitel, (more)
Two young girls who believe that fairies are real attempt to prove it to the world in this drama based on actual events. In 1917, there is little to be happy about in the Wright household in West Yorkshire, England. Polly (Phoebe Nicholls) and her 12-year-old daughter Elsie (Florence Hoath) are still grieving over the death of Elsie's younger brother, and Polly's niece Frances (Elizabeth Earl) has come to stay with them after her father was declared missing in action during World War I. Polly longs for some sort of proof that there is a life beyond our own, while the two girls ardently believe in fairies and enthusiastically study legend and lore. One day, Elsie and Frances produce photographs of fairies that they claim were playing in their garden; Polly believes that they are real, and soon the snapshots attract international attention. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Peter O'Toole), author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries and a confirmed spiritualist, declares the photos "as genuine as the King's beard," while illusionist Harry Houdini (Harvey Keitel), who has devoted much time and energy to exposing phony mediums and psychics, takes a more skeptical view. While Fairy Tale: A True Story presents the appearance of the fairies as fact, analysis of the photographs proved them to be fakes (especially after the same fairies were discovered as illustrations in a children's book published before the photos were taken). The real-life Elsie Wright admitted late in life that the fairy photos were a hoax performed as a "little joke" and that she was always surprised that so many people believed them. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Florence Hoath, Elizabeth Earl, (more)
Betrayal and revenge are the key ingredients of this violent, streetwise crime drama. Roy Egan (Harvey Keitel) was once a highly successful thief but has gotten out of the business and now leads a quiet life in the Midwest. He's lured out of retirement by his brother, Lee (Timothy Hutton); Lee figures that he's come to the end of his rope as a small-time thief and wants to pull one last job that will earn him a healthy score. Lee and Roy devise a plan to knock over a jewelry store in Palm Springs and bring along two helpers, even-tempered family man Jorge (Wade Dominguez) and hot-headed driver Skip (Stephen Dorff). The heist goes like clockwork, but afterward Skip turns on his partners and kills Lee and Jorge. Roy is able to escape and swears to avenge his brother's death with the help of Jorge's wife Rachel (Famke Janssen). City of Industry was the debut feature for writer/producer Ken Solarz. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Stephen Dorff, (more)
The second film from writer/director James Mangold, the corruption drama Cop Land stars Sylvester Stallone as Freddy Heflin, the much-denigrated sheriff of tiny Garrison, NJ, a community which -- thanks to a technicality -- is populated almost entirely by members of the New York City Police Department. When young cop Murray "Superboy" Babitch (Michael Rapaport) becomes embroiled in a controversial shoot-out which leaves two black youths dead, he apparently commits suicide rather than face the wrath of an official investigation. In reality, however, he flees to safety back home in Garrison. In the wake of the controversial events, NYPD Internal Affairs lieutenant Moe Tilden (Robert De Niro) arrives in Garrison to uncover the truth, attempting to enlist Freddy to help watch the watchmen, including Superboy's uncle, veteran cop Ray Donlan (Harvey Keitel); coked-out Gary Figgis (Ray Liotta); and Joey Randone (Peter Berg), the husband of the woman (Annabella Sciorra) Freddy loved and lost. A rich, complex film about redemption, Cop Land's portrayal of Freddy's struggles to prove his worth mirrors Stallone's own return to thoughtful, character-driven drama after years of vacuous action roles. Like Freddy, he faces an uphill battle, fighting for respectability in the face of a superb cast including Janeane Garofalo, Cathy Moriarty, and Paul Calderon. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, (more)
In this action-horror flick from director Robert Rodriguez and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino, Tarantino stars with George Clooney as a pair of bad-to-the-bone brothers named Seth and Richie Gecko. After a string of robberies that left a river of blood in the Geckos' wake, the sadistic siblings head to Mexico to live the good life. To get over the border, they kidnap Jacob Fuller, a widowed preacher played by Harvey Keitel, and his two children, Kate (Juliette Lewis) and Scott (Ernest Liu). Once south of the border, the quintet park their RV at a rough-and-tumble trucker bar called The Titty Twister, where Seth and Richie are supposed to meet a local thug. After a couple of drinks, they realize that they're not in a typical bar, as the entire place begins to teem with vicious, blood-sucking vampires. With the odds stacked greatly against them, the Fullers and Geckos team together in hopes of defeating the creatures of the night. Makeup artist Tom Savini and blaxploitation star Fred Williamson appear as allies against the vampires, and Cheech Marin fills three different roles. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, (more)
A woman finds out how the dead body of your old boyfriend can ruin your whole day in this black comedy. Nathalie (Cameron Diaz) is a lovely young woman with a history of substance abuse problems who is married to George (Harvey Keitel), a circuit court judge who first met her when she was brought before him on a misdemeanor charge (he gave her a break, and they fell in love). Nathalie and George are vacationing at her family's summer cottage in Maine, with Nathalie's longtime friend (and former significant other) Lance (Craig Sheffer) tagging along. One day, while George and Lance are out fishing, Nathalie receives an uninvited and unwelcome visitor, her former boyfriend Kent (Billy Zane). Nathalie regards Kent as a symbol of the past that she's been trying to put behind her, and while he's eager to resume at least the physical side of their relationship, she wants no part of him. After a heated argument, Kent stumbles off to another part of the cottage, and just as George and Lance are about to return, Nathalie discovers that Kent is in her bedroom, naked and very dead. Correctly assuming that the presence of the nude body of her former lover in her bed would cast a bad reflection on her fidelity, Nathalie quickly tries to hide the corpse, with disastrous results. George discovers Kent's body, but since the judge would prefer not to have this sordid affair become a matter of public record, he hatches a plan of his own to get rid of the stiff, which also fails miserably. Head Above Water is a remake of the Norwegian film Hodet over Vannet, which was itself a remake of an earlier film; while released theatrically in Europe, Head Above Water debuted on premium cable networks in the United States. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Cameron Diaz, (more)
- 1996
The Fine Art of Separating People From Their Money is a provocative voyage through the evolution of commercials. Dennis Hopper hosts this unique look at the commercial as an artistic medium. The film explores how humor, art and shock-value are used to promote products. Featured clips from classic commercials include the well-known 1984 Apple commercial and the Alka Seltzer "mama mia" campaign. Interviews with directors such as Spike Lee, Hugh Hudson, Tony Scott and Alan Parker offer thought-provoking insights into the advertising world which has strongly influenced the modern feature film and contemporary visual arts.
~ Sally Barber, All Movie Guide
Director Wayne Wang and screenwriter Paul Auster had enough storylines and characters left over from their charming comedy Smoke to make another film, so they shot Blue In The Face immediately after Smoke was completed. The film once again centers on the Brooklyn Cigar Store and manager Auggie (Harvey Keitel), although most of the other characters are different. The store owner's frustrated wife Dot (Roseanne) is one of them, and one of the plotlines follows her attempts to seduce Auggie. Madonna, Michael J. Fox, Lily Tomlin, and Lou Reed (as himself) also put in appearances. Blue In The Face was shot without a complete script and presents a unique combination of distinctive performances, oddball characters, improvisations, and raffish scenes. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Lou Reed, (more)
A Brooklyn cigar shop is the setting for this drama from director Wayne Wang that interweaves the stories of several characters that have fractured family relationships in common. Harvey Keitel is Auggie Wren, poetic owner of the Brooklyn Cigar Company, a store that he considers the center of the world -- a place where all of humanity eventually parades through. One of his regular customers is Paul Benjamin (William Hurt), a writer and a broken shell of a man whose pregnant wife was shot and killed near the store. When Paul's life is saved one day by a young black man named Rashid (Harold Perrineau, Jr., the writer and his rescuer strike up a friendship and begin searching for Rashid's long-lost father (Forest Whitaker). At the store, Auggie is surprised by the appearance of Ruby (Stockard Channing), an ex-girlfriend who informs him that her pregnant, drug-addicted daughter Felicity (Ashley Judd) may also be his -- and is in dire need of help. Screenwriter Paul Auster based the script for Smoke on a 1990 short story he wrote for "The New York Times." He also wrote and directed the film's sequel (of sorts), Blue in the Face (1995). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hurt, Harvey Keitel, (more)
Winner of the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, this drama centers on the Balkan conflict as viewed through the eyes of a filmmaker named A (Harvey Keitel). Director Theo Angelopoulos wrote the screenplay, drawing from personal experiences. A is a Greek émigré director who returns to his homeland after 35 years in the U.S., ostensibly to screen his latest film, which is so controversial that it attracts religious protests. In fact, A's real purpose is to search for three reels of undeveloped film that may be the first ever shot by pioneer Balkan filmmakers the Manakis brothers, who documented simple circa-1900 peasant life. A's Homeric journey includes flashbacks into past historical events. He travels by taxi to Albania, where he enlists the help of a film archivist (Maia Morgenstern, who plays all four female roles). She joins him on a train ride to Bucharest, Romania. An extensive flashback chronicles A's childhood under Communism in Bucharest. His next stop is Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, where he is directed to Sarajevo. Angelopoulos mixes scenes shot during the actual Balkan war with historic re-enactments and dreamscapes to examine the role of the artist in political upheaval. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Maia Morgenstern, (more)
