The Fisher King

I had the day off today. I have to work on Saturday and having today off was the usual day off to make up for working tomorrow. Then I'm off Sunday and Labor day. You can't beat that.

I, uh, FOUND a way to watch The Fisher King before the library got it so thankfully when they're talking about it in class on Tuesday I'll be able to follow what they're saying.

The first thing I thought was that it takes place in NYC and was released in 1991, which prompted me to think "10 years after this film was released the world changed dramatically". I don't mean to be a downer about 9/11 but when I think about the world pre- and post-9/11 I get nostalgic. Before the tragedy, I wasn't even 30, my time in the informatics program just ended and I didn't know where my life was headed. I remember waking up 9/11/2001 listening to a TV news story on the Krispy Kreme that opened up in Cranberry that day (I used to fall asleep with the TV on and sometimes it'd be on all night). I only wish that was the biggest news story that day.

Wow, this entry sure took an unexpected turn! So, The Fisher King--

I enjoyed it. I'm not too familiar with the classic story of the Fisher King so I think a lot of the little touches were lost on me. But it's a story of redemption, and that's something universal. Jeff Bridges plays Jack Lucas, a highly successful, self-absorbed NYC radio shock jock who makes an off the cuff comment about how the patrons at a certain upscale NY bar/restaurant 'aren't human, only mate with their own kind and need to be stopped' to a deeply disturbed caller who had designs on asking out a woman that he had seen there. The caller later goes on a shooting rampage at the restaurant killing 7 people before turning the gun on himself. Lucas blames himself and goes into a deep depression. The film picks up 3 years later where Lucas spends his days drunk and ineffectually working at the video store of a woman he has been cohabitating with. One night he nearly tries to kill himself but encounters Parry (Robin Williams), a homeless man that Lucas learns was once a college professor who was with his wife at the restaurant the night of the shootings. Parry's wife was one of the 7 victims and witnessing her murder sent Parry on a downward spiral into mental institutions and homelessness.

In terms of screenwriting, there's definitely a lot to learn from how Lucas' character was set up. In only 8 mintues, we have a crystal-clear picture of who Jack Lucas is. That's impressive economy (on more than one occasion I've heard that poets and poetry students do very well writing screenplays). I'm sure we'll deconstruct it in class next week.

Dirty Dancing is next!