“Being John Malkovich” (1999)
Spike Jonze incredible cinematic debut.
Spike Jonze incredible cinematic debut.
Being John Malkovich was a “crossover” film for a fan of my cinematic vintage, being as it was released on the cusp of the bridge between the prized VHS cassette and the shiny new DVD disc. I still have to this day the American import DVD of the film (that will only play on my dinosaur of a two decades old modified DVD player) and whilst I can’t accurately claim to have seen this marvel at the cinema, the film began a near quarter of a century of appreciation for both the directing of Spike Jonze and the surreal screenplay writing of Charlie Kaufman.
The spoiler free review re-produced below was penned nearly a decade ago to form a part of the much larger blog article on the entire cinematic career of its director Spike Jonze, however I seem to have reserved my greater plaudits for the written screenplay of Charlie Kaufman. Following on from the credits already listed below, Kaufman has since written and directed the highly recommended Synecdoche, New York in 2008, the stop motion animated film Anomalisa in 2015 and I’m Thinking of Ending Things in 2020, whilst director Jonze would direct Joaquin Phoenix in Her in 2013 before ostensibly returning to his first love of shooting music videos and short films.
All films mentioned above are either contained within the opus blog article linked immediately below or within my archives here, and I hope you enjoy my take on this surreal joy of a film.
Spike Jonze — 4 twisted love stories for your consideration
“Being John Malkovich”, “Adaptation”, “Where the Wild Things Are” and “Her”. All lovingly appreciated and spoiler free.medium.com
“What happens when a man goes through his own portal?”
Being John Malkovich became a firm favourite of mine fifteen years ago when it was first released and remains so to this very day. Since the film’s initial release I have re-watched this highly amusing yet frankly utterly surreal box of cinematic madness a number of times and it remains as fresh, inventive and uniquely funny as it was all those years ago. But rather than starting with a eulogy on first time Director Spike Jonze who is of course the main attraction of this particular love in blog, I would like to draw your attention to the creator of this very special kind of madness, screenplay writer Charlie Kaufman. For those of you unaware of Kaufman’s work, Being John Malkovich was Charlie’s first cinematic screenplay following a number of scripts written for TV shows throughout the 1990’s, however following his screenplay here he also devised the stories for and/or wrote the screenplays for the 2001 comedy Human Nature starring Tim Robbins, the utterly brilliant 2002 comedy Adaptation and in the same year wrote the enthralling screenplay for the George Clooney directed and loose biographical film on the life of Chuck Barris, the highly recommended Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. In 2004 he wrote the screenplay for the Michel Gondry directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind before writing and directing Synecdoche, New York in 2008 which saw yet another career performance from the much missed Philip Seymour Hoffman. As you may have gathered from this list of stellar cinematic features, Charlie Kaufman is a man much in demand for his intriguing, thoughtful and at times surreal and baffling scripts which have been turned into some of the greatest films of recent times.
So what does Charlie Kaufman have in store here, the first of two hence far collaborations with Director Jonze?
“Craig Schwartz” (John Cusack) is depressed, down on his luck and seemingly stuck in both his life and his marriage to “Lotte Schwartz” (Cameron Diaz). Living in New York, Craig is surrounded and smothered by a dowdy dressed, unattractive and overbearing wife and a whole menagerie of family pets including a parrot, a ferret, an iguana and a monkey that has a professional “shrink!”. As a result he retreats further and further into a world he feels more comfortable with and where he can control, dictate and enjoy a life that is seemingly passing him by, and all via the medium of puppeteering. Despite the verbal and physical assaults he often has to endure for his art, life takes on new meaning for Craig when he performs but penniless and needing work to sustain the family home he takes a job as a lowly filing clerk at LesterCorp on the 7 and a half Floor of a city office block, events in the surreal and cramped confines of this half a floor of office space will change the course of his future forever.
Quirky, socially inept and with an almost constant look of bafflement upon his face, Cusack is excellent as the awkward Schwartz who instantly falls in love with the sexually alluring but completely out of his social league “Maxine Lund” (Catherine Keener). Maxine also works on the 7 and a half Floor for “Dr Lester” (Orson Bean) a sprightly yet hearing impaired 105 year old who like his secretary, oh sorry “Executive Liasion” “Floris” (Mary Kay Place) has no problem whatsoever with expressing his inappropriate sexual desires! Craig has swapped one bizarre backdrop to his life for another however his surreal new office job has one further abstract detail in store for him, a portal into the mind of world renowned actor John Malkovich whereby for fifteen minutes the lucky occupants can observe his day to day activities before being catapulted from his mind and back into the real world via the New Jersey Turnpike!
So to recap, we have a struggling and socially awkward puppeteer in a loveless marriage surrounded by umpteen animals and a monkey named Elijah dressed in a baby’s nappy, who falls in love with a beautiful, sexually open co-worker who refuses his every awkward advance. He now has to constantly and actively avoid both his new Boss and his Executive Liaison's totally inappropriate sexual advances and discussions too, only to find refuge in a portal into the mind of one of Hollywood’s premier actors of our generation. Craig, his own sexual advances still rebuked by Maxine, suggests they instead become “Partners” in the highly lucrative enterprise of selling 15 minutes into the mind of John Malkovich, however their ruse cannot last and soon enough a certain someone would rather have his mind back to himself! But there is an ever lengthening queue of takers for this surreal journey, and closing the portal simply isn’t an option. Suffice to say, the hysterical and ultra bizarre madness has only just begun!
There is so much to admire in Being John Malkovich and credit is due in every direction, from regular Coen Brothers musical collaborator Carter Burwell and his eclectic musical score that joyously accompanies the film as it ranges from a vast number of orchestral pieces through to Bjork’s “Amphibian” during the closing credits to Lance Acord’s cinematography and Eric Zumbrunnen’s excellent editing. In a film of such intricacies and attention to detail, KK Barrett also deserves immense credit for his unique production design as it brings both Kaufman’s and Jonze’s surreal vision to life so vividly. In front of the camera are a wealth of unique and stellar performances across the board, from John Cusack’s awkward portrayal of a man completely uneasy with life and seemingly thwarted at every turn to Cameron Diaz’s almost unrecognisable portrayal of his overbearing and confused wife.
Catherine Keener garnered the first of her two Oscar nominations to date for her portrayal of the sexually alluring and ultra selfish Maxine and special mentions are rightly due for Orson Bean and Mary Kay Place for their respective roles as they both infuse a real surreal air to their other worldly and highly sexual characters completely at odds with the world and yet utterly comfortable with it too. There are also a plethora of credited and un-credited cameos throughout the film as it continually twists a fictionalised narrative with real life Hollywood stars of the day such as Gary Sinise, Winona Ryder, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Dustin Hoffman as well as Director Jonze himself and fellow Director David Fincher. Last but by no means least is Charlie Sheen sending himself up in the vein of the film brilliantly as well with his hysterical “Hot, lesbian witches!” outburst!
But in a film that carries his name, John Malkovich plays up to the surreal screenplay that has somehow found it’s way inside his mind absolutely wonderfully. To use a well worn cliché Malkovich’s performance is very definitely a “brave” one as he takes the absurdity of being surrounded on all sides by replicas of himself through to being directly under the control of another “him” brilliantly, and on repeated viewings it’s striking that he never wavers or looks aghast at the absurdity of it all. He remains “in character”, whatever character that may be at any given time and it’s a true virtuoso performance that could so easily have descended into shtick, or with reverential nods to the camera or the audience. The film itself garnered three Oscar nominations in 2000, for Keener’s supporting performance as the enticing and out of reach Maxine as well as nods to both Director Jonze for Best Director and for Kaufman’s outstanding, ground breaking screenplay. The two would re-team on Jonze’s next film and another wonderfully affecting and bizarre Kaufman screenplay would be twisted through Jonze’s lens to perfection again.
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published film articles are linked below or there’s well over 200 blog articles (with 400+ individual film reviews) within my archives from which to choose:
“The Road” (2009)
John Hillcoat’s end of the world Father and Son tale.medium.com
“Fences” (2016)
Denzel Washington directed Oscar winner.medium.com
“A Monster Calls” (2016)
“Too old to be a kid. Too young to be a man”.medium.com