The Essential Five | Brian De Palma
Some think he's a perverse misogynist. Other believe his features lack a certain level of quality. And, depending on the film, they'd be right. However, when given the right material, there's no one better behind the camera than the highly talented and often controversial Brian De Palma.
Born in 1940, Brian De Palma famously emerged from the New Hollywood wave with the likes of Martin Scorcese, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg. Regularly grouped together, as well as famously known for all being friends, De Palma always felt like the outsider. While the others had very specific visions that they were able to provide the masses, De Palma always seemed like the one in the group who was a little too fascinated with sex and violence. This has obviously translated onto and into his films for the past 40 years.
I have this strange fascination with Brian De Palma's films. I tend to geek-out on most of them, trying find each of his signature trademarks. He has three distinctive director trademarks, and they are as follows:
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE | 1996
"Relax Luther, it's much worse than you think."
This was Brian De Palma's most commercially successful film to date. Mission: Impossible brought De Palma together with Hollywood powerhouse, Tom Cruise. The end result was a taut espionage thriller, supported by a great ensemble cast with wonderfully executed action set pieces in Prague and London.
SCARFACE | 1983
"In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women."
Scarface was the end result of an excessive Oliver Stone script combined with an over-the-top performance by Al Pacino, helmed by the maestro of violence and suspense himself, Brian De Palma. Critically-panned when it was first released, the film has since become an underground cult classic, influencing directors, hip hop artists, and writers for the past thirty years.
BLOW OUT | 1981
"That's a terrible scream. Jack, what cat did you have to strangle to get that?"
"The one you hired. That's her scream."
"You mean you didn't dub that?"
An unknown gem that bombed at the box office when it was first released, Blow Out was inspired by De Palma's obsession with the Kennedy assassination combined with the filmmaking industry. This effective and stylistic thriller follows a sound man who witnesses a car accident that plummets him into uncovering a conspiracy to cover up a political assassination.
CARLITO'S WAY | 1993
"Favor gonna kill you faster than a bullet."
This is probably my personal favorite of all of De Palma's films. Carlito's Way is the wonderfully tragic story of Carlito Brigante, a convict who is released early due to a legal technicality, vowing to stay on the path of the straight and narrow, but finds it difficult to avoid his criminal past.
THE UNTOUCHABLES | 1987
"You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way! And that's how you get Capone."
I would consider The Untouchables to be Brian De Palma's masterpiece. The film perfectly blends De Palma's stylistic vision, David Mamet's punchy script, peppered with brief bursts of ultra-violence, and held together with the cinematic glue of compelling and likable characters. Add to all of this an Academy Award-winning performance by Sean Connery and a distinguished score by Ennio Morricone and you just can't beat it.
There are a still a handful of his films that I have yet to see, so this list could easily change at any time. Consider this post a living breathing document, kinda like the U.S. Constitution... but with boobs, blood and profanity. Until I complete this task, I'll just have to choose...
DRESSED TO KILL | 1980
It didn't make The Essential Five for several reasons: (1) For the most part, Brian De Palma is a sub-par screenwriter. His dialog is passable at its best, melodramatic at its worst. This film is no exception. (2) Dressed To Kill was an obvious homage to Psycho, but it was so heavy-handed at times, that it was almost laughable. (3) It was so overtly sexual at times that it felt pornographic, and this was released in 1980. I tend to check out when his films get too sexual in any manner. To me, it just feels like it cheapens the plot in order to try and get people watch.
This isn't the first time that a Brian De Palma film was overtly sexual. Probably won't be the last. Just look at Body Double (1984), Femme Fetale (2002), or Passion (2012). He's done this throughout his career, which I feel has also been his biggest downfall. Some of his biggest failures (at least in my opinion) are those in which he has also penned the script. So it's no big surprise that four of the five films I selected he had little to do with the actual creation of the story. I think that's where he's had the most success.
But enough about my critical comments of the man and what he chooses to do behind the typewriter, word processor, or computer. What I love about De Palma is what he does behind the camera. Please understand that one of my favorite things to do when watching one of his films is to try and catch his trademarks. Here are some highlights of his Director Trademarks as well as a short selection of Key Scenes that show the best of Brian De Palma does when he's behind the camera. Enjoy!
TRADEMARK | The Overhead Crane Shot:
TRADEMARK | The Split Diopter Shot:
The standard camera lens acts just like the human eye. It can't clearly focus on the foreground and the background at the same time. When they put this filter in place, the camera can do both. If positioned correctly, you care barely make out where the split is located. Other shots, it's obvious. If you see a bit of a blur somewhere in the frame, that's where the break is located. All are strategic, just some are easier to spot that others as you can see below.
TRADEMARK | The Long Take:
This unusually long take actually has cuts strategically placed throughout the entirely shot. See if you can spot where they cut the film.
KEY SCENE | Carrie
The slow-burning suspense in editing along with the slow-motion builds to culmination, anticipating Carrie's eventual demise.
KEY SCENE | Carlito's Way
Carlito has just minutes to catch a departing train for Miami while trying to avoid getting spotted by the gangsters chasing him in Grand Central Station. The end result is a brilliant three minute cat-and-mouse sequence, uncut with the use of a steadicam.
KEY SCENE | The Untouchables
This nail-biting scene, where Elliot Ness and George Stone are trying to Al Capone's bookkeeper before he leaves he city, show's De Palma's skill in crafting a fantastic sequence while also paying homage to the 1925 Russian film, Battleship Potemkin.
KEY SCENE | Blow Out
This dizzying 2 and a half minute scene demonstrates the increasing paranoia that Jack Terry who has discovered that someone has sabotaged his entire sound effects library.
KEY SCENE | Dressed to Kill
Kate Miller, a sexually frustrated house wife, decides to go cruising at the Met (of all places). The slow build up of anticipation, interest, and intrigue show you why De Palma is a master craftsman behind the camera.
KEY SCENE | The Untouchables
Al Capone is pissed. And the only other people that know this outside of him, is the audience. This edge-of-your-seat scene will make your jaw drop with its brutal carnage. It gives me the chills every time I watch it. Viewer discretion is advised.
KEY SCENE | Scarface
There are several iconic scenes from Scarface, but this was the one that always got me. The tension and suspense put forth in this scene is absolutely astounding. Tony Montana and his buddies are involved with a drug buy to get noticed and the entire situation goes south quickly. But just when you things couldn't get worse, someone grabs a chainsaw. Viewer discretion is advised. (My apologies for the video quality, it was the best I could find that had the scene in its entirety.)
Born in 1940, Brian De Palma famously emerged from the New Hollywood wave with the likes of Martin Scorcese, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg. Regularly grouped together, as well as famously known for all being friends, De Palma always felt like the outsider. While the others had very specific visions that they were able to provide the masses, De Palma always seemed like the one in the group who was a little too fascinated with sex and violence. This has obviously translated onto and into his films for the past 40 years.
I have this strange fascination with Brian De Palma's films. I tend to geek-out on most of them, trying find each of his signature trademarks. He has three distinctive director trademarks, and they are as follows:
- The Overhead Crane Shot
This take is pretty straightforward: the camera will either move up and end on the overhead shot or it will start on the overhead shot and move down, depending on the mood of the scene. - The Split Diopter Shot
This shot or take is a bit trickier. It involves using a lens filter that gives the director the ability to have a much greater depth of field that would normally be unobtainable. It allows a subject in background and a subject in the foreground to both be in focus. This technique isn't used very often, but if it's executed correctly, those with an untrained eye don't even realize what they're seeing. Unless it's Brian De Palma. Then its usage is poignant and purposeful, almost to the point of excess -- depending on the film and the decade it was made. (To learn more about this effect and how it has been used in films, click here.) - The Long Take
This is where the camera follows the subject without cutting away for several minutes (if not longer), usually interacting with other characters in the process. If well-executed, it can make history (just think of the opening scene of Orson Welle's Touch of Evil, or Scorsese's Copacabana Nightclub scene in Goodfellas).
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE | 1996"Relax Luther, it's much worse than you think."
This was Brian De Palma's most commercially successful film to date. Mission: Impossible brought De Palma together with Hollywood powerhouse, Tom Cruise. The end result was a taut espionage thriller, supported by a great ensemble cast with wonderfully executed action set pieces in Prague and London.
"In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women."
Scarface was the end result of an excessive Oliver Stone script combined with an over-the-top performance by Al Pacino, helmed by the maestro of violence and suspense himself, Brian De Palma. Critically-panned when it was first released, the film has since become an underground cult classic, influencing directors, hip hop artists, and writers for the past thirty years.
"That's a terrible scream. Jack, what cat did you have to strangle to get that?"
"The one you hired. That's her scream."
"You mean you didn't dub that?"
An unknown gem that bombed at the box office when it was first released, Blow Out was inspired by De Palma's obsession with the Kennedy assassination combined with the filmmaking industry. This effective and stylistic thriller follows a sound man who witnesses a car accident that plummets him into uncovering a conspiracy to cover up a political assassination.
"Favor gonna kill you faster than a bullet."
This is probably my personal favorite of all of De Palma's films. Carlito's Way is the wonderfully tragic story of Carlito Brigante, a convict who is released early due to a legal technicality, vowing to stay on the path of the straight and narrow, but finds it difficult to avoid his criminal past.
"You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way! And that's how you get Capone."
I would consider The Untouchables to be Brian De Palma's masterpiece. The film perfectly blends De Palma's stylistic vision, David Mamet's punchy script, peppered with brief bursts of ultra-violence, and held together with the cinematic glue of compelling and likable characters. Add to all of this an Academy Award-winning performance by Sean Connery and a distinguished score by Ennio Morricone and you just can't beat it.
AND THE HONORABLE MENTION GOES TO...
There are a still a handful of his films that I have yet to see, so this list could easily change at any time. Consider this post a living breathing document, kinda like the U.S. Constitution... but with boobs, blood and profanity. Until I complete this task, I'll just have to choose...
It didn't make The Essential Five for several reasons: (1) For the most part, Brian De Palma is a sub-par screenwriter. His dialog is passable at its best, melodramatic at its worst. This film is no exception. (2) Dressed To Kill was an obvious homage to Psycho, but it was so heavy-handed at times, that it was almost laughable. (3) It was so overtly sexual at times that it felt pornographic, and this was released in 1980. I tend to check out when his films get too sexual in any manner. To me, it just feels like it cheapens the plot in order to try and get people watch.
This isn't the first time that a Brian De Palma film was overtly sexual. Probably won't be the last. Just look at Body Double (1984), Femme Fetale (2002), or Passion (2012). He's done this throughout his career, which I feel has also been his biggest downfall. Some of his biggest failures (at least in my opinion) are those in which he has also penned the script. So it's no big surprise that four of the five films I selected he had little to do with the actual creation of the story. I think that's where he's had the most success.
But enough about my critical comments of the man and what he chooses to do behind the typewriter, word processor, or computer. What I love about De Palma is what he does behind the camera. Please understand that one of my favorite things to do when watching one of his films is to try and catch his trademarks. Here are some highlights of his Director Trademarks as well as a short selection of Key Scenes that show the best of Brian De Palma does when he's behind the camera. Enjoy!
TRADEMARK | The Overhead Crane Shot:
 |
| Blow Out (1981) |
 |
| The Untouchables (1987) |
The standard camera lens acts just like the human eye. It can't clearly focus on the foreground and the background at the same time. When they put this filter in place, the camera can do both. If positioned correctly, you care barely make out where the split is located. Other shots, it's obvious. If you see a bit of a blur somewhere in the frame, that's where the break is located. All are strategic, just some are easier to spot that others as you can see below.
 |
| Dressed to Kill (1980) |
 |
| Mission: Impossible (1996) |
 |
| Carrie (1976) |
This unusually long take actually has cuts strategically placed throughout the entirely shot. See if you can spot where they cut the film.
Snake Eyes (1998)
KEY SCENE | Carrie
The slow-burning suspense in editing along with the slow-motion builds to culmination, anticipating Carrie's eventual demise.
KEY SCENE | Carlito's Way
Carlito has just minutes to catch a departing train for Miami while trying to avoid getting spotted by the gangsters chasing him in Grand Central Station. The end result is a brilliant three minute cat-and-mouse sequence, uncut with the use of a steadicam.
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KEY SCENE | The Untouchables
This nail-biting scene, where Elliot Ness and George Stone are trying to Al Capone's bookkeeper before he leaves he city, show's De Palma's skill in crafting a fantastic sequence while also paying homage to the 1925 Russian film, Battleship Potemkin.
KEY SCENE | Blow Out
This dizzying 2 and a half minute scene demonstrates the increasing paranoia that Jack Terry who has discovered that someone has sabotaged his entire sound effects library.
KEY SCENE | Dressed to Kill
Kate Miller, a sexually frustrated house wife, decides to go cruising at the Met (of all places). The slow build up of anticipation, interest, and intrigue show you why De Palma is a master craftsman behind the camera.
KEY SCENE | The Untouchables
Al Capone is pissed. And the only other people that know this outside of him, is the audience. This edge-of-your-seat scene will make your jaw drop with its brutal carnage. It gives me the chills every time I watch it. Viewer discretion is advised.
KEY SCENE | Scarface
There are several iconic scenes from Scarface, but this was the one that always got me. The tension and suspense put forth in this scene is absolutely astounding. Tony Montana and his buddies are involved with a drug buy to get noticed and the entire situation goes south quickly. But just when you things couldn't get worse, someone grabs a chainsaw. Viewer discretion is advised. (My apologies for the video quality, it was the best I could find that had the scene in its entirety.)
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