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ExcerptThere is no one else who makes movies which look and feel quite like those from director Ridley Scott. From his featurelength debut, The Duellists (1977), through to his triumphant return to form with Gladiator (2000), the brutal warfare of Black Hawk Down (2001) and the personal drama of Matchstick Men (2003), Scott has been a consummate creator of unique cinematic worlds. His visualisation of other times and other places has ranged from the imaginative science fiction and fantasy environments of Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982) and Legend (1985) to the recreation of the historical events of 1492: Conquest Of Paradise (1992) and Gladiator (2000), as well as the Mogadishu of Black Hawk Down. For all of them, he has created unique looks, but often at a commercial or personal cost:“I did a film called 1492, which no one really saw, but that I thought was very good.That was another world. It was Columbus and the Spanish Inquisition. I really enjoyed doing that.” Even Scott’s relatively lesser films, like the crime dramas Someone To Watch Over Me (1987) and Black Rain (1989), the lost-at-sea adventure movie White Squall (1996), the controversial woman-in-the-army drama G. I. Jane (1997), and the world of small-time con men in Matchstick Men, manage to bring unique worlds and unforgettable images to the screen. Despite his clear achievements in his early movies, there have been those critics who have accused Scott of producing films which may be brilliant looking, but are lacking in content and story, characters and drama. It’s an accusation which has dogged Scott throughout his career, and one which some of the flashier movies of the late 1980s and early 1990s do much to support. His well-known background in the world of television advertising also fuelled this critical and popular opinion. However, there are those who see beyond the images to the ideas behind the films. David Puttnam, producer of Ridley Scott’s first movie, The Duellists, directly tackled these accusations: “I remember someone criticising Ridley, saying ‘the images are too perfect.’ It’s a bit like saying to Rembrandt ‘you paint too well.’ In the end, he has a tremendous eye.What do you do, deny it? Pretend you don’t have it?” Many of Scott’s images are indeed perfect, but some of his films are not. His output splits audiences down the middle. For every individual who loved Alien and Blade Runner, there’s another who hated White Squall and 1492: Conquest Of Paradise. Occasionally, they’re the same people. For every feminist fan of Thelma & Louise, there’s another, equally feminist critic, who despises G. I. Jane or Black Hawk Down. The engagement which these audiences have with the films of Ridley Scott clearly shows that the style-versus-substance argument is a red herring. The more important question about Ridley Scott and his films is how under the guise of producing mainstream, often blockbuster, movies he has managed to create such distinctive and individual works laden with effective political and social criticism. Related eBooks
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