Rumble Fish
Rumble Fish
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Photographed by Stephen H. Burum
1983
Staring: Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Dennis Hopper, Nicolas Cage, Diane Lane
I just realized that this week I chose to write about yet another Francis Ford Coppola film. I mean, the man's a fucking visual genius. His vision and ideas are so clear, that they're usually very well executed. Like most geniuses, Coppola has a hard time hiding his insecurities and he often wears his heart on his sleeve. That's just my opinion, though, and I think his films can often back me on this. I have a deep admiration for Coppola that has grown with me, as I get older I appreciate and consume more of his themes and style. About a year ago, I was chatting with a buddy's dad about Coppola and to my surprise he mentioned a film I had not watched before- Rumble Fish. He didn't tell me much, except that if I liked art films, I was going to enjoy this one in particular. This didn't mean much to me, specially with Coppola not being so "artsy" or pretentious. Hopefully, you understand what I'm trying to say, reader. Well, as soon as I got home that evening, I opened my laptop and began my search for Rumble Fish. About an hour and a half later I was in love, the kind of love that makes you crazy, the puppy love we all feel in our early adolescence, it was serious. Move over, The Conversation, cus there's a new Coppola favorite. I watched it two more times back to back. The film is so complete in absolutely everything! From the acting to the art direction to the goddamn cinematography! Let's talk about that. Stephen Burum had worked previously with Coppola in The Outsiders, but Rumble Fish definitely was a bit more defiant of his talent, challenging him in more ways than one with the articulate shots and beautiful black and white cinematography. The black and white add so much to the film, showing us the darkness in these boys, growing older with no direction set to the background noise of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Rusty James, played by Matt Dillon, is a young misguided boy dealing with the sudden disappearance of his older brother, The Motorcycle Boy, played by none other that Mickey Rourke. Rusty James wants nothing more than to be like his older brother, slick, sure, cool, but most of all a leader. The story is very easy to follow and entertaining, this is not where the film's power lays. The film's forte is definitely in its imagery. The vision Coppola had, the perfect harmony of blacks and greys and whites and in two instances, blue and orange(the only colors we see throughout the whole film), , works out immaculately. After watching the film, it was suddenly clear to me what my friend's father meant by "art film."
