Seen this movie recently and while it lacks visual flair in his direction and has a "more-conventional-than-I-thought" plot, David O'Russell's shines in the acting he squeezes out of EVERYONE in his cast. One could argue that his job is made easy by the talented cast he roped to do this movie which is a good argument and according to Backstage, there could be alot of truth to that:
Although the film stars box office magnets such as Jennifer Lawrence,
Bradley Cooper, and Robert De Niro, Russell looks for the unexpected in
every actor he casts. “We make sure that they’re not overexposed and
that you haven’t seen them do this one part before,” Vernieu says of the
actors she brings in. Although actors like Jacki Weaver and John Ortiz,
who have supporting parts in the film, are solid working actors, they
were new to Russell. “There’s a lot of times where some people do a
certain thing, so it’s all about trying to kind of reinvent that,”
Vernieu adds.
Russell hosted work sessions with the lead actors before shooting began...
However, I am sure there is alot more to it and, based on his past work, Russell definitely seems to be an "actor's director." Cue the Yahoo! interview with Russell:
What is the key to starting off on the right foot with an actor?
The moment we meet, we begin this relationship that is very personal and has a warmth and humanness to it -- and intention. I'm honest about who I am and what I'm after in terms of a voice and a person. And I welcome their feelings and questions, together with the sense that this is a very special thing we're
doing. There has to be that excitement and passion and desire -- I want
them to feel that from me, and I want to feel that from them. I'm
willing to embrass myself, or to show them my humanness myself, and that
allows them to show their humanness.
I would say the most important thing is feeling that I know what I
want to do. It's very specific, it's very personal, it's very emotional
to me. And I'm very confident in them, even before they are. Even if
there are moments of not knowing what we're doing, I'm comfortable with
those moments. They don't cause anxiety or panic.
Did they used to cause panic?
Well, I know what it's like to go down a road making a movie when you
don't know your target starting out. That's a much harder way to make a
movie, and I don't want to do that. I want to at least know the voice or
the feeling that I love. And I do mean the word love. For me, that's been the great
discovery of the last two movies: I have great passion and love for the
worlds and the characters. And I love each character as I would my own
son, for better or worse. That means you hate them sometimes a little
bit, but I can take the view of any character in the movie and see the
whole movie from their point of view.
When you get on the set, you're known for positioning yourself close to the actors and giving directions as the camera is rolling.
When we first read the scene together, whether it's in a room or on the
set, very often that's when it comes to life. And when we get on the
set to put it on its feet, we may work out the blocking in a very
general sense, and then I'll just start shooting the rehearsal.
There's a looseness that comes with that, because I will talk to them
as I would during a rehearsal. I might say, "Try it like this" or "How
about that?"
And then as we keep going, eventually there are long sections where
I'm not saying a word. If I throw a word in later, it's out of sense of
joy or enjoyment or excitement. So in the flow of it, I might say "Try
it quiet" or "What if you hit that word harder?" or "What if you said
this word instead?"
When I spoke to Jennifer, she talked about the scene between
her and Bradley in the diner. She said at a certain point you asked them
to slow the dialogue way down, and that it felt very strange and wrong
to them at first but ended up being the right choice.
I remember it well. That scene is a very important scene. So much is
happening: They're making a secret pact that is illegal, when she says
she'll get a letter to his wife. And it's also an emotional pact. She's
divulging things about herself. She's opening up and telling him about
who she is and what happened to her.
The secrecy of the collusion, the intimacy of their deal, there was
something hot about it. At the same time they were supposed to be
working on getting the letter to his wife, they were really getting
closer together. So that was the subtext.
So I said, "Let's do it in this more collusive, secretive way, like
when you lean into somebody." And it took on a different feeling. That's
where it took on an intensity and a hot intimacy.
Do you ever find actors who aren't comfortable with your process?
That happened in my first three movies, but that's because I didn't
figure it out before I made the movie the way I do now. Now I want to
have that family feeling that we're all in this together. It's also knowing when an actor doesn't want to work in a certain
way. You need to treat Robert De Niro very differently than you treat
Bradley Cooper or Christian Bale or Jennifer Lawrence or Amy Adams. Some
actors, I know that I must never speak to that actor about crying,
because it's going to make it hard for them to cry. That's how I got De
Niro to cry in this movie, because I never spoke to him about it, I
never wrote it, and then it happened.
[Pause] I need to know when to back off and shut up; that's a
big part of it. It's probably not that different from being a coach on a
good team. You need to know when to shut up and let the team struggle,
and when to intervene and say, "Hold on, let's redirect what we're doing
here."
Want to see something good but different? Then go see some shorts at the IFC Center. where they are screening the Academy Award-nominated shorts in the following categories: Documentary, Live Action and Animation. Starting today until Feb. 7. 323 Sixth Avenue at West Third Street | (212) 924-7771
DOCUMENTARY
PROGRAM A KINGS POINT (USA, 39 min.) Director: Sari Gilman
MONDAYS AT RACINE (USA, 39 min.) Director: Cynthia Wade INOCENTE (USA, 39 min.) Directors: Sean Fine & Andrea Nix
MAGGIE SIMPSON IN “THE LONGEST DAYCARE” (USA, 5 min.), Director: David Silverman ADAM AND DOG (USA, 16 min.), Director: Minkyu Lee FRESH GUACAMOLE (USA, 2 min.), Director: Adam Pesapane (PES) HEAD OVER HEELS (UK, 10 min.), Director: Timothy Reckart PAPERMAN (USA, 7 min.), Director: John Kahrs ADDITIONAL FILMS: THE GRUFFALO’S CHILD (27 min.), Director: Uwe Heidschötter & Johannes Weiland DRIPPED (France, 9 min.), Director: Leo Verrier ABIOGENESIS (New Zealand, 5 min.), Director: Richard Mans
NR, 88 Minutes
DEATH OF A SHADOW (Belgium/France, 20 min.), Director: Tom Van Avermaet HENRY (Canada, 21 min.), Director: Yan England CURFEW (USA, 19 min.), Director: Shawn Christensen BUZKASHI BOYS (Afghanistan/USA, 28 min.), Director: Sam French ASAD (South Africa/USA, 18 min.), Director: Bryan Buckley NR, 114 Minutes
Ah savate... Don't let the tight biker shorts and top fool you, Savate fighters are lethal. Although everyone is aware and afear'd of muay thai, and rightly so, savate fighters can hold their own and then some with muay thai fighters. If you think of a muay thai kick as getting hit with a bat then think of a savate kick as getting stabbed with a dagger. I think you don't see alot of pure savate techniques in the octagon or the cage mainly because savate is done with footwear. In fact, "savate" means "old boot" implying the how elemental footwear is to the sport (competition savate) and martial art (savate de rue). Don't get me wrong you can do some techniques barefoot but the true lethality of savate comes from taking advantage of the hard surface of your shoes. That's why savate is such an effective streetfighting art and I think that's what makes savate fall so comfortably within the JKD curriculum (it's how I learned savate). It originated as a street art that became a sport but the effective essence is still there in the sport. And it's what makes it such a dope art. So don't sleep on savate or a fouetté to the temple will have you sleeping for real.
There are six basic kinds of kicks, and four kinds of punches for savate de rue (street defense):
Kicks
fouetté (literally "whip", roundhouse kick making contact with the toe):
high (figure),
medium (median) or
low (bas)
chassé (side or front piston-action kick):
high (figure),
medium (median) or
low (bas)
chassé italien (aimed at the opponent's inner thigh, with the
toe pointed at the opponent's groin. Contrast the chassé bas lateral,
which targets the front of the thigh.) NOT ALLOWED IN THE RING
revers (frontal or lateral "reverse" or hooking kick making
contact with the sole of the shoe):
high (figure),
medium (median), or
low (bas)
coup de pied bas ("low kick", a front or sweep kick to the
shin making contact with the inner edge of the shoe, performed with a
characteristic backwards lean):
low only, designed to break the shin
bone.
coup de pied bas de frappe (coup de pied bas which is used to strike the opponent's lead leg). NOT ALLOWED IN THE RING
Punches
direct bras avant (jab, lead hand)
direct bras arrière (cross, rear hand)
crochet (hook, bent arm with either hand)
uppercut (either hand).
In addition to kicks and punches, training in savate de rue (savate defense) includes knee and elbow strikes along with locks, sweeps, throws, headbutts, and takedown. And it flows very with Panantukan, Trapping and other JKD techniques. It even has a weapons component known as La Canne.
