If your first movie (“American Beauty”) has become an instant classic, what can you do next? Double the bet, try to innovate and bring different things into a complex and trite genre like the mafia-focused film noir. Some of the most important masterpieces in the history of cinema have used this universe to deepen the psychology of the Shakespearean characters with whom, beyond the shootings and the trunks of the cars, we have been able to identify. His fears were not too far from ours and his defense of the family has been implicit in our society since the beginning of time. They are basic, elementary elements of a way of being that cinema has accompanied with dark atmospheres, poorly lit rooms and offers that you will not be able to refuse. Sam Mendes accepted the challenge and got to work with “Road to Perdition”, his second film And his second undisputed triumph.
Curiosities about ‘Via della perdizione’
1 Mendes options
After the enormous success achieved with the wonderful ‘American Beauty’, including the Oscars, Sam Mendes began to receive proposals for what would be his second film work. A) Yes, the director has rejected projects as varied as “A beautiful mind”, “K-Pax” or “Connect the dots”. Why did you choose “Road to Perdition”? Due to the absence of dialogue in the script, a nice change from his debut.
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Two Law of the magician
Before filming begins, Jude Law he was working side by side with, beware, a wizard learn to pass a coin between your fingers. The lessons were great, as you can see in the movie.
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3 visits and congratulations
When he tries to get the huge Paul Newman to join the project, Sam Mendes She went to her house and the first thing she did was start praising her beauty and youthful looks. We don’t know if it was the main reason, but the fact is that the legendary actor ended up accepting the offer, so I bet for the English director.
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4 family favorite
Tom Hanks’ controversial son Chet has confessed on several occasions that ‘Road to Perdition’ is the favorite film and performance of his illustrious father’s career. The reason he keeps this masterpiece is that, according to him, it is the furthest role from what his father really is in everyday life.
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5 Hall’s thrill
The great Conrad L. Hall, immeasurable cinematographer, was preparing a shot of Paul Newman in ‘Road to Perdition’ when, after observing the actor for a few seconds, he began to cry with emotion. In this sense, it should be remembered that they had previously collaborated on numerous occasions and that it is the last live-action feature film of both before their respective deaths.
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6 The hatred of Judas
Jude Law’s appearance in the film was by no means one of the actor’s favorite aspects. Indeed, he hated him so much that he asked to wear a cap whenever he wasn’t shooting. One of the main reasons for this dissatisfaction was his extreme pallor, a factor on which Sam Mendes himself asked for more emphasis.
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7 Without Capone
First Anthony LaPaglia he would appear on “Road to Perdition” playing Al Capone himself, coming to shoot the scene. However, Sam Mendes has finally decided to leave this moment out of the film, which made the performer appear first in the credits found in the credits.
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8 date changes
Seeing the potential “Road to Perdition” had for awards season, the studio considered releasing it on Christmas dates to increase its options. However, Sam Mendes asked for more time to finish the film finally showed the light in the middle of the summer of 2002.
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9 love on the front page
Producer Dean Zanuck confessed he never read a graphic novel until he got “Road to Perdition” and fell in love from the front page. He then sent a copy to his father, Richard D. Zanuck, for his opinion of him. And the enthusiasm was just as great. Therefore, they both sent the novel to Steven Spielberg, who he called them two days later to confirm that he was interested in starting the projecteven if he never thought of directing it.
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10 Driving homologated
The very young Tyler Hoechlin he had to learn to drive for the film, something that, far from frightening him, made him a terrible illusion. In order to manage the car in the best possible way, and although he showed admirable ease from the start, during the shooting of the scenes he enlisted the help of an experienced driver sitting in the back with his own driving controls. .
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The British director focused on the graphic novel of the same name written by Max Allan Collins, which in turn was based on the manga ‘Lone Wolf and Club’, to shape a story of violence, love and, above all, connection between father and son, full of scenes to remember and with a dazzling ability to unify in the same cinematic discourse the scent of its great references and the best contemporary cinema. Yesterday and (past) tomorrow.
The magnificent story did the rest, as did a cast that had two recitals to remember by Tom Hanks and Paul Newman. A set of virtues among which shines with particular intensity, once again, the direction of a Mendes obsessed with the attention to small details within the great tragedies. Its staging, its slow and, at the same time, very intense beat does not allow us to look away a film that, over time, has confirmed what it had already intuited since its premiere: to be one of the great classics of the genre.
Source: E Cartelera
