What do you think about when you want to make a biographical film of a character? Usually, biographical films will tell about famous people or very inspiring stories. Like Gandhi (1982) which tells the story of Mahatma Gandhi or Captain Phillips (2013) which takes the story of Captain Richard Phillips when he fights against the hijacking of ships by Somali pirates. This time, I want to discuss and discuss Ed Wood (1994), one of the most unique biographical films I have ever watched.
Synopsis Ed Wood (1994)
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This film is a biography of Edward D. Wood Jr. (played by Johnny Depp) which is based on a book by Rudolph Gray entitled Nightmare of Ecstasy. Ed Wood is a director with extraordinary vision and is very obsessed with making films that can penetrate Hollywood. Instead of making quality films, Ed Wood only made cheap films and one of his famous works Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) is considered the worst film of all time. The story in this film tells of Ed Wood's making and directing about Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), his habit of wearing his wife's women's clothes and also his friendship with one of his favorite actors.
Director : Tim Burton
Cast:
Johnny Depp – Ed Wood
Martin Landau – Bela Lugosi
Sarah Jessica Parker - Dolores Fuller
Patricia Arquette - Kathy O'Hara
Jeffrey Jones – Criswell
Why We Watch This Movie?
Unique Inspiration
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Inspiration can come from anywhere. Throughout the era of Edward D. Wood Jr. In life, he may always get criticism or blasphemy in each of his works, perhaps Edward D. Wood Jr. never would have imagined that his life story and his film were the inspiration to create a film that would later win two Oscars (Martin Landau as Supporting Role Actor and Best Make Up Artist). The director is very smart to take the point of view of how the creative process of Ed Wood to make an absurd movie. This is more interesting, than telling the story of Ed Wood's childhood.
One of the interesting scenes is when Ed Wood is able to do 30 takes to shoot in one day (don't ask how the quality is), where the director can usually only make 1 or 2 scenes. We can see, how Ed Wood looks very careless in directing the film and rejects suggestions from the crew for a reshoot due to budget constraints. Special credit to the scriptwriter who can make this film very interesting to watch even though it failed commercially.
Cool Acting and Totality
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The best strength in this film is about the friendship story between Ed Wood and Bela Lugosi. The story of the friendship between the director and his favorite actor. Ed Wood is played by the eccentric actor Johnny Depp. Currently, we know Johnny Depp as an actor who plays a role in comical films such as Pirates of Carabian or Alice in Wonderland. However, Johnny Depp is also a quality actor with the best acting and total work.
Ed Wood (1994) is Johnny Depp's second collaboration with Tim Burton after Edward Scissorhands (1990) and throughout his career they have collaborated on seven films. Johnny Depp has succeeded in making us imagine how about Ed Wood, Johnny Depp plays a comical style with an eccentric nature and very high self-confidence despite limited talent and deviant behavior.
Bela Lugosi is played by Martin Landau and he managed to get an Oscar thanks to his totality for this role. For your information, Bela Lugosi was a famous actor in the 1930s-1940s with his iconic role as Dracula. Bela Lugosi's role as Dracula is very iconic and made her stuck with that image which made her acting career limited. Thanks to the best acting from Martin Landau, we can feel how the old actor feels who has lost his popularity and is considered dead. Bela Lugosi tries to exist with the help of Ed Wood with his absurd films. At first, I thought Ed Wood invited Bela Lugosi out of compassion but after we see it seems there is a romance between the fans and the actor he likes.
Feel the Sensation of Black and White Films in the Modern Era
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Ed Wood (1994) is one of the films in the modern era that uses a black and white concept. This film is set in the 1950s and the black and white impression makes the vibes of this film more enjoyable for the audience. This film successfully reproduces the black nuances of Ed Wood's black and white films.
One of the most interesting parts when shooting Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), if we've watched Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), the roles of Vampira, Criswell, Tor Johnson and Bunny are very similar to the original. Black and White makes us think they are original scenes from that film.
My Short Review
For a biographical film, Ed Wood (1994) is not a film that tells the complete story of the life journey of the character. Ed Wood (1994) answers our curiosity about how the creative process creates “magic films” like Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), something more important and interesting than the individual Ed Wood stories.
The neutral attitude is shown by this film with no reproach is subjective even though Ed Wood is dubbed "the worst director of all time" and in this film there is also no defense of the films by Ed Wood (1994). In this film, we will be asked to think, whether Ed Wood is a director with high ideals or just a crazy person who is obsessed with films. Whatever it is, Ed Wood (1994) becomes a depressive comedy that is interesting to watch. The combination of the best acting and cool make-up makes this film very alive.
Oh yes, my advice if you have never seen this film. It's also a good idea to watch Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) to make you relate more to the storyline in Ed Wood (1994).
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