In Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim are talking, and either Huck or Jim says something along the lines of the following:
"Shakespeare just took the sayings that everybody used all the time and wrote them down."
I can't remember the exact phrase, and I need more than that to search for it, somehow. Does anyone know what the phrase is?
This question also comes from Jaws, which I saw for the first time today and which I have decided is the mother of all action movies. It makes me very happy to be able to use that phrase literally.
[ September 27, 2004, 06:06 PM: Message edited by: katharina ]
Posted by Taalcon (Member # 839) on :
We analyzed Jaws scene-by-scene, line-by-line, shot by shot in screenwriting class. Made me appreciate the film tons more than I already did.
[ September 27, 2004, 12:39 AM: Message edited by: Taalcon ]
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
It's the little things that push the movie from being very good to great.
Like Dreyfuss crushing the styrofoam cup in response to Quint crushing the beer can. And the drinking scene: "She broke my heart" all the way to "I'll never put on a life jacket again."
Classic.
Dagonee
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I found out later that the shipwreck (was it the Indianapolis?) that Quint tells about in WW2, in which something like 1200 men lost their lives to sharks while waiting to be rescued is an entirely accurate historical account. A Japanese submarine destroyed the ship, but we didn't realize she was sunk for about a week, and during that time the survivors floating in the water waiting for rescue (which was initiallly most of the crew) were decimated by sharks. It was a horrible thing.
[ September 27, 2004, 08:57 AM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Why do you feel that Jaws is the mother of action movies?
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
Something like that, Kat. Or like "He just wrote down what everyone else already knew" or "...had already figured out" or something.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
Maybe it was a different person?
Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
Huckleberry Finn and Jim get up with "the duke" and "the king" in the middle of the story, and the two scallawags are reciting Shakespeare for a stage presentation. (Chapter 20? 21? or so) I don't remember anything about Shakespeare such as you mentioned, kat, but if you were to look, I'd look there.
[ September 27, 2004, 09:54 AM: Message edited by: Sara Sasse ]
Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
Twain also wrote an essay (actually, a few chapters of his autobiography) entitled "Is Shakespeare Dead?" It's probably available at Project Gutenberg.
[ September 27, 2004, 09:49 AM: Message edited by: Sara Sasse ]
Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
I'll search it for you, katharina. I wanted to reread it anyway.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
I remember what she's talking about, although if she hadn't pointed out that it was Huckleberry Finn, I might have guessed that it was in "Tom Sawyer". Maybe Huck said it in "Tom Sawyer".
Oh, and I read the chapter Sara mentioned but I could have missed it.
[ September 27, 2004, 09:53 AM: Message edited by: PSI Teleport ]
Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
I don't recall anything about Shakespeare in TS, and I usually have my ears pretty attuned to that. (It was a vested interest as a child, as my father used to be a Shakepearean actor, and we were always looking for quotes to memorize for him.)
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
See, I'm not entirely positive that the quote was about Shakespeare in the first place, but I remember the context because I've thought of that quote many times since then. But who else could it have been referring to? I can't think of anyone.
[ September 27, 2004, 10:00 AM: Message edited by: PSI Teleport ]
Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
I haven't the foggiest. My fund of such information is extremely limited in scope and depth. Posted by Tristan (Member # 1670) on :
According to a word search in a copy obtained from project Gutenberg, there is no mention of Shakespeare in Tom Sawyer. He is refered to in Huckleberry Finn but, so far as I've been able to determine, not close to Katharina's quote.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Scott: Watching this movie, I felt like I had seen every scene a hundred times before, and I realized that everything scene I had seen came from this movie.
********SPOILERS FOR JAWS**************
Specifically, the following scenes were perfect, bone-chilling, well-done, and are endlessly, endlessly copied:
1. The grizzled, wise Cassandra guru that warns of the danger is ignored until later in the film when that expertise is needed. 2. The Push/Pull Shot of Horror. 3. The venal, uncaring public official (although this trope is quite a few thousand years older than the movie, so it may not belong on this list.) 4. The camera-as-monster point-of-view. 5. Most especially..."Smile, you son of a witch."
My stars, that last is now a Movie Cliche of epic ubiquity. A thousand bad movies have used it, and even some good ones like Princess Bride ("I want my father back, you son of a witch." *stab*) have used it since. They should - it's a powerful and vicariously-satisfying line!
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
PSI: I'm so glad you remember it! I think my trouble with googling it is that it is said in the vernacular - my paraphrase may be what the quote means, but it isn't in the language that Mark Twain used.
Sara: Thank you for the chapters - I'm reading it today. Mark Twain really was amazing.
Since I can't remember some of the specific words used, I think I'm going to have to look it up myself, which means I have to find my copy of Huckleberry Finn. I don't know where that is...I think. I need to organize the bookcases.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
See Kat, I would argue that the original Robin Hood with Errol Flynn was actually one of the original action movies that ever existed.
When I watch it now, though it reminds me much more of a "play" than a "movie" in the modern sense.
AJ
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
One of the things that amazed me about Jaws was that it didn't seem dated at all. The credits were 70's design, but the movie itself (except for maybe the arcade game) could have been made this year - it holds up perfectly.
I don't think it was the first action movie made, but it had so many cliches done so unironically in such a clever film that it just has to be the source of the cliches instead of a follower of them.
[ September 27, 2004, 12:21 PM: Message edited by: katharina ]
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
<grin> Well I haven't seen Jaws either. I remember the cultural revelations I had when I finally saw Star Wars at 18.
AJ
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Heh. No kidding.
And learning to play chess. I don't really remember how to play chess, but during the lessons a world of metaphor suddenly opened up for me.
[ September 27, 2004, 12:38 PM: Message edited by: katharina ]
Posted by Taalcon (Member # 839) on :
quote:2. The Push/Pull Shot of Horror.
Which for the longest time I thought was a Spielberg original, and called it a 'Spielberg Shot' - that is, until I saw Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.
That shot comes from zooming in while dollying back - and it's way effective.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Yes, it is - it's lovely.
I read that Vertigo uses that same shot, except exactly in reverse - the center falls away while the background rushes towards the camera.
Posted by Taalcon (Member # 839) on :
True true. It's obvious (especially for people who've seen DUEL) how much Spielberg admired Hitchcock. I even consider DUEL a Spielberg-directed Hitchcock thriller!
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
There's some footage from Duel in the making-of thing for Jaws.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
Gwargh, people. If you haven't figured out the answer to this question, which, BTW, has now replaced "That's the beauty of it" in my mind, then for the love of Pete, stop bumping the thread.
I mean, I come back after a couple of hours to find that there are ten more responses and it's stuff about Jaws!
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