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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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 Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 10:15 pm Post subject: The Mind of a Killer |
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This article struck me and I thought I'd post it and ask how other people think about it:
Film to explore the mind of John Lennon's killer
By Steve GormanThu Nov 3, 7:26 PM ET
Twenty-five years after the murder of former Beatle John Lennon, a Canadian-based film company is set to explore the mind of his killer in a movie starring Lindsay Lohan and Jared Leto, backers of the project said on Thursday.
Leto, who played a heroin addict in "Requiem for a Dream" and a cocaine-snorting arms dealer in "Lord of War," has signed on to portray Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, in the upcoming independent film "Chapter 27."
Lohan, the teenage "Mean Girls" star last seen in "Herbie: Fully Loaded," will play a fictional Lennon fan who befriends Chapman during the weekend he kills the musician outside his Manhattan apartment building.
Leto, 33, and Lohan, 19, are rumored to be dating, but her publicist told Reuters only that the two have spent time in recent months "doing research for the movie together."
The parts of Lennon and wife Yoko Ono have not been cast.
Peace Arch Entertainment President John Flock, whose Toronto-based company is financing the picture, said the character of Lennon himself would get relatively little screen time as the movie focuses on Chapman in the days leading up to the murder.
The role Lohan will play was created as a plot device to help filmmakers deconstruct Chapman and his motivation for killing the rock celebrity, Flock said.
"It's a psychological study of (Chapman)," Flock told Reuters. "I wouldn't call it a sympathetic portrayal of him, but you do kind of get into Chapman's head."
Likewise, Flock suggested the murder itself would be depicted in a relatively circumspect manner. "It's the most significant event in the movie, but we're not planning on giving it much if any screen time."
Chapman, currently serving a prison sentence of 20 years to life, shot Lennon to death outside the Dakota apartment building on December 8, 1980, hours after getting the former Beatle to autograph a copy of his newly released comeback album "Double Fantasy."
Flock said the title of the film, "Chapter 27," is a reference to the 26 chapters in the J.D. Salinger coming-of-age novel "The Catcher in the Rye," which Chapman cited as his inspiration for the murder. Chapman has said he identified with the book's hero, who hated phonies, and gunned Lennon down because he thought him a hypocrite.
Production on the film, the brainchild of first-time writer and director Jarrett Schaeffer, is set to begin January 16 in New York, with producers aiming for a commercial release late next year, Flock said.
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I think movies (or books) about the psychology of murderers are interesting and even useful. However, I object to this particular one. I don't think killers of famous people should get the publicity and fame that comes with their act. What comes at the time of arrest and trial is unavoidable, but beyond that time, I don't think movie-makers should give them any attention. |
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Hater Depot
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 10:25 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm still waiting for someone to make a movie or book about the anonymous victims of serial killers. One that would show us all that was lost. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 10:43 pm Post subject: |
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| That's not a bad idea either, Hater D. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 1:14 am Post subject: |
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I'm still waiting for someone to make a movie or book about the anonymous victims of serial killers. One that would show us all that was lost.
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I think it's generally understood that serial killers inflict a lot of harm on their vicitms, hence the arrest, trial, conviction, and punishment of serial killers. So there isn't much mystery there to be explored.
But yeah, I do think "serial killer chic" has been a pretty hackneyed commodity for a few years now. I think of it as being a real early-to-mid 90s phenomenon. |
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Freezer Burn
Joined: 11 Apr 2005
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 3:39 am Post subject: |
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Lohan, Im sure will be a delight in this adult role with dramatic leanings  |
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in_seoul_2003
Joined: 24 Nov 2003
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| Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 4:28 am Post subject: |
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Last edited by in_seoul_2003 on Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 5:28 am Post subject: |
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| Anyone else had a similar experience watching 'Irreversible' (it has been on Korean T.V. quite a few times)? |
I can see your point about the rape scene, and I agree that, in and of itself, it was effective. However, I didn't think it was justified by the rest of the film. Spoliers ahead.
It seems to be that the basic idea of the film was that in the beginning, we see the main guy as a racist and homophobic thug, but don't understand why he is acting that way. The rest of the film is meant to show us the events that led him to the final degenerated state that we meet him in at the "beginning". However, unlike almost everything else that happens in the film, the rape is not something that he himself witnessed. So the inclusion of the scene can't be justified by saying "well this is the experience that led him to do what he did later in the story", because that was NOT in fact one of his experiences. It's true that he likely heard the details from the cops, but then to be truly "walking a mile in his shoes", we should only have seen the cops briefing him, not the crime itself.
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| Although Bellucci is a beautiful woman, the violence of the scene seems to emphasize the victim as any victim so it's not simply a case of feeling extreme indignation for the 'ravaging' of a beautiful person. |
I do think that the "later"(later in the film that is) scenes portraying her life and her relationship with the two men(the subway banter, etc) were meant to show her as a particulary likable person with a lot of potential for a happy life. Whether this makes her any less of an "everywoman" probably depends on what your view of the average person is. |
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in_seoul_2003
Joined: 24 Nov 2003
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| Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 6:02 am Post subject: |
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Last edited by in_seoul_2003 on Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:22 am; edited 1 time in total |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 6:34 am Post subject: |
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Out of curiosity, "effective" how? What do you think the rape scene was trying to accomplish?
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I think it was intended to show us how the seemingly bizarre behaviour of the main character at the beginning of the film was in fact understandable within the context of the earlier events of the evening. Sort of playing with our perceptions of his character. In the first part of the film, I was thinking "Jesus, what a whackjob". After seeing the rape, I was thinking "Ah, okay, so THAT'S what happened to him". |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 9:42 am Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
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| Anyone else had a similar experience watching 'Irreversible' (it has been on Korean T.V. quite a few times)? |
I can see your point about the rape scene, and I agree that, in and of itself, it was effective. However, I didn't think it was justified by the rest of the film. Spoliers ahead.
It seems to be that the basic idea of the film was that in the beginning, we see the main guy as a racist and homophobic thug, but don't understand why he is acting that way. The rest of the film is meant to show us the events that led him to the final degenerated state that we meet him in at the "beginning". However, unlike almost everything else that happens in the film, the rape is not something that he himself witnessed. So the inclusion of the scene can't be justified by saying "well this is the experience that led him to do what he did later in the story", because that was NOT in fact one of his experiences. It's true that he likely heard the details from the cops, but then to be truly "walking a mile in his shoes", we should only have seen the cops briefing him, not the crime itself. |
Just a note about the assumption that he didn't "experience" it. The imagination is a powerful thing. We have all had the experience of reliving an experience AND of imagining future experiences. How many times have you heard someone say, whether in life or in the movies, "I keep imagining her/him with him/her!!"
No, I beg to (theoretically) differ. I think the graphic nature of the scene is fully intended to cause the viewer to live the experience as graphically as the victim-by-extension does in his own, presumably, very vivid imagination. Thus, the degree of violence/content is perhaps best judged from that perspective.
I should also note I am aware of the story line of, but have not seen, the movie in question. |
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Hater Depot
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 12:32 pm Post subject: |
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I found Irreversible to be manipulative and boring (quite an accomplishment I guess). It was a pretentious revenge movie with nothing to say. I found the rape scene cartoonish while every non-violent scene almost put me to sleep. And I'd been really looking forward to seeing it for several years.
I guess my main objection to the movie is that it uses -- and I mean that word in its most negative sense -- the real horror of rape to lend itself an aura of importance and profundity. |
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in_seoul_2003
Joined: 24 Nov 2003
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| Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2005 5:29 am Post subject: |
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Last edited by in_seoul_2003 on Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:24 am; edited 1 time in total |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2005 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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I must confess I haven't 'seen' the movie. I saw it but in French with Korean subtitles, so I guess I have and haven't since I understand neither French nor Korean. But this here is an interesting point since when I saw it I didn't contextualize his behavior by the rape scene at all.
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In that case, you should know that at the beginning of the film, when he's in the cab and at the bathhouse, he is spewing racist and homophobic obscenities all over the place. This contrasts considerably with his behaviour before hearing about the rape, where he is shown as a witty and erudite philosophy professor.
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| I saw it I didn't contextualize his behavior by the rape scene at all. |
Do you mean that you weren't aware that his actions in the second half were revenge for the rape? If so, yeah, that would be a somewhat different perception from what you would get with the subtitles.
Or maybe not. One of the questions I was asking myself afterwards is how much leeway we should give someone for racist, homophobic and violent behaviour resulting from personal tragedy. Okay, he didn't start calling people "fags" and "chinks" until after hearing about the assault, but clearly that was an aspect of his character which was always there, and which he had managed to suppress. And there were no Chinese people involved in the assault(the assailant fled into a gay bathhouse, so perhaps the guy was justified in assuming he was gay).
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| Initially, I found the scene to be an anti-pornographic pornography. We have a beautiful woman with a stunning body the contours of which are lined by a dress so revealing as to be almost naked. Not pornography but pornographies since multiple genres of it are permeating the scene. The chance encounter is there. The anonymous male is there. The initial resistance upon which so many porn films are predicated is there. The sex mixed with physical violence is there. The rape and the death. But the moaning, the pleas, the begging intermixed with the grotesque sounding even monstrous belching and utter hoplesseness and despair of the victim leave you feeling that not only is there nothing desirable in this but your perspective has shown to be a bit perverted. The viewer informs the scene and the viewer has been exposed. |
I have to say, the scene didn't remind me of any pornographic scenario I've ever read/watched. But with the subtitles, I pretty much knew what was going to take place, leaving less room for a pornographic interpretation. |
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in_seoul_2003
Joined: 24 Nov 2003
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| Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 7:54 am Post subject: |
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Last edited by in_seoul_2003 on Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:25 am; edited 1 time in total |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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