NY Stories Martin Scorcese

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Storieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stories

• March 89 anthology film-theme NY C ity 3 shorts:Life Lessons, Life Without Zoe, Oedipus Wrecks
  
  

New York Stories In Life Lessons, written by Richard Price, and very loosely based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's short novel The Gambler, Nick Nolte plays Lionel Dobie, an acclaimed abstract painter who is unable to paint before a major gallery exhibition of his new work, and Rosanna Arquette is Paulette, his apprentice/assistant and former lover. Lionel is still infatuated with her, but Paulette wants only his tutelage, which makes things difficult since they live in the same studio-loft. While Lionel procrastinates, unable to complete the paintings that are scheduled for an upcoming solo exhibition of his, Paulette dates other people, including a performance artist (Steve Buscemi) and a painter (Jesse Borrego). These deliberate provocations on Paulette's part make Lionel insanely jealous — and fuel his creativity. Both Lionel and Paulette, it becomes clear, have been using each other: Lionel using her sexually, Paulette using him as a means of entry to the higher spheres of the New York social and art scene. But now that their relationship is no longer sexual, Paulette wants to leave the mess that has become her life and move back in with her parents. Lionel, however, persuades her to stay because New York is where a painter needs to be, even though it is unclear whether Paulette is even a particularly good painter. Throughout this turmoil in their relationship, Lionel pours his anxiety and repressed passion into his work. Paintings around the studio show visual metaphors from relations past: stormy skies, burning bridges, and tormented clowns. There are several Pagliacci references if one looks closely. Lionel, although a lion in the art world, becomes a clown in the eyes of the women in his life. Eventually, Paulette leaves when she has had enough, but not before Lionel is on his way to completing all the paintings he needs for his exhibit. As he is completing the final piece, Lionel suddenly realizes that he needs the emotional turmoil of his destructive relationships in order to fuel his art; without the one, he can't produce the other. In the last scene, while at the art exhibit, Lionel meets another attractive young woman, who is a struggling painter. By the end of the gallery opening, he has persuaded her to become his assistant, and potentially his lover, beginning the cycle anew.

Life Without Zoë is about Zoë (Heather McComb), a young heiress who helps return to an Arab princess a valuable piece of jewelry that she had given to Zoë's father (Giancarlo Giannini) and had been subsequently stolen and recovered. At the same time she tries to reunite her divorced mother, a photographer (Talia Shire), and father, a flute soloist. The short also includes Adrien Brody in his first film role.


edit] Oedipus Wrecks Oedipus Wrecks is about New York lawyer Sheldon (Allen), who has problems with his overly critical Jewish mother (Mae Questel). Sheldon complains constantly to his therapist about her, eventually concluding he wished she would just disappear. He takes his fiancé, Lisa (Mia Farrow), to meet his mother and she disapproves. The three of them, as well as Lisa's children from a previous marriage, try to get to know each other better by going to a magic show. At the magic show, his mother is invited to be a part of the act. She is put in a box that has swords stuck through it and she disappears like she is supposed to, but then she never reappears. This turns out to be great for Sheldon because, with her out of his life, he can finally relax. But soon his mother reappears in the sky over New York City. She annoys Sheldon and Lisa by constantly talking to strangers about embarrassing moments. This puts a strain on his relationship with Lisa and she separates from him. Sheldon is persuaded by his psychiatrist to see a psychic, Treva (Julie Kavner), to try to get his mother back to reality. Treva's experiments don't work, but Sheldon falls for her because she is very similar to his mother (see Oedipus complex). When he introduces Treva to his mother, she finally approves of his girlfriend and decides to come back to Earth. Oedipus Wrecks is the debut of Kirsten Dunst in a bit part, and features Larry David as the club owner who explains to Allen that his mother is missing. It also features both Mae Questel and Julie Kavner.
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New York Stories
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Woody AllenFrancis Ford CoppolaMartin Scorsese
Produced by
Barbara De FinaFred FuchsRobert GreenhutCharles H. JoffeJack RollinsFred Roos
Written by
Woody AllenFrancis Ford CoppolaSofia CoppolaRichard Price
Starring
Woody AllenMae QuestelMia FarrowHeather McCombTalia ShireGiancarlo GianniniDon NovelloJulie KavnerNick NolteRosanna ArquetteSteve BuscemiJesse Borrego
Music by
Kid CreoleCarmine Coppola
Cinematography
Sven NykvistVittorio StoraroNéstor Almendros
Editing by
Susan E. MorseBarry MalkinThelma Schoonmaker
Distributed by
Touchstone PicturesAmerican Zoetrope (Life without Zoe segment)
Release date(s)
March 10, 1989
Running time
124 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$15,000,000
New York Stories is an anthology film which was released in the United States in March of 1989. The film consists of three shorts with the central theme being New York City. The first short is Life Lessons, directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Richard Price. The second is Life Without Zoe, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and written by Coppola and his daughter, Sofia. The last segment is Oedipus Wrecks, directed and written by Woody Allen. One actor, Paul Herman, has a bit part in each segment.
The reviews were generally positive for Life Lessons and Oedipus Wrecks, but generally negative for Life Without Zoe. [1] Hal Hinson of The Washington Post wrote that Coppola's segment was "by far the director's worst work yet." [2]
The film was screened out of competition at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.[3] This was the film debut of actress Kirsten Dunst.
Contents[hide]
1 Plot
1.1 Life Lessons
1.2 Life Without Zoë
1.3 Oedipus Wrecks
2 References
3 External links
//
[edit] Plot
[edit] Life Lessons
In Life Lessons, written by Richard Price, and very loosely based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's short novel The Gambler, Nick Nolte plays Lionel Dobie, an acclaimed abstract painter who is unable to paint before a major gallery exhibition of his new work, and Rosanna Arquette is Paulette, his apprentice/assistant and former lover. Lionel is still infatuated with her, but Paulette wants only his tutelage, which makes things difficult since they live in the same studio-loft. While Lionel procrastinates, unable to complete the paintings that are scheduled for an upcoming solo exhibition of his, Paulette dates other people, including a performance artist (Steve Buscemi) and a painter (Jesse Borrego).
These deliberate provocations on Paulette's part make Lionel insanely jealous — and fuel his creativity. Both Lionel and Paulette, it becomes clear, have been using each other: Lionel using her sexually, Paulette using him as a means of entry to the higher spheres of the New York social and art scene. But now that their relationship is no longer sexual, Paulette wants to leave the mess that has become her life and move back in with her parents. Lionel, however, persuades her to stay because New York is where a painter needs to be, even though it is unclear whether Paulette is even a particularly good painter. Throughout this turmoil in their relationship, Lionel pours his anxiety and repressed passion into his work. Paintings around the studio show visual metaphors from relations past: stormy skies, burning bridges, and tormented clowns. There are several Pagliacci references if one looks closely. Lionel, although a lion in the art world, becomes a clown in the eyes of the women in his life. Eventually, Paulette leaves when she has had enough, but not before Lionel is on his way to completing all the paintings he needs for his exhibit.
As he is completing the final piece, Lionel suddenly realizes that he needs the emotional turmoil of his destructive relationships in order to fuel his art; without the one, he can't produce the other. In the last scene, while at the art exhibit, Lionel meets another attractive young woman, who is a struggling painter. By the end of the gallery opening, he has persuaded her to become his assistant, and potentially his lover, beginning the cycle anew.
[edit] Life Without Zoë
Life Without Zoë is about Zoë (Heather McComb), a young heiress who helps return to an Arab princess a valuable piece of jewelry that she had given to Zoë's father (Giancarlo Giannini) and had been subsequently stolen and recovered. At the same time she tries to reunite her divorced mother, a photographer (Talia Shire), and father, a flute soloist. The short also includes Adrien Brody in his first film role.
[edit] Oedipus Wrecks
Oedipus Wrecks is about New York lawyer Sheldon (Allen), who has problems with his overly critical Jewish mother (Mae Questel). Sheldon complains constantly to his therapist about her, eventually concluding he wished she would just disappear. He takes his fiancé, Lisa (Mia Farrow), to meet his mother and she disapproves. The three of them, as well as Lisa's children from a previous marriage, try to get to know each other better by going to a magic show. At the magic show, his mother is invited to be a part of the act. She is put in a box that has swords stuck through it and she disappears like she is supposed to, but then she never reappears. This turns out to be great for Sheldon because, with her out of his life, he can finally relax. But soon his mother reappears in the sky over New York City.
She annoys Sheldon and Lisa by constantly talking to strangers about embarrassing moments. This puts a strain on his relationship with Lisa and she separates from him. Sheldon is persuaded by his psychiatrist to see a psychic, Treva (Julie Kavner), to try to get his mother back to reality. Treva's experiments don't work, but Sheldon falls for her because she is very similar to his mother (see Oedipus complex). When he introduces Treva to his mother, she finally approves of his girlfriend and decides to come back to Earth.
Oedipus Wrecks is the debut of Kirsten Dunst in a bit part, and features Larry David as the club owner who explains to Allen that his mother is missing. It also features both Mae Questel and Julie Kavner.
[edit] References
^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/new_york_stories/
^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/newyorkstoriespghinson_a0a8de.htm
^ "Festival de Cannes: New York Stories". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/215/year/1989.html. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
[edit] External links
New York Stories at the Internet Movie Database
Vincent Canby review
[show]
v • d • eFilms directed by Woody Allen
1960s
What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966) · Take the Money and Run (1969)
1970s
Bananas (1971) · Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972) · Sleeper (1973) · Love and Death (1975) · Annie Hall (1977) · Interiors (1978) · Manhattan (1979)
1980s
Stardust Memories (1980) · A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982) · Zelig (1983) · Broadway Danny Rose (1984) · The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) · Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) · Radio Days (1987) · September (1987) · Another Woman (1988) · Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
1990s
Alice (1990) · Shadows and Fog (1992) · Husbands and Wives (1992) · Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) · Bullets Over Broadway (1994) · Don't Drink the Water (1994) · Mighty Aphrodite (1995) · Everyone Says I Love You (1996) · Deconstructing Harry (1997) · Celebrity (1998) · Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
2000s
Small Time Crooks (2000) · The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) · Hollywood Ending (2002) · Anything Else (2003) · Melinda and Melinda (2005) · Match Point (2005) · Scoop (2006) · Cassandra's Dream (2007) · Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) · Whatever Works (2009)
2010s
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010)
Shorts
Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story (1971) · Oedipus Wrecks (1989) · Sounds from a Town I Love (2001)
[show]
v • d • eFrancis Ford Coppola
1960s
Dementia 13 (1963) · You're a Big Boy Now (1966) · Finian's Rainbow (1968) · The Rain People (1969)
1970s
The Godfather (1972) · The Conversation (1974) · The Godfather Part II (1974) · Apocalypse Now (1979)
1980s
One from the Heart (1982) · The Outsiders (1983) · Rumble Fish (1983) · The Cotton Club (1984) · Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) · Gardens of Stone (1987) · Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
1990s
The Godfather Part III (1990) · Dracula (1992) · Jack (1996) · The Rainmaker (1997)
2000s
Youth Without Youth (2007) · Tetro (2009)
Shorts
Captain EO (1986) · Life Without Zoe (1989)
Credits
Patton (writer, 1970) · THX 1138 (executive producer, 1971) · American Graffiti (producer, 1973) · The Great Gatsby (writer, 1974) · The Black Stallion (executive producer, 1979) · Kagemusha (executive producer for the international version, 1980) · Hammett (producer, 1982) · Koyaanisqatsi (producer, 1982) · The Black Stallion Returns (executive producer, 1983) · Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (producer, 1985) · Tough Guys Don't Dance (executive producer, 1987) · Lionheart (1987, executive producer) · Powaqqatsi (executive producer, 1989) · Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (appearance, 1991) · The Junky's Christmas (producer, 1993) · Frankenstein (producer, 1994) · Don Juan DeMarco (producer, 1995) · Lani Loa - The Passage (producer, 1998) · The Florentine (producer, 1999) · The Virgin Suicides (producer, 1999) · Sleepy Hollow (producer, 1999) · Jeepers Creepers (executive producer, 2001) · Lost in Translation (2003, executive producer) · Jeepers Creepers II (executive producer, 2003) · Kinsey (executive producer, 2004) · The Good Shepherd (executive producer, 2006) · Marie Antoinette (executive producer, 2006) · Somewhere (executive producer, 2010)
Enterprises
American Zoetrope · Zoetrope: All-Story · Rubicon Estate Winery · Francis Ford Coppola Presents
Family
Eleanor Coppola · Anton Coppola · Carmine Coppola · Italia Coppola · Gian-Carlo Coppola · Sofia Coppola · Thomas Mars · Roman Coppola · Talia Shire · David Shire · Jack Schwartzman · Robert Schwartzman · Jason Schwartzman · John Schwartzman · Marc Coppola · Christopher Coppola · Nicolas Cage
[show]
v • d • eFilms by Martin Scorsese
1960s
Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967)
1970s
Boxcar Bertha (1972) • Mean Streets (1973) • Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) • Taxi Driver (1976) • New York, New York (1977)
1980s
Raging Bull (1980) • The King of Comedy (1983) • After Hours (1985) • The Color of Money (1986) • The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
1990s
Goodfellas (1990) • Cape Fear (1991) • The Age of Innocence (1993) • Casino (1995) • Kundun (1997) • Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
2000s
Gangs of New York (2002) • The Aviator (2004) • The Departed (2006)
2010s
Shutter Island (2010) • The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2011)
Shorts
What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (1963) • It's Not Just You, Murray! (1964) • The Big Shave (1967) • Bad (1987) • Life Lessons (1989) • The Key to Reserva (2007)
Documentaries
Street Scenes (1970) • Italianamerican (1974) • American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978) • The Last Waltz (1978) • A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995) • My Voyage to Italy (1999) • The Blues (2003) • No Direction Home (2005) • Shine a Light (2008)
Produced
You Can Count on Me (2000) • Nyfes (2004) • The Young Victoria (2009)