One of the Special Feature commentaries for The Stunt Man opens with director Richard Rush claiming that “Putting a dog licking his balls in the title sequence, I suppose, is letting the audience know it’s going to be an iconoclastic picture.” It’s an eye-catching opening, a wild accompanying statement and it also seemed like a fun way to start a review. Radiance Films’ UHD release of the 1980 cult classic reintroduces audiences to a critical smash that was nominated for three Academy Awards and which remains under-seen due to distribution issues upon its initial release.
Vietnam war veteran Cameron (Steve Railsback), running from the police for an unknown crime, stumbles onto a closed film set and accidentally causes a stunt man to drive his car off of a bridge and into the river. He flees again, then later finds himself drawn to the movie’s larger war set piece shot on a local beach. After the scene has wrapped an old woman is swept in from the sea. Cameron saves her from drowning, only to find out it’s the film’s young lead actress Nina (Barbara Hershey) in heavy prosthetics. Cameron is the centre of attention of the cast, crew and public as he’s congratulated on his heroism, which catches the eye of flamboyant director Eli Cross (Peter O’Toole). When a producer threatens the film’s delay and potential closure over the unknown fate of the stunt man on the bridge, Eli offers Cameron a job as the new stunt man in order to keep his dream production alive. Eli, having clocked Cameron’s likeness in a police warrant, convinces Cameron to assume the identity of the missing stunt man for their mutual benefit. Cameron lives his new life, falls in love with Nina, and clashes with Eli. He loses his grasp on reality, unable to distinguish between fictitious film sets and the violent scenes he finds himself acting in as if they are truly life or death.
Cameron loses his grasp on reality, unable to distinguish between fictitious film sets and the violent scenes he finds himself acting in as if they are truly life or death.
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What I particularly loved about The Stunt Man is that Cameron’s descent into madness is reflected in the film’s form. By placing us in Cameron’s subjectivity, the film can feel purposefully jarring because we don’t know if we can trust the legitimacy of what we’re experiencing. When Cameron stumbles onto the bridge during the film’s opening, he thinks the stunt man is purposefully trying to run him over — when he evades, the car simply disappears from the bridge. A helicopter flies down and Eli is looking straight at Cameron. However, no one makes contact with him and he’s able to simply run away from a potential crime scene without incident. It’s surreal filmmaking. It makes us question where we are, what we’re seeing and who is telling this story. Rash lets us sit in that ambiguity. He refuses to confirm what is real and what isn’t and it makes The Stunt Man a much more compelling film. We feel Cameron’s paranoia because it’s in the DNA of the movie.
Rash’s film is incredibly entertaining — big set pieces and big performances. Peter O’Toole’s larger-than-life director dominates the screen, theatrically swooning through scenes and chewing the scenery with delight. It’s to his great credit that the performance never overshadows the film or undermines its stakes. I love it when actors completely understand exactly what movie they’re making. His egotistical, scheming director is the film’s catalyst to explore Hollywood’s seedy underbelly. With Eli’s blatant disregard for human life and crew welfare in the pursuit of his goal, Rash draws comparisons between Hollywood and The Vietnam War. The war film that Eli is making is full of Vietnam iconography and Eli gleefully throws Cameron into scenes that mirror his real-life experiences. Manipulation and deceit haunt this film.
The new 4K restoration is stunning, showing off Mario Tosi’s (Carrie) vibrant and seedy cinematography. I found plenty to admire in Richard Rash’s cult classic, I was thoroughly entertained, and yet I wasn’t always able to fully give myself over to it. That said, I can say with certainty that there will be audiences who will discover this film and absolutely love it. They did a screening at the Prince Charles Cinema to promote the film’s new restoration and I cannot think of a more perfect venue. I liked The Stunt Man, but I’m getting a real thrill out of thinking about all the people who are going to love this one.
Not all of the Special Features were made available for me, but Radiance have gone all out with this release. Features include a making-of documentary directed by Richard Rush: The Sinister Saga of Making The Stunt Man, two full-length commentaries, a host of interviews, deleted scenes, a limited edition 40-page perfect bound book and more.
THE STUNT MAN IS OUT NOW ON RADIANCE FILMS 4K BLU-RAY (ON THEIR TRANSMISSION BRAND)
