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7 Brian De Palma films are explored in a new book. But ‘Scarface’ isn’t one.

September 25, 2024

The bucket teeters, then dumps its load of pig’s blood on poor Carrie White.

This iconic movie moment – so fraught with tension that soon explodes – is known even to people who never saw the film “Carrie,” and it captures much of what made Brian De Palma famous as one of the most visceral and visual directors of the 1970s and ‘80s.

The story behind that horror classic, with details about everything from how Sissy Spacek almost didn’t audition because she was scheduled to shoot a commercial and De Palma’s camera work during Carrie’s slow dance during the prom scene, comes alive in “The De Palma Decade: Redefining Cinema with Doubles, Voyeurs and Psychic Teens,” by Laurent Bouzereau.

Bourzereau focuses on seven De Palma movies released from 1973-1981: “Sisters,” “Phantom of the Paradise,” “Obsession,” “Carrie,” “The Fury,” “Dressed to Kill” and “Blowout.” The author, who has written previously about De Palma, Alfred Hitchcock and Steven Spielberg, has also made dozens of behind-the-scenes documentaries about classic films and interviewed De Palma about his work.

The author recently discussed De Palma and this new book during a video call. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Why did you choose to write about De Palma?

There is a need to remember these founding fathers of modern cinema from the 1970s. And with everything else available today to watch, they fade a bit. De Palma got put in a box and suffered from that after this decade but these films influenced so many people.

And even though your question is completely legitimate, my process is also selfish in that I want to write about what I like.

Q: Why did you make the choice to skip his early films and stop before “Scarface” and “The Untouchables”?

This was a very defining era for Brian’s career, going from social satires early on to the genre that still defines him. And after “Blowout,” it’s a different De Palma.

But also, it’s purely a taste thing. Those are the movies that I discovered him through growing up in France – discovering American cinema and the visual language he was using really spoke to me. And those are the films that I know best. I’m not a historian or looking to be definitive, I write from the heart about what interests me, with my perspective on those films along with the interviews with people who worked on them.

Q: Which of these seven films would you tell a young movie viewer, “This is the one you need to see”?

“Carrie.” Without betraying Stephen King’s book, he made it cinematic and made it his own. There are breakthrough performances from these actors who became famous, which speaks to his eye as a casting director. There’s a lesson here in how to make more with less. And you can watch this movie with today’s short attention span and still get sucked in. It’s a timeless film and one that really defines so much about De Palma.

I have to tell you, my mom hates horror movies but she loves Carrie and cries during it, which confirms to me that it is still an emotional film about being different.

With the exception of “Carrie,” “Blowout,” is the one most often cited by filmmakers as influencing them.

Q: I watched “Sisters” before I read that chapter and really liked it, but I was unimpressed by “Obsession.” Did you try to balance your impressions from when you were young with a more objective view or with critical consensus about the films?

I watch “Obsession” religiously at least three or four times a year. And I have never gotten tired of it.

I understand that a lot of people have problems with it because it is an exercise in style rather than a story really. So I don’t look for logic, I don’t look for anything but that dreamlike world that he creates. And I feel that it still works.

Q: You quote De Palma saying he later realized Bernard Herrmann’s score is melodramatic and obtrusive, which I agree with. De Palma and co-star John Lithgow both are critical of leading man Cliff Robertson – you call him old Hollywood “for better or worse.” He is miscast and drags the film down. Did their quotes make you reevaluate?

I still see it the way I see it. Robertson got very bad reviews but to me, he works because the film is a dream, so he is out of place in a dream and the fact that he’s very artificial and self-conscious and tanned all the time works.

I’m totally at peace with people not liking “Obsession” but it’s hard to distance myself from a first love – I remember everything about the night I first saw that movie, that the color of the theater’s walls were red and there was neon on the walls and the curtains were blue. It’s about how this movie spoke to me then.

Q: After “Blowout” failed commercially despite rave reviews, De Palma’s career was erratic for 15 years: “Scarface” was panned but became a classic, “The Untouchables” was slick but a big hit, “Bonfire of the Vanities” was a notorious disaster. Despite another Hollywood-style hit with “Mission Impossible,” he has directed seven films that were panned or were flops or both. What happened?

Making the most successful movie and the least successful movie requires the same amount of love and dedication. And knowing how hard it is to make a film, especially at that level, it’s heartbreaking.

I’ve known Brian for a long time. He is a deep thinker and very emotional, which is surprising because his films don’t appear that way. But he is a truly romantic guy. He is Carrie at the prom, even though most people would say, he’s the one who pulls the rope because he wants the blood. He’s Angie Dickinson in “Dressed to Kill” and Nancy Allen in “Blowout.” He’s not the hero. He is the person who is misunderstood and who suffers.

He said to me he starts crying when he listens to music. And you should see Brian and his dog – it’s the most touching thing ever and you would never think this is the guy who scared me to death with his movies when I was a kid.

The ups and downs of the career have to do with the reality of the business and how you are able to process the hills and valleys of your career emotionally. It can destroy a person. So to some degree, I applaud him for keeping on going.

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7 Brian De Palma films are explored in a new book. But ‘Scarface’ isn’t one.

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