The Movie
Shortly before the close of the last millennium, audiences were slapped upside the head with Being John Malkovich, a film of such jaw-dropping originality that I can hardly believe it was produced here in America. The story follows out-of-work puppeteer Craig (John Cusack) who takes a day job at a mysterious Manhattan office building. One day he accidentally discovers a secret door that provides access to, well, the inside of actor John Malkovich's head, and whoever enters can see and hear what Malkovich does, for fifteen minutes before being spat out on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike.
And the twists and turns are even weirder before we're done.
Almost everyone we meet is just so peculiar, no one more so than Maxine (Catherine Keener, Oscar-nominated for her performance here), an impossibly confident, sexy woman who steps up to partner with Craig, charging customers $200 apiece for the privilege of being John Malkovich. And business is good, until the actor begins to suspect that something isn't quite right, and his investigation yields some shocking discoveries.
Craig falls hopelessly in love with Maxine but his feelings are unrequited, until he is able to use his skills to do more than observe Malkovich's life and actually begin controlling it, which changes his fate considerably. Along the way we witness a unique love quadrangle, and also meet a cadre of old men with their own plans for Mr. M.
This was the first feature film for both director Spike Jonze and writer Charlie Kaufman, setting the tone for two unconventional Hollywood careers. For a glimpse of what they were trying to convey here, climb inside the head of our esteemed film critic by reading Joe Lozito's review of Being John Malkovich.
The Picture
The new, restored 4K video master was personally supervised by Jonze and director of photography Lance Acord, working from the 35mm original camera negative. The image is consistently dim and the colors are restrained, reportedly accurate to the 1999 theatrical prints in a way the original DVD version couldn't match. The 1.85:1 image boasts deep, natural blacks and is wonderfully clean. In one scene, we can easily read all of the text of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard from Malkovich's point of view.
The Sound
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack was created from the original six-track tapes, and we can appreciate both the spread and the clarity of the orchestra tuning up during the opening, and the fullness of applause here and elsewhere. The shouting and pounding of off-camera neighbors is discrete and convincing. The Malkovich experience is appropriately odd, from the bizarre rumble and resonance inside the dark corridor to the strained sounds of his daily routine, even shifting his own voice into the surrounds.
The Extras
A new audio commentary has been provided by fellow avant-garde director Michel Gondry (The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), for selected scenes only, edited down from a full-length track for various reasons. On-set video archivist Lance Bangs has compiled a 33-minute documentary from his many hours of vintage footage, and also a seven-minute look at the artistry of puppeteer Phil Huber, who contributed to the film.
The two mini-movies-within-the-movie (two minutes and four minutes) are presented uninterrupted. John Malkovich gives an enjoyable new interview with actor/humorist John Hodgman (28 minutes), and Jonze talks on-camera about his collection of photos taken during the production (15-and-a-half minutes). All of the video is HD although quality varies greatly, some deliberately poor. While some of these extras have been ported from the original DVD edition, not all of that vintage bonus content has been included here.
Final Thoughts
Hats off to The Criterion Collection for bringing John Malkovich to a new generation, with an outstanding remaster and some clever new bonuses. It's the next best thing to climbing inside the filmmakers' heads.
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