For decades, I've been drawn to the pictures of Michael Curtiz and have always wondered why he wasn't mentioned along the likes of Frank Capra, Howard Hawks and other long-time successful studio directors.
I had learned he was a tyrant on the set, but never looked further into the man.
Now, after screening director Tamás Yvan Topolánszky's movie, Curtiz, I'm about to order bio books on the complex and controversial filmmaker.
While the film takes several liberties in telling how Curtiz battled personal and professional battles in the making of Casablanca - one of cinema's most revered films - it is still an honest look at a man's demonic compulsions and his inability to control the devil within.
Curtiz, is an exceptionally well made film. Topolánszky's camera soaks up the smoke, shadows and spotlights in every frame and actors Ferenc Lengyel, as the title character, and Evelin Dobos, as his estranged daughter, are sensational.
I love the look of noir-like black and white cinematography and Topolánszky's uses it here not for ostentatious reasons, but to illuminate the main character's motives.
There's even a clever use of the color red to symbolize Curtiz's only love - moviemaking.
At the end of Topolánszky's film, one other color is revealed when a projector's light flashes the completed Casablanca. The color is blue which typically symbolizes high-quality.
That's what Curtiz, the filmmaker always delivered and, now, Curtiz, the movie, does, too.
For lovers of cinema, this is a must-see. And for Topolánszky... I hope this is the start of a beautiful relationship with him and big-time movie-making.
I had learned he was a tyrant on the set, but never looked further into the man.
Now, after screening director Tamás Yvan Topolánszky's movie, Curtiz, I'm about to order bio books on the complex and controversial filmmaker.
While the film takes several liberties in telling how Curtiz battled personal and professional battles in the making of Casablanca - one of cinema's most revered films - it is still an honest look at a man's demonic compulsions and his inability to control the devil within.
Curtiz, is an exceptionally well made film. Topolánszky's camera soaks up the smoke, shadows and spotlights in every frame and actors Ferenc Lengyel, as the title character, and Evelin Dobos, as his estranged daughter, are sensational.
I love the look of noir-like black and white cinematography and Topolánszky's uses it here not for ostentatious reasons, but to illuminate the main character's motives.
There's even a clever use of the color red to symbolize Curtiz's only love - moviemaking.
At the end of Topolánszky's film, one other color is revealed when a projector's light flashes the completed Casablanca. The color is blue which typically symbolizes high-quality.
That's what Curtiz, the filmmaker always delivered and, now, Curtiz, the movie, does, too.
For lovers of cinema, this is a must-see. And for Topolánszky... I hope this is the start of a beautiful relationship with him and big-time movie-making.