Tour De France
- Episode aired Sep 28, 2012
- 4m
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1.4: Tour de France by Neil LaBute: Well written personal opinion piece which is naturally and convincingly delivered by Cannavale
The fourth film in this series returns to a piece of writing that is more of a discussion, albeit one side of the discussion, rather than a piece we watch. In the style one may expect from LaBute, the tone is gruff and it is well played by the actor Bobby Cannavale, best known at the moment probably for Nurse Jackie, Blue Jasmine, Boardwalk Empire and other such memorable roles. The piece is very conversational and LaBute gives the actor a very natural voice to deliver; he greets the question with a certain amount of impatience before actually giving a very good answer as to what America is – which is its fundamental freedom and the changing attitudes in the country.
He illustrates this with the image he saw recently of a big African- American on a sports bike in Central Park, suggesting that in his father's time, his father would have yelled for the police on the assumption that the rider had stolen the bike and was getting away – an opinion which now in the same place would be absurd to the point few would think it far less yell it! The delivery of the piece has energy and directness which helps it make the point because it does feel like a real thought or example that the actor thought of, not a performance per se. It also means that the logic is less critical because it is just one guy talking, not an entire theory being put forward. I say this because the freedom to do what you want is rather dependent on the resources to do it – I have been to the US over ten times now, and I always come away with the conclusion that it is an amazing country to be in, as long as you have money. Nor is the perception/feeling that you can do whatever you want necessarily a good thing or an actual reality.
However, despite this it engages because, like I say, it is performed very naturally and convincingly by Cannavale, making it much more of a discussion than an entire philosophy to be picked apart. The whole thing is done in one take which I greatly enjoyed since a few of the films so far have been a bit jarring with the way that the edits break up the flow (even if only visually). I also continue to like the "no fuss" locations for the shoot – basically a room in New York with nothing really in it in this case; it again allows focus on the dialogue and performance.
He illustrates this with the image he saw recently of a big African- American on a sports bike in Central Park, suggesting that in his father's time, his father would have yelled for the police on the assumption that the rider had stolen the bike and was getting away – an opinion which now in the same place would be absurd to the point few would think it far less yell it! The delivery of the piece has energy and directness which helps it make the point because it does feel like a real thought or example that the actor thought of, not a performance per se. It also means that the logic is less critical because it is just one guy talking, not an entire theory being put forward. I say this because the freedom to do what you want is rather dependent on the resources to do it – I have been to the US over ten times now, and I always come away with the conclusion that it is an amazing country to be in, as long as you have money. Nor is the perception/feeling that you can do whatever you want necessarily a good thing or an actual reality.
However, despite this it engages because, like I say, it is performed very naturally and convincingly by Cannavale, making it much more of a discussion than an entire philosophy to be picked apart. The whole thing is done in one take which I greatly enjoyed since a few of the films so far have been a bit jarring with the way that the edits break up the flow (even if only visually). I also continue to like the "no fuss" locations for the shoot – basically a room in New York with nothing really in it in this case; it again allows focus on the dialogue and performance.
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- bob the moo
- Aug 20, 2014
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