It’s not exactly a discovery. Filmmaking, in front of and/or behind the camera, isn’t always a long, calm river away from it. The experience can even be taken to extremes, as was the case with Apocalypse Now, whose Homeric filming is chronicled in the mind-bending Heart of Darkness. Or Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo and his conflicted relationship with beloved actor Klaus Kinski.
Between the painful and exhausting experiences, financial difficulties and the endless journey of the cross, making a feature film can even be the only experience of its author. For worse or better.
Some of the unique films have even become true classics, such as Carnival of the Souls, Herc Harvey’s small masterpiece of macabre poetry, which achieved cult film status on late night television. American television. Untraceable for years, it has long circulated secretly in pirated copies. Or The Honeymoon Killers, Leonard Castle’s only production, which also appeared in the beloved films of François Truffaut and Michelangelo Antonioni.
It is in this singular vein that the street garbage nestles; Delusion and insanity, quite possibly in bad taste, signed by 21-year-old aspiring director Jim Murrow when he was still a student School of Visual Arts from New York.
A film that became a cult and was released in 1987, bringing joy to schoolchildren and deviant horror fans browsing the shelves of video clubs. street garbage Recently rediscovered here in a gorgeous Blu-ray edition released by ESC.
his pitch Deep in his hideout, a small liquor store owner discovers counterfeit Viper brand liquor. The bottles quickly found buyers, bought by junkies and vagrants who inhabited the local scrapyard. Its effects are devastating, the drink of unknown origin destroys those who imbibe it…
A little about the devastating effects of this drink? See below!
In A great mini summer series of six articles Returning to these unique achievements, Le Monde has rightly dedicated an entry to this film, which was originally a short graduation film by Jim Murrow. With the support of one of his professors, Roy Frumkes, he managed to find a distributor who agreed to put down $60,000 of the $850,000 needed to complete the budget.
Between rotten cops, trash-dwelling baddies and wrecked cars, hordes of vagrants raping women, and geysers of organic matter that are the remains of the unfortunate drinkers of this demon beer literally drinking the liquid into their bodies, Jim Murrow uses his camera to capture. Gloomy New York.
A clear echo, too, of those left in Reagan’s America. The city, in the 70s and 80s, then in the grip of a terrible drug epidemic, with terrible crime, to the point that even a survival guide was handed out to tourists.
Even a city on the verge of bankruptcy. Municipal coffers were so depleted of money that even garbage collectors could no longer be paid to pick up garbage, especially in the Bronx and Harlem neighborhoods, which had become open-air ghettos. The Black Panthers even went so far as to threaten the city’s mayor with death if he didn’t clean up the streets…
A great future career, but a rejected film
Later, Jim Murrow, who would become a very famous permanent cameraman, would have a great career. Cinematographer on Kevin Costner’s Western Open Range, he also worked with Martin Scorsese, James Cameron (Over the Abyss, Terminator 2, Titanic), Michael Mann (Heath), Oliver Stone, Kathryn Bigelow… but also action films like The Chronicles. Riddick, Fast & Furious, X-Men 2… pretty wild field.
Light years from his debut, he finally rejects his film. “Jimmy was making money that he would never make as a director, even today. So the idea of directing became more and more important to him. Besides, he was born again. . Therefore, street garbage was what he had to morally distance himself from.” Roy Frumkes, author of a 2006 documentary film of his former student, commented; Artisan producer of an unidentified film object. And above all unique.
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
