On Bergman and The Simpsons Movie
0 Comments Published by Steven Friedman on Monday, July 30, 2007 at 5:33 PM.
Marije and I ventured to the beautiful city of Antwerp last friday, as I forced her to come and see The Simpsons Movie with me (it's not out in The Netherlands yet, quelle surprise). So I was all set to write a little something about that experience, when I read that the legendary Ingmar Bergman passed away today. I know a post involving both the death of a great filmmaker and The Simpsons may seem a bit odd, but actually, there's a beautiful connection.You see, to me The Simpsons doesn't owe its greatness to the colorful animation or the fantastic voice talent -- but to the brilliant writing. And while many critics and film-lovers praise Bergman for his unique visual approach to filmmaking (and rightfully so), I consider him to be a great writer first. More than any other filmmaker (and this includes the likes of Kurosawa, Kubrick and Fellini), Bergman understood the power and subtleties of storytelling.
Whether I'm watching Fanny och Alexander, The Virgin Spring, Persona or Scenes from a Marriage, the thing that always strikes me most about Bergman's work is the depth and the clarity of his writing. No matter how surreal or existential the subject material at hand is, Bergman knows how to draw you in and keep you completely immersed in this universe he created. And THAT constitutes quality writing.
There are a lot of young filmmakers out there these days that like to call themselves 'auteurs', when the pitiful truth is that most of them don't even know what that means (and most are crap at what they're doing anyway). Bergman was a great filmmaker because he was a great storyteller. And for that reason, I consider him one of the very few writer/directors in history worthy of the title 'auteur'. His talent and legacy will be an inspiration to me for as long as I work as a (screen)writer.
And now, as promised, a little something on The Simpsons.
There's a Simpsons Movie out. No really. This time it's not just a rumour, a joke or hallucinatory wishfulfillment. It's actually out in theatres. A feature-length, big screen-version of the greatest television show in history. Honestly, I never thought it would happen. Just like... I don't know... a live-action version of Transformers. Funny that both of those long cherished cinematic fantasies of mine actually came true in the same year. The only difference being that I thought Transformers was a piece of crap, while I found myself thoroughly enjoying The Simpsons' very first cinematic outing in seventeen years.
Yes, you read that right. I still consider The Simpsons to be the greatest television show ever. No matter how mediocre the show has become in its past five or six seasons, this pop-culture phenomenon is still unsurpassed in terms of writing, directing and acting (albeit voice-acting). Some of the older episodes (seasons 2 - 9 being my personal favorites) are undeniable comedy-classics. Easily on par with the best work of Chaplin, Abbott & Costello, Wilder, Allen, The Pythons... you name it. Seriously, looking back, this show was better than mortal man deserves.
So was I nervous going into The Simpsons Movie? Fuck yeah. From the moment Groening & Co. announced the feature a while back, I had a lot of trepidations about how my favorite yellow family would turn out on the big screen. Was it going to be a throwback to the glorious first ten seasons of the show? Or would it just be an extended season 17-episode?
To tell you the truth, it turned out to be a bit of both. Like I said, I really enjoyed the film and even experienced a couple of genuine laugh-out-loud moments (and fans of the show know those moments have been rare these past seasons). It's just that -- well, maybe I still expected just a little more from a Simpsons movie. And the shitty thing is: I really don't know what!
Perhaps that's why it took so damn long to actually create this film; how on earth DO you make a great Simpsons movie? What choices do you make? How do you decide which of the wonderful characters from the Simpsons-universe you leave out and which ones you put in the film? Looking at it that way, you have to really commend Groening and his team for making this film at all.
So, Simpsons-fans everywhere, rejoice. For The Simpsons Movie is not nearly as bad as you probably thought it was going to be. In fact, it's pretty damn good. Forget about the last few seasons and just have fun with this one.
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