Follow the jump for details.
Written by New York cartoonist, novelist and playwright Jules Feiffer, Little Murders was a satirical play that commented on the violent and paranoid nature of mid-60s America. The play was a flop in 1967, but returned two years later in a production directed by Alan Arkin and became a hit. In 1971, Elliot Gould, who starred in the production, used his newfound Hollywood clout to get a screenplay produced, and Arkin was tapped to make his film directing debut. The film disappeared almost instantly. It was simply too weird, too dark, and too violent for the moviegoing public.
The first half of the movie is a humorously mismatched love story between Gould, an atheist photographer who mostly takes pictures of shit (literally), and a high strung New Yorker (Marcia Rodd) itching to cure her loneliness. But starting with the scene featuring the beautifully insane wedding ceremony lead by Donald Sutherland, the movie starts to spiral completely out of control and becomes something completely different. I don't want to give away the last bits of the movie - as many reviews and even the DVD box do - as it's best to ride this roller coaster without seeing where it's heading.
Suffice to say, this is a great piece of revolutionary cinema. Not long after the film was released, Arkin said he was afraid to see it with an audience. Perhaps because everyone finds something different and personal in the film, and the group experience can feel just too weird - or perhaps because some of them may be in a lynching mood when the end credits roll.
Either way, a great little cult movie that doesn't get quite enough play.
Only one of my favorite films of all time. Arkin's climactic scene as Lt. Practice is still one of the most hilariously demented performances on record.
Posted by: Hell's Donut House | June 01, 2007 at 09:15 AM
the most brilliant scene ever. I force people to watch this movie.
Posted by: fatty jubbo | June 01, 2007 at 01:03 PM
I love Little Murders.
Posted by: WmMBerger | June 01, 2007 at 02:26 PM
Little Murders... what a strange and excellent movie. I used to start photographing after seeing it; well, I shot some shit pics, but the true sense for me lay on the free thinking of Gould's played character.
Step by step he is sliding in this Addams-kinda family, getting violent etc. I've seen it some years ago and was bit disappointed - I had in mind that it is one of the simple greatest films I've ever seen. As it was the case now - I was bored with quite some of the ideas.
There's a bit TOO much pressure of 'weirdness', the characters are quite shallow, if you look closely... but still! It is certainly way ahead of every 'grand' blockbuster in the last 36 years! ;)
Thanks for bringing this back from our unconscious memory...
Posted by: Lucky | June 01, 2007 at 10:56 PM
so less than an hour after reading this post i had in my hand a rented copy of Little Murders which was the only copy in my town between three video stores. I just had to see what it was all about. immediately sat down with a friend to watch and it definitely is a great film. the first half is genuinely funny, and then i felt it got kinda serious, and then it was sad for maybe 3 minutes and in the end i kinda ended up laughing only cause it was so crazy, which is a good thing right? thanks so much for posting it, was definitely worth the adventure.
Posted by: babu | June 02, 2007 at 11:39 PM
Oh hey, it's so great that you ran out and rented the film. One can dream that people will do that, but you don't really expect it. And of course I'm glad you liked it as well...
Posted by: Resident Clinton | June 04, 2007 at 03:46 AM
Oh, this is on my list now...
Posted by: Art(uro) | June 05, 2007 at 09:57 AM
the author is incorrect to say little murders "disappeared almost instantly." it had a very healthy after-life in art house theaters throughout the late 70's and early 80's. that's how it became a cult film.
I would highly recommend reading this article if you're interested in this film:
http://www.americanpopularculture.com/journal/articles/spring_2003/cruz.htm
Posted by: dr bombay | May 05, 2008 at 12:13 AM