Suture (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| + | {| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5" | ||
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| + | "To see how much we look alike!" | ||
| + | <hr> | ||
| + | "Moreover, while on paper the film's plot reads like a standard type of mistaken identity double plot, ''[[Suture (film) |Suture]]'' muddies matters by employing a salt and pepper cast: Vincent is white, Clay is black and they look nothing alike. [...] Upon first seeing the film, I kept expecting each new character that encountered Clay as “Vincent” to notice the racial difference and then reveal it to the others."--''[[Passing Strange: Shakespeare, Race, and Contemporary America]]'' (2011) by Ayanna Thompson | ||
| + | |} | ||
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| - | '''''Suture''''' is a [[1993 in film|1993]] [[neo-noir]] film directed by Scott McGehee and [[David Siegel]] and stars [[Dennis Haysbert]] and [[Mel Harris]]. | + | |
| + | '''''Suture''''' is a 1993 American [[thriller film]] directed by [[Scott McGehee]] and [[David Siegel (screenwriter)|David Siegel]] and starring [[Dennis Haysbert]] and [[Mel Harris]]. It was screened in the [[Un Certain Regard]] section at the [[1994 Cannes Film Festival]]. | ||
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| + | The film features [[identical twin|"identical" twin]] brothers. But since the brothers are played by two actors and one is black and one is white, the only people who do not notice the difference is not the audience, but the actors in the film. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Plot== | ||
| + | After murdering his father, wealthy Vincent Towers decides to fake his own death. He plants a car bomb in an attempt to kill a nearly identical half-brother, Clay Arlington, after persuading Arlington to switch identities with him. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Arlington survives, but requires facial reconstruction and also has lost most of his memory. Dr. Renee Descartes is there during his recovery. Towers resurfaces and tries once more to eliminate him, but is killed himself. Arlington makes a decision to make his new identity a permanent one. | ||
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| + | ==Cast== | ||
| + | * [[Dennis Haysbert]] as Clay Arlington | ||
| + | * [[Mel Harris]] as Dr. Renee Descartes | ||
| + | * [[Sab Shimono]] as Dr. Max Shinoda | ||
| + | * [[Dina Merrill]] as Alice Jameson | ||
| + | * [[Michael Harris (actor)|Michael Harris]] as Vincent Towers | ||
| + | * [[David Graf]] as Lt. Weismann | ||
| + | * [[Fran Ryan]] as Mrs. Lucerne | ||
| + | * [[John Ingle]] as Sidney Callahan | ||
| + | * [[Sanford Gibbons]] as Dr. Fuller (as Sandy Gibbons) | ||
| + | * [[Mark DeMichele]] as Detective Joe | ||
| + | * [[Sandra Ellis Lafferty]] as Nurse Stevens (as Sandra Lafferty) | ||
| + | * [[Capri Darling]] as Soprano | ||
| + | * [[Carol Kiernan]] as Ticket Agent | ||
| + | * [[Laura Groppe]] as Sportswoman | ||
| + | * [[Mel Coleman]] as Sportsman | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Production== | ||
| + | Scott McGehee and David Siegel had been working together since 1989. They had made two short films: "Birds Past" and "Speak Then Persephone" in 1989 and 1990, respectively. Afterwards, they decided to make a feature-length film and "attempted to construct a story that was generally about identity". McGehee has said that ''Suture'' was influenced by mid-1960s Japanese films and Hollywood films like ''[[North by Northwest]]''. Specifically, they were inspired by [[Hiroshi Teshigahara]]'s ''The Face of Another'' and [[Yoshitaro Nomura]]'s ''Tokyo Bay'', which utilized widescreen black and white cinematography. They also wanted to give the film an early '60s sensibility and loved the widescreen black and white films from that period: ''[[The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)|The Manchurian Candidate]]'' and ''[[Seconds (1966 film)|Seconds]]''. Siegel said, "It's an absolutely gripping look that's used so rarely today, and it's a look from a time period that we wanted to evoke". | ||
| + | |||
| + | McGehee and Siegel set up a limited partnership and borrowed money for the $1 million budget from family and friends. They decided to shoot ''Suture'' in [[Phoenix, Arizona]] because McGehee felt that it was "almost like an abandoned city, it's so large and overbuilt and the streets are so dead it feels empty". They liked the city's "high modernist, very spare aesthetic". After seeing an early rough cut of the film, [[Steven Soderbergh]] became fascinated with it and helped McGehee and Siegel find completion finances during post-production. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Release== | ||
| + | ''Suture'' had its premiere at the 1993 [[Telluride Film Festival]] with screenings at the [[Sundance Film Festival]] and [[Toronto International Film Festival|Toronto Festival of Festivals]]. A 4K restoration was completed in 2016, and released on Blu-ray July 2016. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Awards== | ||
| + | *In 1994, Scott McGehee and David Siegel won ''Best Director'' at the [[Sitges - Catalan International Film Festival]] | ||
| + | *In 1994, Greg Gardiner won ''Cinematography Award'' at the [[Sundance Film Festival]] | ||
| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | *[[Suture]] | ||
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Current revision
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"To see how much we look alike!" "Moreover, while on paper the film's plot reads like a standard type of mistaken identity double plot, Suture muddies matters by employing a salt and pepper cast: Vincent is white, Clay is black and they look nothing alike. [...] Upon first seeing the film, I kept expecting each new character that encountered Clay as “Vincent” to notice the racial difference and then reveal it to the others."--Passing Strange: Shakespeare, Race, and Contemporary America (2011) by Ayanna Thompson |
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Featured: |
Suture is a 1993 American thriller film directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel and starring Dennis Haysbert and Mel Harris. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.
The film features "identical" twin brothers. But since the brothers are played by two actors and one is black and one is white, the only people who do not notice the difference is not the audience, but the actors in the film.
Contents |
Plot
After murdering his father, wealthy Vincent Towers decides to fake his own death. He plants a car bomb in an attempt to kill a nearly identical half-brother, Clay Arlington, after persuading Arlington to switch identities with him.
Arlington survives, but requires facial reconstruction and also has lost most of his memory. Dr. Renee Descartes is there during his recovery. Towers resurfaces and tries once more to eliminate him, but is killed himself. Arlington makes a decision to make his new identity a permanent one.
Cast
- Dennis Haysbert as Clay Arlington
- Mel Harris as Dr. Renee Descartes
- Sab Shimono as Dr. Max Shinoda
- Dina Merrill as Alice Jameson
- Michael Harris as Vincent Towers
- David Graf as Lt. Weismann
- Fran Ryan as Mrs. Lucerne
- John Ingle as Sidney Callahan
- Sanford Gibbons as Dr. Fuller (as Sandy Gibbons)
- Mark DeMichele as Detective Joe
- Sandra Ellis Lafferty as Nurse Stevens (as Sandra Lafferty)
- Capri Darling as Soprano
- Carol Kiernan as Ticket Agent
- Laura Groppe as Sportswoman
- Mel Coleman as Sportsman
Production
Scott McGehee and David Siegel had been working together since 1989. They had made two short films: "Birds Past" and "Speak Then Persephone" in 1989 and 1990, respectively. Afterwards, they decided to make a feature-length film and "attempted to construct a story that was generally about identity". McGehee has said that Suture was influenced by mid-1960s Japanese films and Hollywood films like North by Northwest. Specifically, they were inspired by Hiroshi Teshigahara's The Face of Another and Yoshitaro Nomura's Tokyo Bay, which utilized widescreen black and white cinematography. They also wanted to give the film an early '60s sensibility and loved the widescreen black and white films from that period: The Manchurian Candidate and Seconds. Siegel said, "It's an absolutely gripping look that's used so rarely today, and it's a look from a time period that we wanted to evoke".
McGehee and Siegel set up a limited partnership and borrowed money for the $1 million budget from family and friends. They decided to shoot Suture in Phoenix, Arizona because McGehee felt that it was "almost like an abandoned city, it's so large and overbuilt and the streets are so dead it feels empty". They liked the city's "high modernist, very spare aesthetic". After seeing an early rough cut of the film, Steven Soderbergh became fascinated with it and helped McGehee and Siegel find completion finances during post-production.
Release
Suture had its premiere at the 1993 Telluride Film Festival with screenings at the Sundance Film Festival and Toronto Festival of Festivals. A 4K restoration was completed in 2016, and released on Blu-ray July 2016.
Awards
- In 1994, Scott McGehee and David Siegel won Best Director at the Sitges - Catalan International Film Festival
- In 1994, Greg Gardiner won Cinematography Award at the Sundance Film Festival
See also
