Homage to the montage..
Ahhh the montage: a neat and succinct way of combining a plethora of action into one fast-paced package, as seen above here with this delectable smorgasbord of Nicholas "batshitcrazy" Cageisms. Over-acter? PFFFFFTTTTT no way.
A popular ingredient in the recipe for any 80s hit: along with a metric tonne of cheese, lashings of sweet transitional synth and a generous smattering of glitter (someone's been watching Saturday Kitchen...)
Let's face it, nobody wants the filler, JUST the killer - hence the phrase. Think any John Hughes movie and imagine the tedium and drudgery extracted and compressed to make exciting, snappy sequences.
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| Mouth Wide Open: the children's sequel to Eyes Wide Shut. Harrowing. |
No-one really wants to know how Kevin McAllister constructed those elaborate thief-traps (can of paint + rope = done. Big wow, kid)
No, I'd far rather see him dancing around the lounge with cardboard cut outs of the family who've abandoned him, dancing away the grief that will take it's toll in his adult life...
No, I'd far rather see him dancing around the lounge with cardboard cut outs of the family who've abandoned him, dancing away the grief that will take it's toll in his adult life...
Perhaps the most common association with the montage sequence is in the action movie genre.
Think slothenly waster to ripped Adonis in 2 action-packed minutes! Brilliant and totally believable.
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| Gratutitous body shot - BOOM! |
So you can only imagine my absolute delight at a recent screening of David O. Russell's The Fighter.
The story follows the real-life plight of boxer Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) as he strives for professional success in the world of light welterweight boxing in the mid 1980s, whilst struggling to control his wayward ex-boxing-champ-turned-coke-fiend brother, Dicky (Christian Bale).
This tale of a fight for success both professionally and personally is fast-paced, humorous and engaging.
Bale undoubtedly deserved his Best Supporting Actor accolade for his role as the troubled Dicky,as verified in the footage of the real Dicky as the credits roll at the end of the film.
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| Ladies form an orderly queue... |
He may have a short fuse but he's channels his crazy exceptionally well - brilliant.
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| You is acting loco and I likes it! |
However, possibly one of the most notable and cliched (yet utterly necessary) techniques adopted in this Oscar-winning flick is the use of the training montage sequence.
O.Russell gives Rocky many a grateful nod in the numerous cheese-infused work-out scenes, as Mickey strives to reach his boxing dreams; sparring up a sweat to a soundtrack of 80s rock and power ballads including Whitesnake, Hall & Oates and Led Zeppelin.
Love 'em or hate 'em - ain't no denying the power of the montage.
"We're gonna need a montage / Ooh, it takes a montage / Show a lot of things happening at once / Remind everyone of what's going on / In every shot, show a little improvement / To show it all would take too long / That's called a montage / Girl, we want a montage"
(Team America: World Police)
Other Montage Sequences of notable worth:
- "Montage" - Team America: World Police
- "You're the Best Around" - The Karate Kid
- "Hungry Eyes" - Dirty Dancing
- "Win in the End" - Teen Wolf
- Any Rocky training sequence
(NB: It's tricky finding these actual sequences due to copyright - cheapo fail)
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