This World, Then the Fireworks

United States

1997

100 Min

Color

1.85:1

English

Currently 2.7/5 Stars.
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EXEC Barr B. Potter, Billy Zane

PROD Larry Goss, Chris Hanley, Brad Wyman

CAST Billy Zane, Gina Gershon, Sheryl Lee, Rue McClanahan, Seymour Cassel, Will Patton

MUSIC Pete Rugolo

Cannes (Semaine de la critique), Sundance

Synopsis

The work of the master of pulp fiction, Jim Thompson, has been adapted for the screen a number of times. But nothing previously prepares one for this plunge to the depths achieved by filmmaker Michael Oblowitz and producer/ screenwriter Larry Gross. As darkly perverse a melodrama as you’re likely to see, this story by Thompson is a litany of evils and immorality that keeps it from being everyone’s cup of tea. But those who can appreciate its excess and style will be energized, provoked, and satiated

Murder, blackmail, drugs, sexual abuse, whoring, duplicity, incest, patricide, and deceit are elements in this almost antinaturalistic crime movie that its director describes as “film trés noir.” Starring Billy Zane, Gina Gershon, and Sheryl Lee in a twisting and turning narrative that utilizes love, seduction, greed, and treachery as casually as the normal crime drama lights a cigarette, This World, Then the Fireworks takes audience members to places they may never have been before, countering modern sensibilities, morality, and political correctness with a sardonic style.

Director

Michael Oblowitz

Michael Oblowitz was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Oblowitz is a prominent film maker having directed and produced a number of critically acclaimed movies and videos.

Michael Oblowitz has recently wrapped Out for a Kill, starring Steven Seagal, for Sony/Screen Gems where he had success with The Foreigner (2003 film), also starring Seagal. Michael directed Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy starring William Forsythe for the Sci-Fi Channel and The Breed (2001 film) for MPCA and Sony/Screen Gems, starring Adrian Paul and Bokeem Woodbine. Previous to that, Michael directed BORDERLINE for WIN Entertainment which was distributed by Lion’s Gate, starring Marlee Shelton, Eric Mabius, Bill Sage and Elizabeth Pena. Before that he directed THIS WORLD THEN THE FIREWORKS, a feature based on Jim Thompson’s novel starring Billy Zane and Gina Gershon, for Largo Ent. and Orion Classics (1997). This was an official entry at both the Cannes and Sundance… read more

Michael Oblowitz was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Oblowitz is a prominent film maker having directed and produced a number of critically acclaimed movies and videos.

Michael Oblowitz has recently wrapped Out for a Kill, starring Steven Seagal, for Sony/Screen Gems where he had success with The Foreigner (2003 film), also starring Seagal. Michael directed Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy starring William Forsythe for the Sci-Fi Channel and The Breed (2001 film) for MPCA and Sony/Screen Gems, starring Adrian Paul and Bokeem Woodbine. Previous to that, Michael directed BORDERLINE for WIN Entertainment which was distributed by Lion’s Gate, starring Marlee Shelton, Eric Mabius, Bill Sage and Elizabeth Pena. Before that he directed THIS WORLD THEN THE FIREWORKS, a feature based on Jim Thompson’s novel starring Billy Zane and Gina Gershon, for Largo Ent. and Orion Classics (1997). This was an official entry at both the Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals (1997).

Oblowitz has also produced and directed hundreds of commercials and music videos with a variety of top stars such as David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Corey Hart, Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Carole King, Brooks and Dunn, Alan Jackson, Santana, Natalie Cole, Garth Brooks and John Lee Hooker. Michael most recently completed a Heineken commercial campaign. Oblowitz’s acclaimed first feature, the avant-garde film noir, KING BLANK, starring Will Patton and RonVawter, was presented at numerous international film festivals.

Oblowitz has collaborated on film and video projects with major New York artists like Joseph Kosuth, Vito Acconci, Lawrence Weiner, Joan Jonas and Spaulding Gray. His work has been screened at the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and the Walker Art Center, as well Paris’ Cinemateque and Beubourg Museum.

Oblowitz’s early fine arts short films have been shown in the Whitney Museum’s NO WAVE CINEMA series, as part of a tribute to the innovative work of filmmakers and artists in Manhattan’s Lower East Village.

Oblowitz’s other notable work consists of being a director of photography for Germany’s avant-garde filmmaker, Rosa Von Praunheim; four short films that garnered various film festival awards; documentaries on South Africa’s prison island, blues guitarist Buddy Guy; and a retrospective look at Booker T and the MG’s. —Wikipedia

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