He was with Saffron Burrows
that is better than making films.
I think Cold Creek Manor killed his career; you can experiment all you want but if you sell out and no one is buying than your funding days are over
He’s made something like a dozen films and also worked in TV since LLV, so I think it’s safe to say his career isn’t over. I don’’t think Figgis was ever sincerely interested in becoming a Hollywood filmmaker.
^^I don’t think he was either. Cold Creek Manor was so half assed imo. You can tell he wasn’t really trying.
Having said that, i iost interest in Figgis after Timecode. He released a film in a hotel or something, that was dead boring imo.
His ‘experimental’ films are hit and miss. ‘The Loss Of Sexual Innocence’ has its moments though.
i think his biggest mistake was following up Leaving Las Vegas with One Night Stand. terrible film imo, although i’m sure Den liked it ;-)
“He released a film in a hotel or something”
Imaginatively titled Hotel, no less. That film has completed melted together in my brain with Wenders’ Million Dollar Hotel (which I didn’t like either). I liked some of The Loss of Sexual Innocence, and the Strindberg adaptation he did was at least interesting if not completely successful.
^^I liked Miss Julie!!! Thought it was well done.
got the dvd lying around somewhere
Have you seen Liebestraum? I’ve always thought that was an interesting little film.
^^No, haven’t seen it.
I dug Miss Julie and One Night Stand although I know most people hate them. But yeah the last decade of his career has barely been touched by any hollywood studio. Hell even releasing his films to dvd doesn’t interest most of them. I’m glad Matt that you mentioned Liebestraum. I think it has a weak story line but it has atmosphere too burn. Great score which I also believe he composed.
I really love Leaving Las Vegas. However, the only other film of Figgis’ I’ve seen, Hotel, I couldn’t even finish because it was so grotesquely artsy and pretentious. Apparently a few people really liked that movie (like Roger Ebert), and that’s good for them, but I’m just not avant-garde enough to “get it” I guess. ha.
Which Mike Figgis film should I watch next?
Figgis at his worst comes off like a parody of art films from the English speaking world.
Same goes for Egoyan too imo.
“Which Mike Figgis film should I watch next?”
To me, that’s actually a really difficult question, because there’s not another of his films that’s much like Leaving Las Vegas. It’s safe to skip the Richard Gere films—Internal Affairs and Mr. Jones—altogether, imo. It might be worthwhile to go back and see his first film Stormy Monday if you’ve haven’t seen that one. Matt Zoller Seitz has an interesting video essay on the film that makes a nice supplement if you’re so inclined.
“i think his biggest mistake was following up Leaving Las Vegas with One Night Stand. terrible film imo, although i’m sure Den liked it ;-)”
at the time that script was a hot commodity, but no I hated the film.
Miss Julie is my favorite Figgis film
“Figgis at his worst comes off like a parody of art films from the English speaking world.”
Yup, but, Joks, Agoyan at his worst is still better than Figgis at his best.
After the horrors of Timecode, I’m actually surprised Figgis hasn’t made a film entirely composed of cell phone videos or something…. If his directorial career is dead, at least I’ll never have to suffer another one of his crap jazz scores.
From the wiki:
“To promote a new camera phone, Sony Ericsson commissioned Mike Figgis to create Life Captured – a short film made out of mobile phone snapshots taken by fourteen people from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, who were selected to submit a series of photos after winning the global Life captured competition”
Hahaha…. I swear I didn’t know about that when I made the post above… It does make sense though.
Yeah.
“Yup, but, Joks, Agoyan at his worst is still better than Figgis at his best.”
disagree. i preferred L.L.Vegas to any of Egoyan’s films, but then again, i haven’t seen it in 15 years. maybe it hasn’t aged well.
I prefer Egoyan overall though, definitely. There is more consistency(both thematically and stylistically) to his overall body of work.
Figgis seems all over the map.
DEN: Miss Julie is his most underrated film imo. Usually S.B is a complete wash out as an actress imo, but she did well in that one.
“disagree. i preferred L.L.Vegas to any of Egoyan’s films, but then again, i haven’t seen it in 15 years. maybe it hasn’t aged well.”
I challenge you to revisit L.L. Vegas. I swear it ages terribly. I quite liked it when I saw it in the cinema when it came out. When I saw it again recently, I thought it was just awful.
^^I will happily take on that challenge soon :-)
i’ll admit, when i tried to rewatch it in 99 or so, while heavily distracted, i noticed that the music and the acting—apart from Cage and Shue—was a little ‘ropey’, esp in those early scenes.
but i’d have to watch it all to judge.
I loved it in 1996 though. Was my favourite film of the year with Casino(wasn’t released until early 96 here).
then again, my taste is completely different now.
Looks like his career followed the path of Nick Cage in Leaving Las Vegas.
“i’ll admit, when i tried to rewatch it in 99 or so, while heavily distracted, i noticed that the music and the acting—apart from Cage and Shue—was a little ‘ropey’, esp in those early scenes.”
Yeah, I think digging the Figgis aesthetic requires forgiveness of heavy-handed characterizations and narrative clumsiness for his “jazzy” visual style. Me, I don’t even like most jazz.
Why would anybody in their right minds want to become a Hollywood director nowadays?
^^
Just as well as asking why someone would sell their soul for breakfast in bed.
His directorial career is not dead, it’s just that he’s now directing operas.
thanks for the heads up Klein.
“Usually S.B is a complete wash out as an actress imo, but she did well in that one.”
disagree mightily she is my favorite living actress, anyone see The Guitar or Reign Over Me
not dead at all (from deadline.com)
Myriad Pictures has acquired worldwide rights outside the U.K. for the Neil LaBute-scripted Seconds of Pleasure. Mike Figgis will direct a film that will star Matt Dillon, Julia Stiles, Brendan Fraser, Kristin Scott Thomas and Christina Hendricks. Seconds of Pleasure explores a series of intimate and emotionally charged events that occur among a small group of people traveling together on a trans-Atlantic flight from Chicago to London. LaBute adapted it from his novel, which weaves together the intertwined, yet separate stories, of the six couples searching for those moments that make life worth living.
Seconds of Pleasure is a production of Scotland’s broadcasting giant, STV. Margaret Enefer, STV Productions’ Head of Drama, Bill Shapter and Neil LaBute are the producers.
“We’re delighted to be working with Myriad on this fantastic film,” Enefer said. “Neil has written an incredibly candid, blazingly witty script. We know Mike Figgis will make it shine in the most sensitive and imaginative way possible. It’s a thrill to have them working together with this amazing cast.” Said Myriad Pictures CEO Kirk D’Amico: “We immediately responded to Neil’s script, which is razor-sharp, so insightful and honest, about the real challenges and temptations people face every day. Mike Figgis is the perfect director to bring this script to life, especially with this extraordinary cast.”
peter smith
I popped in Leaving Las Vegas last night and was thinking about how his career before and after this film. It made pretty depressed about where his career went. I hope he makes a comeback but it feels like no producer wants to take a chance on him.