Great movie. I don’t remember who she was up against that year but I recall thinking that Rosie Perez deserved to win the Oscar. I need to watch it again as I haven’t seen it since I was a teenager and may be able to appreciate it even better now.
BJ: Thanks for pointing out this often forgotten Weir film. Although I haven’t seen it for ages, I watched it during the period where I was waiting anxiously for another Weir film, after being totally immersed in the world of Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Last Wave. To me, the first two films still have a special resonance and complexity that makes them very special and personal to me. Weir has always been interested in the subject of mortality and how we approach our end. I think Jeff Bridges did a fine job of not overplaying his part and Weir found the right note to deal with Bridges’ character’s own conflicts as a survivor. He feels like he should have died, but hasn’t, and must comes to terms with this in his own way. A very intriguing film and yet another addition to the Weir canon of films that merge the search for personal identity with metaphysics in a true and satisfying way.
This was an interesting addition to Weir’s oeuvre, and I think it really demonstrated the breadth of Jeff Bridge’s acting chops. I’ve heard news of a possible rerelease of the DVD since the current one is so shitty so here’s hoping this isn’t just a rumor!
I sought this director out recently. The Truman Show was playing on cable TV, I couldn’t take my eyes off it. It imparted the same claustrophobia as it did back in middle school. So maybe that says I have low brow taste. ( James Parker has something to say about the existential Jim Carey here at The Atlantic http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200812/jim-carrey )
I know that I, for one, tend to brush aside mainstream movies for whatever snooty reason. Peter Weir gives me reason to pause.
Another reason to give Hollywood a chance, I’ve been watching a lot of Douglas Sirk and Preston Sturges lately. These guys are the epitome of mainstream, but they made deceptively layered and subversive films.
so yeah, thanks for the post Mr Jones
Fearless is perhaps the best film ever made about post traumatic stress disorder. The performances are brilliant. Isabella Rosselini’s performance, though overshadowed by that of Bridges and Perez, was also worthy of a best supporting actress nod, in my mind. Wier is a magical director who really knows how to hit the emotional button and get the most touching performances out of his actors. I don’t think he’s ever made a bad film. Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Last Wave introduced his talent to the world, and his career was resurrected in the 1990s with Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show and, of course, Fearless.
Fearless is on my list of top 10 films of the 1990’s. It is a great film. Warner should license it to Criterion to release a Special Edition on Blu ray and DVD. The current DVD is an awful 1:33 transfer with no supplements.
I should probably check this out then, huh?
I remember loving this film way back when… I think I saw it on HBO and was intrigued. I have it among my stack of films and think I’ll give it a view once again and will re-post with $0.02 worth… Thanks for bringing it to the surface once again.
Peter Weir has a pretty good track record as a director.Fearless,Last Wave, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Master & Commander, Mosquito Coast, Gallipoli, Witness and the much underrated Year of Living Dangerously(Criterion where are you?). Only two clinkers for me were Green Card and Dead Poets Society.
I watched FEARLESS in the midst of a Weir kick(I think MASTER AND COMMANDER had really surprised me into watching a bunch of his stuff again), but I wasn’t impressed with it that much. Even though the ideas it was exploring were interesting, I thought the filmmaking wasn’t up to par with the other films of his I’d gotten really into. Granted, I can’t even think of any examples to cite, but did anyone else feel let down by this one on a whole?
Benham Jones
Recently watched this for the first time in ages and it really blew me away. I think it tanked upon its initial release, perhaps swept up in the heyday of early 90’s commercial adult drama (‘93 was the year of Schindler’s List and Philadelphia, after all), though I notice that Rosie Perez was given an Oscar nomination for her role. Great performances all around though from Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini, John Turturro and a young, sharp Benicio Del Torro. The film approaches death in an extremely humble way and refrains from any vulgar Michael Bay-isms during the plane crash sequence (not a spoiler, don’t worry). It’s much more about rituals of horror and death rather than the loss of life. Great use of music too.
Maybe a strange film to focus a whole thread on, but this is a mainstream picture that has moved me to tears pretty much every time I’ve seen it. Anyone watch it recently? Thoughts on Peter Weir in general? Obviously a really commercial filmmaker, but I used to love (LOVE) his stuff as a kid. A film like this, especially from this period in cinema, feels really solid and without pretense.
I may be wrong though, as it does have Jeff Bridges walking through traffic, dancing on the ledge of a building and constantly repeating, “This is the moment of my death.” But I think it works.