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    3. Bigger Than Life (1956) [The Criterion Collection #597]

    Bigger Than Life (1956) [The Criterion Collection #597]

    Posted By: Someonelse
    Date: 9 Jul 2011 08:10:33
    Bigger Than Life (1956) [The Criterion Collection #597]

    Bigger Than Life (1956) [The Criterion Collection #597]
    DVD9 (VIDEO_TS) | NTSC 16:9 (720x480) | 01:35:14 | 7,10 Gb
    Audio: English AC3 1.0 @ 384 Kbps + English Commentary | Subs: English
    Genre: Drama | USA

    Though ignored at the time of its release, Nicholas Ray’s Bigger Than Life is now recognized as one of the great American films of the 1950s. When a friendly, successful suburban teacher and father (James Mason, in one of his most indelible roles) is prescribed cortisone for a painful, possibly fatal affliction, he grows dangerously addicted to the experimental drug, resulting in his transformation into a psychotic and ultimately violent household despot. This Eisenhower-era throat-grabber, shot in expressive CinemaScope, is an excoriating take on the nuclear family. That it came in the day of Father Knows Best makes it all the more shocking—and wildly entertaining.

    IMDB
    Criterion

    Never before available on home video domestically, The Criterion Collection has finally released Nicholas Ray's groundbreaking Bigger Than Life. It's a claustrophobic, small-scale portrait of 1950s suburbia torn apart by a family man's addiction to prescription cortisone. James Mason (who also produced) gave a defining performance in the lead role, undergoing a gripping transformation from middle class dad to psychotic would-be prophet of anti-middle class revolution. Released in 1956 to a largely negative reception, it's no surprise that Americans of the 1950s - eased into self-satisfaction with the realization of the postwar American dream - rejected this depiction of small town lives being violently rent asunder by a repressed subconscious cut loose.

    Bigger Than Life (1956) [The Criterion Collection #597]

    Ed Avery (Mason) is a middle class schoolteacher, who lives in a large house on a pleasant street with his wife Lou (Barbara Rush) and young son Bobby (Christopher Olsen). Plagued by mysterious recurring pain, Avery is prescribed cortisone, a then-new "miracle drug" that saves his life. The side effects, however, cause creeping madness in Avery, who begins to envision himself as a hero to society, the savior of his family, and the protector of all morality and ethics. With the help of his friend Wally (Walter Matthau), Lou struggles to escape Ed's increasingly tight clutches and seek aid from his doctors.

    Bigger Than Life (1956) [The Criterion Collection #597]

    James Mason owns Bigger Than Life. As the film's producer, he was no doubt attracted to this challenging, multi-layered character as an opportunity to showcase his range as an actor. From the paranoid Captain Nemo of Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, to the desperate Irish bank robber in Odd Man Out and the loftily delusional Humbert Humbert in Kubrick's Lolita, Mason's performances are each deft, suave studies in understated British charm and restrained emotion. Mason's presence - even in the junk he did in the late '60s and early '70s - almost always guarantees that a film is worth watching, at least once. And then there's his Brutus in Mankiewicz's Julius Caesar, to say nothing of North by Northwest or A Star is Born.

    Bigger Than Life (1956) [The Criterion Collection #597]

    In Bigger Than Life, Mason's Ed Avery is a tightly wound suburbanite, at pains to put people at ease - going so far as to secretly take a second job as a taxi cab dispatcher to bring in extra money at home. From this pressured but likeable starting point, Avery descends - or, as he might perceive it, ascends - into a fevered, messianic madness brought about by the psychotic effects of cortisone abuse.

    Bigger Than Life (1956) [The Criterion Collection #597]

    There is a lot in this film that prefigures David Lynch's Blue Velvet, primarily the conception of suburban life as harboring deep-set layers of delusion and darkness beneath the well-manicured lawns and shiny, detailed vehicles. Also of note in this sense is the production design, which utilizes dark, saturated earth tones that anticipate the palette of Lynch's film - there are huge walls of deep gray-green and slate blue, as well as dull browns and tans. These heavy colors absorb light, sapping the environment of happiness - especially in the case of the Averys' home. As Ed's madness grows, Lou and Bobby are effectively made prisoners in the house, and it's at this point (about midway through the film) that the set grows into a frightening, oppressive character all its own. Those colors make the walls look impenetrable, and the house begins to bear down upon the family like looming death.

    Bigger Than Life (1956) [The Criterion Collection #597]

    The screenplay is credited to Cyril Hume and James Bond scribe Richard Maibaum, although there were uncredited contributions from Gavin Lambert, director Ray, Clifford Odets, and Mason himself. It's an elegant script. It patiently builds Avery's madness in an incremental manner that aids a sense of realism; his transformation and the messianic overtones of his dialogue - particularly during a scene at a PTA meeting - are brilliant revelations of a tortured subconscious. The PTA scene unveils the depths of Avery's psychosis at the same time that it turns his wholesome image inside out: from a mild-mannered schoolteacher emerges a child-hating prophet extolling the virtues of rigorous moral and ethical indoctrination. Following this jarring outburst, Avery exudes a twisted commitment to his son, taking full personal responsibility for the boy's upbringing - at home. This entails the transformation of the Avery home into the aforementioned prison-like environment, with Lou and Bobby bullied into a state of paralyzing fear.

    Bigger Than Life (1956) [The Criterion Collection #597]

    It's unfortunate that the role of Lou is somewhat underwritten; she is too weak-willed. It's a conundrum, however, because a stronger wife would have meant a weaker Ed, and that could have rendered the momentum behind Ed's psychosis less compelling. Still, the conflict Ed faces may have been more realistic and more sympathetic if he had been forced to contend with a wife who showed more backbone.

    Bigger Than Life (1956) [The Criterion Collection #597]

    Bigger Than Life remains a challenging, relevant picture because the American middle class and the development of suburban sprawl has done nothing but grow over the last fifty years. The concept of suburbia as a deadening neutral zone where families go to stagnate is, accordingly, even more powerful a vision now than it was in 1956. Ray's smooth use of Cinemascope and command of his production team couple with James Mason's masterful performance, resulting a picture that is finally - and rightfully - claiming its place as an American classic.

    Bigger Than Life (1956) [The Criterion Collection #597]

    Bigger Than Life is a unique contribution to American cinema of the 1950s. A wholly original and very dark look at the rip current beneath the surface of suburban existence, its relevance and impact are, if anything, stronger today than ever before. Mason's performance alone makes this worth a look, but a solid screenplay and imaginative direction by Ray push it into "classic" territory. Highly recommended.
    Casey Burchby's Review - Bigger Than Life (Criterion Collection) - on DVDTalk
    Bigger Than Life (1956) [The Criterion Collection #597]

    Disc Features:
    * New, restored high-definition digital transfer
    * Audio commentary featuring critic Geoff Andrew (The Films of Nicholas Ray)
    * Profile of Nicholas Ray (1977), a half-hour television interview with the director
    * New video appreciation of Bigger Than Life with author Jonathan Lethem (Chronic City)
    * New video interview with Susan Ray, widow of the director and editor of I Was Interrupted: Nicholas Ray on Making Movies
    * Theatrical trailer
    Bigger Than Life (1956) [The Criterion Collection #597]

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