The Escape Artist (1982)
Universal / Studio Canal DVD (region 4)
d. Caleb Deschanel; pr. Doug Claybourne, Buck Houghton; scr. Melissa Mathison, Stephen Zito; novel. David Wagoner; ph. Stephen H. Burum; m. Georges Delerue; ed. Arthur Schmidt; cast. Raul Julia, Griffin O'Neal, Teri Garr, Desi Arnaz, Joan Hackett, M. Emmett Walsh, Harry Anderson, Jackie Coogan (96 mins)
The Escape Artist had an unusual genesis although the film’s release itself failed to create the desired impact of its overseer. It was initially intended as part of producer Francis Ford Coppola’s attempt to establish his own studio, Zoetrope, as a commercial force in American film to rival the Hollywood majors. He sought to launch Zoetrope in 1982 with several high profile movies (including his own The Outsiders) and several lesser known films for which he gave a directorial chance to his creative collaborators and to European directors considered uncommercial by Hollywood standards (as was the case with German Wim Wenders making Hammett). Thus, although there were some doubts as to noted cinematographer Caleb Deschanel’s desire and ability to make an apparent oddity like The Escape Artist Coppola stuck by his friend, giving the first-time director relative creative freedom and support. Hence, the film emerged presumably as Deschanel intended and despite never winning over either critics or audiences it remains a thoroughly intriguing and unusual entertainment. Deschanel continued to work as a cinematographer and would also direct sporadically, surviving the fall of Zoetrope following the ruinous failure of Coppola’s own One from the Heart, but sadly his directorial debut passed into relative obscurity, subsequently dismissed alongside the entire body of work from the Zoetrope launch.
The Escape Artist concerns an adolescent boy (Griffin O’Neal) haunted by the death of his father, an escape artist and apparent petty criminal. The smart, savvy but possibly conflicted boy seeks to emulate his idealized father and become a renowned escape artist himself. To do so, he determinedly runs away from his home to join a dubious travelling act run by his relatives. There he realizes that he may have to return home but in the process soon comes across an imbalanced man, the mayor’s son (Raul Julia), and steals his wallet in revenge for the arrogant Julia’s slight against him. The wallet contains incriminating monies, implicating the mayor (Desi Arnaz) in corruption, and Julia thus seeks to get it back. Arnaz is furious as his son is obviously something of a problem and even embarrassment for him. When Julia discovers the boy’s abilities, however, he wants to use him for his own nefarious scheme: to break into his father’s safe and retrieve some incriminating documents. When problems and pressures arise, the boy soon hatches a clever plan to break out of a prison cell as a publicity gimmick and sets also about the process of safe-cracking. All the while, the boy has repeated memories of his father and once attempts to recreate the magic act that may have led to the man’s death. He must battle to control the adult situation around him as it gets ever more threatening and dangerous. read more