Things Learned from the “Point Blank” Commentary!
Rob Hunter at Film School Rejects is back with 32 Things We Learned from the Point Blank Commentary. Here are three of my favorites before you click over…
3. Boorman acknowledges that there are theories that Walker (Marvin) is dying from the opening gun shots and simply dreams the rest of the movie. Soderbergh asks his opinion on that argument but also wonders if it even matters. “I don’t think it does, but… what it is is what you see.” [I think this is a cool theory, but no more than that. – Craig]
11. The scene where Walker surprises Lynne, shoots the bed, and then gets information from her was written to have him interrogating her, but when they shot it Marvin chose to stay silent. Acker continued with her side, and Boorman realized the brilliance of Marvin’s choice. “Lee never made suggestions, he would just show you.” They made the alterations and shot it with Lynne providing all of the info responding to his presence rather than his questions. [What a really cool choice on Marvin’s part. He’s supposed to be like this force of nature and his presence alone is able to get Lynne to give up all the details of the double-cross. Well played, Lee Marvin! – Craig]
4. The fractured structure was intended from the start despite it being highly atypical for a studio picture at the time. Marvin actually called a meeting at the studio with the big wigs to confirm that he had final approval over the script, casting, and more. They said yes, and he replied “I defer those approvals to John” and then walked out of the meeting. Boorman adds that once the film was completed the suits watched his cut and immediately began mumbling about re-shoots. It was released as he intended. [Lee Marvin comes across as one of those folks who if they like you, they’ll do anything for ya. If they don’t like you, you’ll know it. A couple other comments support this. – Craig]
