A Neglected Gem of a Significant Major Motion Picture
Added 1/9/2010
Based on a true story, "Joe Gould's Secret" could well remain a secret, despite its stellar cast and story. Ian Holm plays Joe Gould, a Harvard graduate turned street-person eccentric whom the film portrays living in 1940s New York. Stanley Tucci delivers a brilliant perforance as the real-life Joe Mitchell, a writer for The New Yorker magazine, who stumbles into Gould and his vision of the magnum opus "oral history" he has been writing through his life. Susan Sarandon plays a magnificent role as one of Gould's contemporaries, an avant-garde painter in that fabulous nascent period between The Bohemians and The Beatniks. And Patricia Clarkson, in a role consisting of a little more than a couple of cameos, acts the role of one of Gould's most generous patrons.
It starts out easy enough -- with Mitchell, the New Yorker writer, finding Gould at a lunch counter. Gradually a friendship is started between the two men. Mitchell eventually writes an article called "Professor Sea Gull" and fan letters containing a few dollars for the "Joe Gould Fund" start to arrive at Mitchell's office. Meanwhile, Mitchell is trying to get his hands on what he thinks might be a Holy Grail of sorts -- Gould's opus "Oral History" in notebooks stashed a half-dozen at a time at various patrons' and friends' houses through New York. The actual treasure trove of the 9-million word History, consisting of 20,000 interviews, remains elusive and out of Mitchell's reach. Even after Gould's death, Mitchell keeps trying to find the farmhouse, where, wrapped in oilcloth, lie the rest of Gould's notebooks and the Great Oral History. Many years later, Mitchell writes his last New Yorker piece on what he has learned about the story.
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A Marvelous little film
Added 8/17/2007
Joseph Mitchell wrote"Human interest"pieces for the New Yorker magazine back in the 1930s...It was his interest in"Professor Seagull"aka Joe Gould,that led,long years later,to this film..Gould,either a con-man or a madman(and possibly both)claimed to be writing"an oral history of the world",a mammoth work alledgedly based upon conversations and observations of those Gould encountered on his travels around New York City..That ,perhaps,his manuscript might not be anything at all like Gould claimed,apparently did not dawn on Mitchell when he was writing his two New Yorker articles about him,and Gould,for his part,liked the attention the articles gave him which,in the end,contributed to Mitchell's estrangement from him..
This film,directed by and starring Stanley Tucci is a true gem.
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A story does not end when the writer finishes writing...
Added 5/15/2006
I watched "Joe Gould's Secret" without knowing that it was based on a true story, but was not surprised when that turned out to be the case because this 2000 film from actor/director Stanley Tucci rings true. Tucci plays Joe Mitchell, a columnist for "The New Yorker" magazine in the early 1940s who had a chance encounter with a Greenwich Village bohemian eccentric named Joe Gould (Ian Holm). His reporter's curiosity piqued, Mitchell asks around a bit and finds that Gould claims to be writing an epic Oral History of New York, an almost daily record of the conversations he has each day with the forgotten ordinary folks of the great metropolis (the Oral History has to be capitalized; that is clear from the way Gould and his friends talk about it).
The notebooks containing this million-word history are secreted around the city with the various artist friends who provide Gould patronage by listening to him and making monetary contributions to the Joe Gould Fund. The rationale for their indulgence is articulated by the painter Alice Neel (Susan Sarandon) who tells Mitchell, "I have always felt that the city's s unconscious is trying to speak to you through Joe Gould."
Mitchell discovers that Gould is a walking contradiction, capable of both quick bursts of anger and madness as well as perceptive insights into the human condition. He proves his credentials at being a superb listener by doing a Henry Higgins and telling Mitchell he was born in North Carolina based on a single sentence. Mitchell writes two articles about Gould for "The New Yorker." The first, "Professor Sea Gull," makes Gould even more of a cult figure about the New York intelligentsia, and a publisher (Steve Martin) is interested in at least reading the Oral History. But Gould refuses to let excerpts be published, saying it is all or nothing, and declaring it will only be produced posthumously. Years later, after Gould died, Mitchell would write a second essay, from which this film gets its title. However the delicious irony of this film is that the secret that lies at its heart belongs as much to Mitchell as it does to Gould.
Holm has the flashy part as the brilliant madman, but it is Tucci's Mitchell that is the pivotal performance. "Joe Gould's Secret" is more about how Mitchell sees Gould than we do in watching the film. There is a scene early on when Mitchell tries to explain to his editor why he might want to rewrite an article that has already been accepted for publication. Mitchell gropes without success for the words to speak out loud and his editor can only laugh and point out that it is a good thing this Joe writes better than he talks. But the exchange is significant because it speaks to the depths of Joe's emotions and intellect. We see or hear little of what Mitchell writes; most of the voice over narration has him quoting the words of Joe Gould. So it is the looks on Tucci's face, the way he sets his body, the pace of his walk, that give us our only clues to the deep rivers of his heart, mind, and soul. "Joe Gould's Secret" is a film in a minor key, but it is a nice little gem all the same.
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Brilliant evocation of an era
Added 5/6/2006
Tucci is an inspired director and actor. This film depicts with sensitivity and brilliance the relationship between a writer and his subject. The "grammar" of the film, camera angles, editing, symbolism, etc., is the best I've seen in years.However, it is much too artistic and subtle to appeal to a general audience. Tant pis! Congratulations Tucci! Please keep at it.
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A psychological slant
Added 2/25/2006
I'm surprised no one mentions Joe Gould's obvious psychological problems. His own mother recognizes his difficulties when he is a very young boy. Gould's brilliance was as profound as his lack of boundaries and thought disorders. The dreadful trouble 'other' people eventually have when a person is not able to recognize normal adult 'self' boundaries is slowly and agonizingly developed in the film by all who care for him, especially in Joe Mitchell and the amazing Patricia Clarkson. Joe M's sense of guilt about his own desire to withdraw to more normal distances and responsibilities grows with each encounter following the publishing of the article. He slowly realizes Joe G's affections and dependencies on him and Gould's inabilities to follow up on his success to make a better life for himself. Ian Holmes is absolutely magnificent in his portrayal of madness!!!!! Stanley Tucci's emotionally profound moments build to the incredible conversation scene in the psychiatric hospital with the now medicated and more personally aware Joe G. who speaks of himself 'as a mad person'. Joe M. realizes how much he missed/did not see of Joe G's 'total self' experience when he wrote. He used Joe G's madness for his own clever aggrandizment and had no full awareness of the man or of the impact his relationship and his writing would have on this man's delicately built 'positive' life style. The most 'whole' description of Joe Gould's value was spoken by Susan Serandon: "Joe G's gregarious, exhibitionistic, grandiose, scattered but profound communications of his experience with his 'friends' (as in the party scene) she recognized as speaking for the universal 'unconscious' of the unseen people of New York City AND its artists. She valued the awareness he brought to those who were capable of allowing themselves to listen with their hearts and connect to him."
Another parallel Tucci brought out in the film was the deadening of the brilliance of Joe G. by the 'cure' of the Hospital meds, comparing it to the deadening of Joe G.s fragile lifestyle as his connections to Joe M./others disintegrated.
I wonder if Ian Holmes and/or Stanley Tucci have had personal experience with madness in their lives, as their ability to see into all of these people is so deep? If not, their artistic ability to see into souls, others and their own, is to be applauded, as is this incredible film, which ever way it was made.
Given the gradual and painful awareness of his role in Joe G.'s disintegration. it was not probably, in real life, a necessary outcome for Joe M. that he could not write again, but Stanley Tucci makes it crystal clear why it WAS EMOTIONALLY SO for the real Joe M.
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A Neglected Gem of a Significant Major Motion Picture
Added 1/9/2010
Based on a true story, "Joe Gould's Secret" could well remain a secret, despite its stellar cast and story. Ian Holm plays Joe Gould, a Harvard graduate turned street-person eccentric whom the film portrays living in 1940s New York. Stanley Tucci delivers a brilliant perforance as the real-life Joe Mitchell, a writer for The New Yorker magazine, who stumbles into Gould and his vision of the magnum opus "oral history" he has been writing through his life. Susan Sarandon plays a magnificent role as one of Gould's contemporaries, an avant-garde painter in that fabulous nascent period between The Bohemians and The Beatniks. And Patricia Clarkson, in a role consisting of a little more than a couple of cameos, acts the role of one of Gould's most generous patrons.
It starts out easy enough -- with Mitchell, the New Yorker writer, finding Gould at a lunch counter. Gradually a friendship is started between the two men. Mitchell eventually writes an article called "Professor Sea Gull" and fan letters containing a few dollars for the "Joe Gould Fund" start to arrive at Mitchell's office. Meanwhile, Mitchell is trying to get his hands on what he thinks might be a Holy Grail of sorts -- Gould's opus "Oral History" in notebooks stashed a half-dozen at a time at various patrons' and friends' houses through New York. The actual treasure trove of the 9-million word History, consisting of 20,000 interviews, remains elusive and out of Mitchell's reach. Even after Gould's death, Mitchell keeps trying to find the farmhouse, where, wrapped in oilcloth, lie the rest of Gould's notebooks and the Great Oral History. Many years later, Mitchell writes his last New Yorker piece on what he has learned about the story.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
A Marvelous little film
Added 8/17/2007
Joseph Mitchell wrote"Human interest"pieces for the New Yorker magazine back in the 1930s...It was his interest in"Professor Seagull"aka Joe Gould,that led,long years later,to this film..Gould,either a con-man or a madman(and possibly both)claimed to be writing"an oral history of the world",a mammoth work alledgedly based upon conversations and observations of those Gould encountered on his travels around New York City..That ,perhaps,his manuscript might not be anything at all like Gould claimed,apparently did not dawn on Mitchell when he was writing his two New Yorker articles about him,and Gould,for his part,liked the attention the articles gave him which,in the end,contributed to Mitchell's estrangement from him..
This film,directed by and starring Stanley Tucci is a true gem.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
A story does not end when the writer finishes writing...
Added 5/15/2006
I watched "Joe Gould's Secret" without knowing that it was based on a true story, but was not surprised when that turned out to be the case because this 2000 film from actor/director Stanley Tucci rings true. Tucci plays Joe Mitchell, a columnist for "The New Yorker" magazine in the early 1940s who had a chance encounter with a Greenwich Village bohemian eccentric named Joe Gould (Ian Holm). His reporter's curiosity piqued, Mitchell asks around a bit and finds that Gould claims to be writing an epic Oral History of New York, an almost daily record of the conversations he has each day with the forgotten ordinary folks of the great metropolis (the Oral History has to be capitalized; that is clear from the way Gould and his friends talk about it).
The notebooks containing this million-word history are secreted around the city with the various artist friends who provide Gould patronage by listening to him and making monetary contributions to the Joe Gould Fund. The rationale for their indulgence is articulated by the painter Alice Neel (Susan Sarandon) who tells Mitchell, "I have always felt that the city's s unconscious is trying to speak to you through Joe Gould."
Mitchell discovers that Gould is a walking contradiction, capable of both quick bursts of anger and madness as well as perceptive insights into the human condition. He proves his credentials at being a superb listener by doing a Henry Higgins and telling Mitchell he was born in North Carolina based on a single sentence. Mitchell writes two articles about Gould for "The New Yorker." The first, "Professor Sea Gull," makes Gould even more of a cult figure about the New York intelligentsia, and a publisher (Steve Martin) is interested in at least reading the Oral History. But Gould refuses to let excerpts be published, saying it is all or nothing, and declaring it will only be produced posthumously. Years later, after Gould died, Mitchell would write a second essay, from which this film gets its title. However the delicious irony of this film is that the secret that lies at its heart belongs as much to Mitchell as it does to Gould.
Holm has the flashy part as the brilliant madman, but it is Tucci's Mitchell that is the pivotal performance. "Joe Gould's Secret" is more about how Mitchell sees Gould than we do in watching the film. There is a scene early on when Mitchell tries to explain to his editor why he might want to rewrite an article that has already been accepted for publication. Mitchell gropes without success for the words to speak out loud and his editor can only laugh and point out that it is a good thing this Joe writes better than he talks. But the exchange is significant because it speaks to the depths of Joe's emotions and intellect. We see or hear little of what Mitchell writes; most of the voice over narration has him quoting the words of Joe Gould. So it is the looks on Tucci's face, the way he sets his body, the pace of his walk, that give us our only clues to the deep rivers of his heart, mind, and soul. "Joe Gould's Secret" is a film in a minor key, but it is a nice little gem all the same.
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