Classic 90s Movie: “Death Becomes Her”
May is Classic 90s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Patrick J. Fernandez.
Title: Death Becomes Her
Year: 1992
Writers: Martin Donovan and David Koepp
Lead Actors: Goldie Hawn, Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis and Isabella Rossellini.
Director: Robert Zemeckis
IMDB Plot Summary: When a woman learns of an immortality treatment, she sees it as a way to outdo her long-time rival.
Why I Think This Is A Classic 90s Movie: This is a very odd and unusual movie. With a notorious poster and an unlikely cast of award winning actresses and a box-office hard hitter, DBH was popular at the time for its pioneering use of CGI, which of course contributed greatly to its classic status; they did get Goldie Hawn all wet! However, the particularly zany effects wouldn’t have worked here without the ensemble effort that included composer Alan Silvestri, production designer Rick Carter, a consistent script by Hollywood’s golden boy David Koepp and mentor Martin Donovan, and of course Zemeckis’ knack for creating the exotic worlds where his films take place.
This could very well be an accurate depiction of Hollywood, we’ll never know. This film is about Hollywood from the perspective of an unsuspecting audience, all mysticism and mythology. The director capitalizes on this, leading us to believe that this isn’t Hollywood, this is nothing we’ve ever seen before, an altogether parallel universe (with maybe Toontown being the closest thing to it, yet not quite). To us non-Hollywood mortals this is of course a comedy world we can hardly relate to except through fantasy, a world so distant to what audiences are familiar with and can anticipate on film (flying nuns, magic potions and the living Hollywood dead) that it captures you for two hours and leaves you disconcerted and wanting more, like only great films do. The only way of ever infiltrating this world again is by playing that video tape over and over again. This has got to be a classic!
My Favorite Moment in the Movie: While Helen and Ernest are plotting to murder her, Madeleine arrives disheveled and defeated to a medieval castle in the Hollywood hills to meet Lisle Von Rhumans, a mysterious European beauty with the secret to eternal youth. During their meeting Lisle displays her true power, her mastery over the butt-clad men that protect her and her manor (including classic 90s hunks Fabio and Nitro!) Lisle is not only of unattainable beauty, she’s also of unattainable power, over men and over her own body — she commands and they respond. This scene establishes the comedy fuel this movie runs on, that the people we were rooting for are pursuing the wrong things and for all the wrong reasons and are about to be given a power and responsibility they should not be trusted with. Madeleine and Helen will struggle their entire lives (and then some) feuding over a man and miss on the real chance to preserve their beautiful bodies for all eternity, for themselves.
My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie:
Madeleine: He’s not going to go to Lisle’s. You heard him he’s made up his mind about leaving.
Helen: Hmm, that’s true. We have to respect that. Ah, I know, we’ll drug him!
Some of the best dialogue in this movie happens when either female character is trying to convince Ernest of doing something: kill Madeleine, dispose of Helen’s body or drinking the potion, three instances of dialogue that challenge Ernest to reveal his true character and ultimately push him to become the sole hero of the story through this monologue:
ERNEST: You know I was just thinking, I was questioning myself, I was wondering why I didn’t pack this thing five years ago, six years ago, ten years ago instead of sticking around here and suffering every indignity and humiliation. I’ll tell you why, because I made a promise and that meant everything to me. Yes it’s all very noble to keep your word, but do you know what they call someone who sticks by their word no matter what… at the cost of everything else? Do you know? An idiot! Well from now on I’m going to be the kind of idiot I want to be, an idiot with a modicum of pride because you know what? I finally realized something, I’ve lived up to my promise. ‘Till death do us apart! Well, you girls are dead and I’m parting. Cheers!
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: Consider how protagonist, hero and villain shift forms and places repeatedly in the movie and you root for and against different characters on each act.
The dark yet comical soundtrack: the horns, the crescendos and the erection that brings a character back to life, from wimp to assassin — with just a violin cue.
Every time I watch this movie I marvel at the extensive use of special effects that go unnoticed far beyond the obvious neck and stomach effects. There’s animatronics, body doubles, sets, costumes, acrobatics, magic shots. The entire movie is like looking at a renaissance painting, so full of detail and with such an intricate production, adding to the mystery of this exotic world the protagonists inhabit.
Thanks, Patrick! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
We already have a set of 80s Movies. This month we cover 90s movies. So thanks to all of you for your participation in this project, creating a resource for writers, movies they should watch to help learn the craft of screenwriting!
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