On May 9, local time, the famous American filmmaker Roger Corman, known as the "King of B-movies", passed away at his residence in California, USA. He was 98 years old.
Roger Corman
Roger Corman's film career spans more than 70 years, and he has participated in the production of more than 500 films. He is especially known as a producer who serves as a junior director. Many of the biggest names in the world of cinema were able to obtain filmmaking opportunities in their early years thanks to his discerning eye for people: Martin Scorsese's second feature film "Human Torch", for which he was the producer; Francis ·He is the producer of Ford Coppola's feature debut "Dementia"; he is also the producer of Jonathan Demme's feature debut "Prison".
"The Human Torch" poster
"Dementia" poster
"Prison" poster
In addition, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, Bruce Dern, Peter Fonda, James Came Well-known names such as Long, Peter Bogdanovic and Ron Howard also received guidance and assistance from Koeman when they first entered the industry. No wonder, in addition to the title of "King of B-movies", some people also regard him as the founder of the "New Hollywood" movement.
The so-called B-level movie refers to the one with a smaller production, lower cost, and fewer stars in the double-picture system that was popular in American theaters at that time. Roger Corman, who had no professional film training at all, was good at producing and shooting such works. He was born in Detroit on April 5, 1926. He studied engineering at Stanford University and served in the Navy for three years during World War II.
After entering the society, Corman started as a clerk in the mailroom of 20th Century Fox Pictures. With his keen sense of smell, he was gradually promoted to a script reviewer. However, the various shortcomings of superfluous personnel and rigid systems in major Hollywood film studios made him determined to break out of the system in the 1950s and embark on the path of independent production.
Stills from "Little Shop of Horrors" starring Jack Nicholson
In 1960, he produced "Little Shop of Horrors" starring newcomer Jack Nicholson, which was shot in just two days Famous for being shot in one night. "There are a lot of constraints when shooting a low-budget film, but there are also a lot of opportunities. You can be bolder, you can try more. The budget is limited, so you have to find a more creative way to solve the shooting Use the problems you encounter to present the concepts you want to present,” Koeman once said.
Of course, low cost and short time do not mean that Corman does not have any requirements for the film he produces. In the 1960s and 1970s, he took note of the radical changes in American social atmosphere and launched various Kuaishou works involving sex, psychedelics, and violence. They not only won the favor of young audiences, but also had a social connotation of subverting the existing system.
"The Fall of the House of Usher" poster
In addition to being a producer, Corman himself is also a director. His representative work is "The Fall of the House of Usher" adapted from the work of Edgar Allan Poe. The film was selected for inclusion in the Film Heritage Preservation Project by the Library of Congress in 2005 and received national treasure status. Of course, more often than not, his works are more commercial than artistic, and they are all about "short-term, fast," and low investment. No matter what type, as long as they can make money, it would be even more surprising if they can add some additional artistry. Very happy.
However, in the 1970s and 1980s, with the release of super blockbusters such as "Jaws" and the emergence of the concept of summer movies, the Hollywood ecosystem once again experienced major changes. Low-budget movies that had been popular for decades gradually fell out of popularity and lost young audiences. As a result, the B-level movies produced by Corman gradually lost their access to theaters and could only get a share of the video market.
Bergman's "Cries and Whispers" was introduced to the United States by Roger Corman.
In the early 1980s, in search of new opportunities, Roger Corman also changed his track and entered the field of overseas film distribution. European literary films such as Germann's "Cries and Whispers", Schlöndorff's "The Tin Drum", and Fellini's "Amacord" were brought to the United States and were screened in drive-in theaters. He once said in an interview that no matter from an artistic or commercial perspective, Hollywood should not shoot blockbusters regardless of cost: "I think that in our society, the money could have been used to do something more meaningful. .”
In 2009, Corman was awarded the Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. "In my opinion, if you want to be successful, you have to seize the opportunity. The best movies today are basically made by innovative filmmakers who dare to take the most risks and gamble the most. So I want to say to you , keep gambling, keep taking risks," he said in his acceptance speech.
After the news of Roger Corman's death broke, many Hollywood celebrities posted messages of condolences on social media. Martin Scorsese said, "It was Roger Corman who got me started in my film career. As a producer, he would set guidelines and then give me a lot of freedom within those limits. In fact, he gave me a lot of freedom. , who taught me how to really make a film. I will always be grateful for those opportunities and the teachings he gave me. I will always be proud to say: I graduated from the Roger Corman Film School."
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