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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Milos Forman's screen
version of Doctorow's novel manages to capture the
epic, sprawling quality of the film with a tighter
narrative focus that brings the central stories to
the forefront.
The murder of architect Stanford White (Norman
Mailer) provides the backdrop for Forman's version
of Doctorow's tale. The story of Coalhouse Walker
(Howard Rollins) a piano player, the destruction
of his car by a racist and the resulting revenge
that Walker exacts (along with others) provides
the central focus of the film. All of these
stories are drawn together by the a generic family
consisting of Mother (Mary Steenburgen), Younger
Brother (Brad Dourif) and Father (James Olson).
James Cagney's role as the police commissioner
that must bring Walker under control was written
just for the film. While Forman pares away much of
the sprawling narrative of Doctorow's novel, he
keeps the essential stories of the novel intact.
The image and sound quality are outstanding.
Paramount has transferred "Ragtime" in high
definition and the sparkling cinematography of
Miroslav Ondricek shines. There's little to few of
the analog or digital blemishes that you tend to
see in these older films (the lone exception is
the deleted scene which is clearly from an editing
workprint for the film).
This marvelous deluxe DVD reissue features a
fascinating featurette with Milos Forman,
co-producer Michael Hausman, actor Brad Dourif and
others discussing how Forman brought this massive
glimpse into the heart of America to life. The
featurette discusses everything from Doctorow's
ideas to adapting the film (he wanted to do them
as ten separate stories almost as a mini-series),
the casting of the brilliant Howard Rollins and
how Forman convinced James Cagney to come out of
retirement for his last screen role. Forman tells
one particularly engaging story about how Cagney
agreed to take the role, if he could change his
mind the day before shooting his first scene.
The commentary by Forman and Executive Producer
Michael Hausman touches on everything from the
subtle touches the actors brought to their roles
to the difficulties in putting together the
locations for the film. While some of the
commentary is duplicated in the commentary track,
the bulk of the two filmmakers' observations are
quite different and more involved. The single
deleted scene from the film features Fran Drescher
as an abused Jewish woman, and a potential riot in
the Jewish slums of New York. The ten-minute
sequence shifts from color to black and white (the
cut sequence) since the original deleted scene
doesn't exist in color any longer.
Featuring a terrific cast of future stars (Samuel
L. Jackson plays "Gang Member No.2," Michael Jeter
is "Special Reporter") and up-and-comers (Jeff
Daniels, Harold Rollins, Mandy Patinkin) and
Hollywood royalty (Donald O'Connor, Pat O'Brien
and, of course, James Cagney), "Ragtime" captures
the feel, texture and scent of America at a major
turning point in her history. A marvelous film
full of strong performances, Forman's ambitious
production was nominated (but failed to win) for 8
Academy Awards including a nomination for Randy
Newman's terrific score. Step into the turbulent
world of "Ragtime" and get lost in America. |
