It’s been a few years since the excellent Konbini Video Club became a must for talents on promotional tours, and not the least. If it does not have the scoop of novelty (the publisher Criterion was well ahead of it on the concept), its long format, and the enthusiasm of the guests are very largely communicative. Like for example the part shot with the duo Christopher Nolan -very attached to the physical support- and Cillian Murphywhen leaving Oppenheimer.
In this show, the actor takes the opportunity to deliver a cry of love to a pure masterpiece released in 1973 here: The scarecrow. “It’s one of my favorite films of all time.” Murphy blurted. “Hackman et Pacino. It seems to me that Pacino had just finished The Godfather. Hackman had just finished French Connection. They were both at the peak of their careers, and they shot everything in sequences, across America. It’s beautifully filmed. I rented this film by chance in a video store, while I was looking for a horror film!”
A film about wandering and friendship
Directed by the veteran Jerry Schatzberg (97 years old), The Scarecrow is undoubtedly one of the most unknown films in Gene Hackman‘s filmography, and to a lesser extent that of Pacino, but it is certainly one of the best.
A picaresque road movie, the film features two men becoming friends by sharing the fire of a last match on the side of a highway. One, Lion, played by Al Pacino, intends to return to his home, abandoned for several years and a child he did not see born. Max, played by Gene Hackman, has just gotten out of prison, returning home to start a gas station.
A poignant film about wandering and friendship shattered by tragedy, Gene Hackman proves brilliant in a difficult role but one in which he can broaden the spectrum of his talent. A rather unsympathetic and taciturn character at first glance, but also capable of gentleness. This film is also, in the person’s own opinion, his favorite in his entire filmography.
Which also explains his disappointment and his bitterness in the face of the rather bitter commercial failure of the work. But that didn’t stop The Scarecrow from winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973. If you’ve never seen this film, you know what you have to do…
