Pun Salad

After more than 50 years, it's probably time to watch this again. Written, directed, and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, sandwiched in between The Godfather and The Godfather Part II. It's a little movie, non-epic, but nevertheless very watchable.

It's also Gene Hackman's movie. He disappears into the character of Harry Caul, a wizard with a singular talent for surveillance, recording conversations the participants would prefer kept secret. He is guilt-ridden over the horrifying results of a previous gig, but that has not dimmed his craving for snoopery. He's also somewhat paranoid, compulsive about his own privacy. But still very Catholic-religious. Which only makes the developments here more poignant.

The supporting cast is pretty good too: the "Director", an uncredited Robert Duvall, hires Harry to spy on his wife (Cindy Williams) to see if she's cheating on him. (Spoiler: she is, with Frederic Forrest.) The director is assisted, creepily, by Harrison Ford! While Harry's assisted by a gabby John Cazale! His obsessions wreck his romantic relationship with Teri Garr! He is betrayed by competitor Allen Garfield!

It ain't a feelgood movie, but I liked it anyway.

Another concoction from Christopher Moore, mashing up real people with fictional characters (and not-really people), magic, sex, violence, and deadpan humor. And there may have been a kitchen sink in there somewhere. It centers around early 20th century Vienna, about which Moore rhapsodizes:

Vienna, a shining jewel on the Danube; birthplace of the waltz, X-rays, psychoanalysis, mathematical genetics, tiny spiced sausages in a can, and before long, Surrealism, just as soon as the trout hit the cream cake.

It begins when artist Gustav Klimt discovers an apparently drowned girl washed up on the banks of a Viennese canal. He is fascinated by her coloring, and he's a painter first. Also second, third, and … well, "normal human being" is pretty far down the list. So he trundles her off to his studio, where it develops that she's not dead! At least not any more. He names her "Judith", after the deadly Jewish widow whose story doesn't make it into standard Bibles.

That's only the beginning. We eventually learn Judith's nature and colorful history, including her troubled relationship with Adam, Frankenstein's monster. She befriends Klimt's numerous models/bedmates. She goes to therapy sessions with Freud and Jung. She thwarts people who are trying to kidnap her. She acquires a loyal croissant-loving dog, Geoff, … who is also more than he seems at first.

I don't think you'll have to worry about seeing a movie based on this book. A faithful adaptation would probably put the filmmakers into jail before the movie was finished. (A lot of those models were pretty young.)

Moore did a lot of impressive research on Klimt, his retinue, Freud, Jung, and history. There is a long Afterword with details on the actual people, and where and why he took out artistic licenses. All in all, it's a little long, because Moore is very much a "I can't leave this out" kind of writer.