Suture (film)
Encyclopedia
Suture is a 1993 neo-noir
film directed by Scott McGehee
and David Siegel
and stars Dennis Haysbert
and Mel Harris
. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard
section at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival
.
Arlington survives, but requires facial reconstruction and also has lost most of his memory. Dr. Renee Descartes is there during his recovery. Towers resurfaces and tries once more to eliminate him, but is killed himself. Arlington makes a decision to make his new identity a permanent one.
. Specifically, they were inspired by Hiroshi Teshigahara's The Face of Another and Yoshitaro Nomura
's Tokyo Bay, which utilized widescreen black and white cinematography. They also wanted to give the film an early '60s sensibility and loved the widescreen black and white films from that period: The Manchurian Candidate
and Seconds
. Siegel said, "It's an absolutely gripping look that's used so rarely today, and it's a look from a time period that we wanted to evoke".
McGehee and Siegel set up a limited partnership and borrowed money for the $1 million budget from family and friends. They decided to shoot Suture in Phoenix, Arizona
because McGehee felt that it was "almost like an abandoned city, it's so large and overbuilt and the streets are so dead it feels empty". They liked the city's "high modernist, very spare aesthetic". After seeing an early rough cut of the film, Steven Soderbergh
became fascinated with it and helped McGehee and Siegel find completion finances during post-production.
with screenings at the Sundance Film Festival
and Toronto Film Festival.
Neo-noir
Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...
film directed by Scott McGehee
Scott McGehee
Scott McGehee is an American film director and screenwriter. He is a Columbia University graduate, born in California, but currently residing in New York City.He is half of a long-standing writing-directing partnership with filmmaker David Siegel....
and David Siegel
David Siegel
David Siegel is an American motion picture screenwriter and director, and part of a long-standing writing-directing team with filmmaker Scott McGehee.-Filmography:*Suture *The Deep End *Bee Season *Uncertainty...
and stars Dennis Haysbert
Dennis Haysbert
Dennis Dexter Haysbert is an American film and television actor. He is known for portraying baseball player Pedro Cerrano in the Major League film trilogy, President David Palmer on the American television series 24, and Sergeant Major Jonas Blane on the drama series The Unit, as well as his work...
and Mel Harris
Mel Harris
Mel Harris is an American actress.-Personal life:Harris was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the daughter to Mary Michael "Mike", a high school science teacher, and Warren Harris, a university football coach...
. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
section at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival
1994 Cannes Film Festival
The 1994 Cannes Film Festival started on 12 May and ran until 23 May. The Palme d'Or went to the American film Pulp Fiction directed by Quentin Tarantino.-Official Selection:*Clint Eastwood *Catherine Deneuve...
.
Plot
After murdering his father, wealthy Vincent Towers decides to fake his own death. He plants a car bomb in an attempt to kill a nearly identical half-brother, Clay Arlington, after persuading Arlington to switch identities with him.Arlington survives, but requires facial reconstruction and also has lost most of his memory. Dr. Renee Descartes is there during his recovery. Towers resurfaces and tries once more to eliminate him, but is killed himself. Arlington makes a decision to make his new identity a permanent one.
Cast
- Dennis HaysbertDennis HaysbertDennis Dexter Haysbert is an American film and television actor. He is known for portraying baseball player Pedro Cerrano in the Major League film trilogy, President David Palmer on the American television series 24, and Sergeant Major Jonas Blane on the drama series The Unit, as well as his work...
- Clay Arlington - Mel HarrisMel HarrisMel Harris is an American actress.-Personal life:Harris was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the daughter to Mary Michael "Mike", a high school science teacher, and Warren Harris, a university football coach...
- Dr. Renee Descartes - Sab ShimonoSab ShimonoSab Shimono is an American actor who has appeared in dozens of movies and television shows in character roles.-Career:An accomplished stage actor, he has appeared on Broadway and in regional theaters including San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre and Berkeley Repertory Theatre...
- Dr. Max Shinoda - Dina MerrillDina Merrill-Early life:Merrill was born Nedenia Marjorie Hutton in New York City, New York, the only child of Post Cereals heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her second husband, Wall Street stockbroker Edward Francis Hutton...
- Alice Jameson - Michael Harris - Vincent Towers
- David GrafDavid GrafPaul David Graf was an American actor, best known for his role as Sgt. Eugene Tackleberry in the Police Academy series of films...
- Lt. Weismann - Fran RyanFran RyanFran Ryan was an American character actress featured in television and films. She was born in Los Angeles, California....
- Mrs. Lucerne - John IngleJohn IngleJohn Ingle is an American actor known for his role as scheming patriarch Edward Quartermaine on the ABC daytime drama, General Hospital.-Career:...
- Sidney Callahan - Sanford Gibbons - Dr. Fuller (as Sandy Gibbons)
- Mark DeMichele - Detective Joe
- Sandra Ellis Lafferty - Nurse Stevens (as Sandra Lafferty)
- Capri Darling - Soprano
- Carol Kiernan - Ticket Agent
- Laura Groppe - Sportswoman
- Mel Coleman - Sportsman
Production
Scott McGehee and David Siegel had been working together since 1989. They had made two short films: "Birds Past" and "Speak Then Persephone" in 1989 and 1990, respectively. Afterwards, they decided to make a feature-length film and "attempted to construct a story that was generally about identity". McGehee has said that Suture was influenced by mid-1960's Japanese films and Hollywood films like North by NorthwestNorth by Northwest
North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...
. Specifically, they were inspired by Hiroshi Teshigahara's The Face of Another and Yoshitaro Nomura
Yoshitaro Nomura
Yoshitarō Nomura was a prolific Japanese film director, film producer, and screenwriter. His first accredited film was released in 1953; his last in 1985...
's Tokyo Bay, which utilized widescreen black and white cinematography. They also wanted to give the film an early '60s sensibility and loved the widescreen black and white films from that period: The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)
The Manchurian Candidate is a 1962 American Cold War political thriller film starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury, and featuring Henry Silva, James Gregory, Leslie Parrish and John McGiver...
and Seconds
Seconds (film)
Seconds is a 1966 American film starring Rock Hudson. Characterized sometimes as a science fiction thriller, but with elements of horror, neo-noir, psychedelia, and drama, it was directed by John Frankenheimer with a screenplay by Lewis John Carlino. The script was based on a novel by David Ely...
. Siegel said, "It's an absolutely gripping look that's used so rarely today, and it's a look from a time period that we wanted to evoke".
McGehee and Siegel set up a limited partnership and borrowed money for the $1 million budget from family and friends. They decided to shoot Suture in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
because McGehee felt that it was "almost like an abandoned city, it's so large and overbuilt and the streets are so dead it feels empty". They liked the city's "high modernist, very spare aesthetic". After seeing an early rough cut of the film, Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. He is best known for directing commercial Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the remake of Ocean's Eleven, but he has also directed smaller less...
became fascinated with it and helped McGehee and Siegel find completion finances during post-production.
Release
Suture had its premiere at the 1993 Telluride Film FestivalTelluride Film Festival
The Telluride Film Festival was started in 1974 by Bill and Stella Pence, Tom Luddy and Jim Card in the town of Telluride, Colorado, United States. It is operated by the National Film Preserve....
with screenings at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and Toronto Film Festival.
Awards
- In 1994 Scott McGehee & David Siegel won Best Director at the Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival
- In 1994 Greg Gardiner won Cinematography Award at the Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
External links
- "Filmmaker Flashback: Winter 1994" by Scott Macaulay