The Warren Beatty movie Edward Norton called a “masterpiece”
Over the years, Edward Norton has epitomised the brilliance of the acting profession with countless transformative performances. His ability to embody his characters, regardless of their background or psychological makeup, has enabled him to feature in a wide variety of different roles and productions.
Whether he’s portraying a remorseful neo-Nazi in American History X or an existentially insane office worker in Fight Club, or even a cocky actor at the top of his game in Birdman, Norton has consistently delivered acting efforts of true nuance, moral ambiguity and awe-inspiring intensity.
While Norton is indeed one of his generation’s most acclaimed and respected actors, he also possesses a deep love for the cinematic medium. When visiting the JM Video store in Paris to talk about some of his favourite movies of all time, he spoke of his passion for the work of Warren Beatty and particularly his 1981 historical epic drama film Reds.
“This was one that inspired me a lot,” Norton said. “After Citizen Kane and Orson Welles, I would say that the next most significant actor who’s turned into an auteur filmmaker was Warren Beatty. Everybody told him that nobody in the world wants to see a three-hour movie about American socialists and ‘your career’s going to end with this movie’.”
Norton continued, “He said, ‘Screw it, you know, I want to make it anyway.’ I think it’s one of the masterpieces of films about American history. It’s just one of the greatest films ever made by an actor-director. It’s just a good reminder that sometimes you just have to kind of give people the middle finger and do what you want to do.”
Reds focuses on the life and career of John Reed, the writer and journalist who documented the October Revolution in Russia in the book Ten Days That Shocked the World. Beatty played the lead role of Reed, while Diane Keaton played his wife, Louise Bryant, with Jack Nicholson also appearing as the playwright Eugene O’Neill.
The film serves as a far-reaching and sprawling vision of the political upheaval of the beginning of the 20th century whilst also beautifully detailing the inner emotional lives of its real-life characters. The traditional cinematic narrative is interwoven with interviews of those who knew Reed personally, and Beatty received widespread critical acclaim, winning the Academy Award for ‘Best Director’.
Check out the trailer for Warren Beatty’s Reds below.
