The cinema
Microfiction
“He’s suicidal, but not like in a bad way.”
Johnny Mnemonic in black & white
I’m not going to try and convince you that Johnny Mnemonic is a good movie. It is, however, a hoot.
The movie is based on a short story by William Gibson, the Neuromancer/cyberpunk guy. I really liked Gibson in the 1990s and still have a fondness for him. The film was directed by the artist Robert Longo. I have a soft spot for Robert Longo because Jwolz ( a member of our little bevedog community here) took me to see a show in Chicago when we were in college. Longo’s Men in the City paintings (aka the “dancing or dying” paintings) were on exhibit. I think of them frequently.
The story that Longo likes to tell about Johnny Mnemonic is that he and William Gibson thought they were making a kind of quirky little movie—not necessarily an art movie, but not a summer blockbuster. But during the shooting of Johnny, Keanu Reeves’ fame blew up as a result of the success of Speed and the studio started to expect it to be a mainstream hit.
Instead it was basically a bomb. William Gibson isn’t great on logic and continuity to begin with, and major elements of the film’s plot don’t really stand up to scrutiny. Keanu is Keanu, meaning he’s kind of wooden in a charming way.
So, twenty five years on, in an effort to claw back some respectability, for the re-release, Longo decided to release a version that was identical to the one that screened in the 1990s, except this time it’s in black and white.
This to me is so funny and kind of ridiculous and kind of genius. In the interview with Screen Slate they talk about how once it’s black and white you stop comparing it to Star Wars and Speed and other big action movies, and instead think about Alphaville, and The Elephant Man, and Tetsuo.
Which, you know, maybe. But the best thing about this movie is that it features Ice-T with an anarchy symbol scrawled on his face introducing Keanu Reeves to a plastic dolphin special effect.
Overheard in the library
“Yes I’m at the library! What did you think, that I was at home sitting on my ass? Well right now I’m in the stairwell.”