The Fever (2004 film): Difference between revisions

The Fever
The Fever
	DVD cover for The Fever
Directed by	Carlo Gabriel Nero
Written by	Wallace Shawn; Carlo Gabriel Nero
Produced by	Jason Blum
Starring	Vanessa Redgrave; Michael Moore
Cinematography	Mark Moriarty
Edited by	Mel Quigley
Music by	Claudio Capponi
Production; company	Blumhouse Productions
Distributed by	HBO Films
Release dates	September 24, 2004 (San Sebastián International Film Festival); June 13, 2007 (United States);
Running time	83 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom; United States
Language	English

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The Fever is a 2004 psychological drama film produced by HBO Films, directed by Carlo Gabriel Nero and based on the 1990 play of the same name by Nero and actor Wallace Shawn.^[1]

The film stars the director's mother, Vanessa Redgrave, and includes cameos by Angelina Jolie, the director's half-sister Joely Richardson and Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore.

Background

The original play was a piece of experimental theater performed as a monologue by the play's author, Wallace Shawn. Unlike conventional plays, Shawn initially performed The Fever not in a theater, but in private homes by appointment. Later, he performed the piece in a theater, but in keeping with the desire to be unconventional in presentation, Shawn eschewed theatrical lighting, sets, and theater programs, and mingled with the audience immediately before the play began. In an interview with The Paris Review, Shawn explained that he used these novel approaches to avoid people dismissing the play's message as merely "great theater."^[2]

Plot

The film follows the existential crisis of an unnamed urban sophisticate (Vanessa Redgrave) who becomes aware of the nature of world politics, economic exploitation and the vapid consumerism around her. A series of events lead her to visit an unnamed third world country, representing an exotic location somewhere in Eastern Europe, where the entire economy and populace are geared towards the tourist industry. Even as she enjoys the rare taste of its products she is made starkly aware of the reality behind the façade by a journalist (Michael Moore) who, subsequently, suggests a visit to the country's war-torn neighbour in order to experience a true picture of life in the region. She does so and her life is changed forever.

Once back, and now acutely attuned to the world about her, she can no longer fit back into her old elitist and consumer-driven lifestyle; watching operas, discussing art and theatre with friends, shopping for "beautiful things" and aggrandizing her trifling everyday struggles, all seem meaningless to her compared with her recent macro epiphany. Compared with the global struggle for existence, her life begins to feel insignificant. Having lived in the bubble her guilt-free, pleasure-filled life, she is now challenged to look beyond comfort and soon finds herself in the throes of a moral dilemma, questioning the moral consistency of her own life and the choices that have affected the lives of the poor in far corners of the globe. She feels that she cannot be truly free having apprehended this new reality, which confronts her blindness to the harsh truths of the class struggle and her sense of entitlement, which had, in the past, been broken, only occasionally, by displays of sympathy.

She returns to the war-torn nation to explore her feelings further, this new reality now drawing her ever-deeper. This leads to a delirious bout of fever in a run-down hotel where her inner-self challenges her need for comfort and entitlement, culminating in a moment of spiritual awakening and a perceived 'oneness' with all reality. Finally she sees the truth about her own life and her innate connection with every human being, apprehending the transient nature of her material life. She can no longer sit, immersed in her personal comforts and vanity, or "clean sheets" as she terms it, and pretend it’s all right when the world around her is filled with strife and exploitation for millions of people. She is lustrated of her previous immunity towards their predicament and is, by extension, finally able to see the truth of own life, as summarised by film's tag-line: Enlightenment Can Be Brutal.^[3]^[4]

Cast

Vanessa Redgrave as Woman
Angelina Jolie as Revolutionary
Michael Moore as Reporter
Joely Richardson as Woman At 30

Production

Parts of the film was shot in Snowdonia and Penmon, Anglesey in North Wales to represent locations in Eastern Europe^[5]

Awards

2005: Bratislava International Film Festival:Grand Prix: Carlo Gabriel Nero: Nominated^[6]
2008: Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries: Vanessa Redgrave: Nominated

Reception

A review in The New York Times describes Shawn's play as a "controversial study of the growing chasm between the first and third world."
The same newspaper describes the film adaptation as "a drama that employs animation and thought-provoking first-person monologues to explore the concept of bourgeois privilege."^[3]

References

^ The Fever (1990) Wallace Shawn references.
^ Interviewed by Hilton Als (Apr 22, 2012). "Wallace Shawn, The Art of Theater No. 17". Retrieved Apr 22, 2020 – via www.theparisreview.org.
^ ^a ^b The Fever - Review Summary The New York Times.
^ The Fever Archived 2009-03-26 at the Wayback Machine Turner classic.
^ "North Wales". Archived from the original on March 26, 2009. Retrieved Apr 22, 2020.
^ Awards Internet Movie Database.

External links

The Fever at IMDb
Redgrave laid low by HBO's heavy "Fever" Review by Reuters
Vanessa Redgrave will visit Cuba (for premiere of The Fever) Cuba News Headlines

[1] The Fever (1990) Wallace Shawn references.

[2] Interviewed by Hilton Als (Apr 22, 2012). "Wallace Shawn, The Art of Theater No. 17". Retrieved Apr 22, 2020 – via www.theparisreview.org.

[new-3] The Fever - Review Summary The New York Times.

[4] The Fever Archived 2009-03-26 at the Wayback Machine Turner classic.

[5] "North Wales". Archived from the original on March 26, 2009. Retrieved Apr 22, 2020.

[6] Awards Internet Movie Database.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{for|the 2005 Italian comedy-drama film|The Fever (2005 film)}}
+{{more citations needed|date=February 2020}}
 {{Infobox film
 | name           = The Fever
@@ Line 5: / Line 7: @@
 | director       = [[Carlo Gabriel Nero]]
 | producer       = [[Jason Blum]]
-| writer         = [[Wallace Shawn]]<br />[[Carlo Gabriel Nero]]
+| writer         = [[Wallace Shawn]]<br />Carlo Gabriel Nero
 | starring       = [[Vanessa Redgrave]]<br />[[Michael Moore]]
-| cinematography = [[Mark Moriarty]]
+| cinematography = Mark Moriarty
-| editing        = [[Mel Quigley]]
+| editing        = Mel Quigley
 | music          = [[Claudio Capponi]]
 | studio         = [[Blumhouse Productions]]
@@ Line 17: / Line 19: @@
 | language       = English
 }}
-'''''The Fever''''' is a 2004 [[psychological]] [[drama film]] produced by [[HBO Films]], directed by [[Carlo Gabriel Nero]] and based on the 1990 play of the same name by writer and actor, [[Wallace Shawn]].<ref>[http://www.graphesthesia.com/ws/plays/fever.html The Fever (1990)] ''[[Wallace Shawn]]'' references.</ref>
+'''''The Fever''''' is a 2004 [[psychological]] [[drama film]] produced by [[HBO Films]], directed by [[Carlo Gabriel Nero]] and based on the 1990 play of the same name by Nero and actor [[Wallace Shawn]].<ref>[http://www.graphesthesia.com/ws/plays/fever.html The Fever (1990)] ''[[Wallace Shawn]]'' references.</ref>
 The film stars the director's mother, [[Vanessa Redgrave]], and includes cameos by [[Angelina Jolie]], the director's half-sister [[Joely Richardson]] and Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker [[Michael Moore]].
 ==Background==
-The original play was a piece of [[experimental theater]] performed as a monologue by the play's author, Wallace Shawn.  Unlike conventional plays, Shawn initially performed ''The Fever'' not in a theater, but in private homes by appointment.  Later, he performed the piece in a theater, but in keeping with the desire to be unconventional in presentation, Shawn eschewed theatrical lighting, sets, and theater programs, and mingled with the audience immediately before the play began.  In an interview with [[The Paris Review]], Shawn explained that he used these novel approaches to avoid people dismissing the play's message as merely "great theater."<ref>http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6154/the-art-of-theater-no-17-wallace-shawn</ref>
+The original play was a piece of [[experimental theater]] performed as a monologue by the play's author, Wallace Shawn.  Unlike conventional plays, Shawn initially performed ''The Fever'' not in a theater, but in private homes by appointment.  Later, he performed the piece in a theater, but in keeping with the desire to be unconventional in presentation, Shawn eschewed theatrical lighting, sets, and theater programs, and mingled with the audience immediately before the play began.  In an interview with ''[[The Paris Review]]'', Shawn explained that he used these novel approaches to avoid people dismissing the play's message as merely "great theater."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6154/the-art-of-theater-no-17-wallace-shawn|title=Wallace Shawn, The Art of Theater No. 17|last=Interviewed by Hilton Als|date=Apr 22, 2012|volume=Summer 2012|issue=201|accessdate=Apr 22, 2020|via=www.theparisreview.org}}</ref>
 ==Plot==
 The film follows the [[existential crisis]] of an unnamed urban sophisticate ([[Vanessa Redgrave]]) who becomes aware of the nature of world politics, economic exploitation and the vapid [[consumerism]] around her. A series of events lead her to visit an unnamed [[third world]] country, representing an exotic location somewhere in [[Eastern Europe]], where the entire economy and populace are geared towards the tourist industry. Even as she enjoys the rare taste of its products she is made starkly aware of the reality behind the façade by a journalist ([[Michael Moore]]) who, subsequently, suggests a visit to the country's war-torn neighbour in order to experience a true picture of life in the region. She does so and her life is changed forever.
-Once back, and now acutely attuned to the world about her, she can no longer fit back into her old [[Elitism|elitist]] and [[Conspicuous consumption|consumer]]-driven lifestyle; watching operas, discussing art and theatre with friends, shopping for "beautiful things" and aggrandizing her  trifling everyday struggles, all seem meaningless to her compared with her recent [[Macroscopic|macro]] epiphany. Compared with the global struggle for existence, her life begins to feel insignificant. Having lived in the bubble her guilt-free, pleasure-filled, life she is now challenged to look beyond comfort and soon finds herself in the throes of a moral dilemma, questioning the moral consistency of her own life and the choices that have affected the lives of the poor in far corners of the globe. She feels that she cannot be truly free having apprehended this new reality, which confronts her blindness to  the harsh truths of the class struggle and her sense of [[entitlement]], which had, in the past, been broken, only occasionally, by displays of sympathy.
+Once back, and now acutely attuned to the world about her, she can no longer fit back into her old [[Elitism|elitist]] and [[Conspicuous consumption|consumer]]-driven lifestyle; watching operas, discussing art and theatre with friends, shopping for "beautiful things" and aggrandizing her  trifling everyday struggles, all seem meaningless to her compared with her recent [[Macroscopic|macro]] epiphany. Compared with the global struggle for existence, her life begins to feel insignificant. Having lived in the bubble her guilt-free, pleasure-filled life, she is now challenged to look beyond comfort and soon finds herself in the throes of a moral dilemma, questioning the moral consistency of her own life and the choices that have affected the lives of the poor in far corners of the globe. She feels that she cannot be truly free having apprehended this new reality, which confronts her blindness to  the harsh truths of the class struggle and her sense of [[Entitlement (psychology)|entitlement]], which had, in the past, been broken, only occasionally, by displays of sympathy.
-She returns to the war-torn nation to explore her feelings further, this new reality now drawing her ever-deeper. This leads to a [[Delirium|delirious]] bout of fever in a run-down hotel where her inner-self challenges her need for comfort and entitlement, culminating in a moment of [[spiritual awakening]] and a perceived 'oneness' with all reality. Finally she sees the truth about her own life and her innate connection with every human being, apprehending the transient nature of her material life. She can no longer sit, immersed in her personal comforts and vanity, or "clean sheets" as she terms it, and pretend it’s all right when the world around her is filled with strife and exploitation for millions of people. She is lustrated of her previous immunity towards their predicament and is, by extension, finally able to see the truth of own life, as summarised by film's tag-line: ''Enlightenment Can Be Brutal''.<ref name=new/><ref>[http://store.hbo.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2885302&cp=&keywords=The+Fever&searchId=31457675213&parentPage=search  The Fever] ''[[HBO Films]]''.</ref><ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Fever-Vanessa-Redgrave/dp/B000QUCNOA The Fever (2004)] ''[[Amazon.com]]''.</ref><ref>[http://turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com/Product.asp?sku=D94600 The Fever] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326000705/http://turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com/Product.asp?sku=D94600 |date=2009-03-26 }} ''Turner classic''.</ref>
+She returns to the war-torn nation to explore her feelings further, this new reality now drawing her ever-deeper. This leads to a [[Delirium|delirious]] bout of fever in a run-down hotel where her inner-self challenges her need for comfort and entitlement, culminating in a moment of [[Religious experience|spiritual awakening]] and a perceived 'oneness' with all reality. Finally she sees the truth about her own life and her innate connection with every human being, apprehending the transient nature of her material life. She can no longer sit, immersed in her personal comforts and vanity, or "clean sheets" as she terms it, and pretend it’s all right when the world around her is filled with strife and exploitation for millions of people. She is lustrated of her previous immunity towards their predicament and is, by extension, finally able to see the truth of own life, as summarised by film's tag-line: ''Enlightenment Can Be Brutal''.<ref name=new/><ref>[http://turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com/Product.asp?sku=D94600 The Fever] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326000705/http://turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com/Product.asp?sku=D94600 |date=2009-03-26 }} ''Turner classic''.</ref>
 ==Cast==
-* [[Vanessa Redgrave]] - Woman
+* [[Vanessa Redgrave]] as Woman
-* [[Angelina Jolie]] - Revolutionary
+* [[Angelina Jolie]] as Revolutionary
-* [[Michael Moore]] - Reporter
+* [[Michael Moore]] as Reporter
-* [[Joely Richardson]] - Woman at 30
+* [[Joely Richardson]] as Woman At 30
-* Lucio Slama - local officer
-==Crew==
-* Ivica Trpcic - Production Design
-* Siobhan Bracke - Casting
-* Vjera Ivankovic - Costume Design
 ==Production==
-Parts of the film was shot in [[Snowdonia]] and [[Penmon, Anglesey]] in [[North Wales]] to represent locations in Eastern Europe<ref>[http://www.freewebs.com/tombraideronlocation/ North Wales] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326045921/http://www.freewebs.com/tombraideronlocation/ |date=2009-03-26 }}</ref>
+Parts of the film was shot in [[Snowdonia]] and [[Penmon, Anglesey]] in [[North Wales]] to represent locations in Eastern Europe<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.freewebs.com/tombraideronlocation/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326045921/http://www.freewebs.com/tombraideronlocation/|url-status=dead|title=North Wales|archivedate=March 26, 2009|accessdate=Apr 22, 2020}}</ref>
 ==Awards==
@@ Line 51: / Line 47: @@
 ==Reception==
-A review in ''[[The New York Times]]'' describes Shawn's play as a, "controversial study of the growing chasm between the first and third world." <br /> The same newspaper describes the film adaptation as, "...a drama that employs animation and thought-provoking first-person monologues to explore the concept of [[Bourgeois personality|bourgeois]] privilege."<ref name=new>[https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/316296/The-Fever/overview ''The Fever'' - Review Summary] ''[[New York Times]]''.</ref>
+A review in ''[[The New York Times]]'' describes Shawn's play as a "controversial study of the growing chasm between the first and third world." <br /> The same newspaper describes the film adaptation as "a drama that employs animation and thought-provoking first-person monologues to explore the concept of [[Bourgeois personality|bourgeois]] privilege."<ref name=new>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081019142152/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/316296/The-Fever/overview ''The Fever'' - Review Summary] ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref>
 ==References==
@@ Line 58: / Line 54: @@
 ==External links==
 * {{IMDb title|0368725|The Fever}}
-* {{AllRovi movie|316296|The Fever}}
 * [https://www.reuters.com/article/reviewsNews/idUSN1230003820070612 Redgrave laid low by HBO's heavy "Fever"] Review by ''[[Reuters]]''
 * [http://www.cubaheadlines.com/2008/06/29/12150/vanessa_redgrave_will_visit_cuba.html Vanessa Redgrave will visit Cuba (for premiere of The Fever)] ''Cuba News Headlines''
@@ Line 64: / Line 59: @@
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fever (2004 film)}}
 [[Category:2004 films]]
-[[Category:American films]]
+[[Category:American psychological drama films]]
-[[Category:English-language films]]
+[[Category:2000s political films]]
-[[Category:American drama films]]
-[[Category:Political films]]
 [[Category:HBO Films films]]
 [[Category:Films shot in England]]
@@ Line 73: / Line 66: @@
 [[Category:American films based on plays]]
 [[Category:Films shot in Croatia]]
-[[Category:Psychological drama films]]
 [[Category:Films produced by Jason Blum]]
-[[Category:Screenplays by Wallace Shawn]]
+[[Category:Films with screenplays by Wallace Shawn]]
+[[Category:Blumhouse Productions films]]
+[[Category:British political films]]
+[[Category:2000s English-language films]]
+[[Category:2000s American films]]
+[[Category:2000s British films]]