The Hurricane (1999 film)

The Hurricane
The Hurricane
	Film poster for The Hurricane
Directed by	Norman Jewison
Written by	Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (book, The 16th Round); Sam Chaiton &; Terry Swinton; (book, Lazarus and the Hurricane); Armyan Bernstein &; Dan Gordon (screenplay)
Produced by	Armyan Bernstein; Norman Jewison; John Ketcham
Starring	Denzel Washington; Vicellous Reon Shannon; Deborah Unger; Liev Schreiber; John Hannah; Dan Hedaya; Debbi Morgan; Clancy Brown; David Paymer; Harris Yulin; Rod Steiger
Cinematography	Roger Deakins
Music by	Christopher Young
Distributed by	Universal Studios (US); Buena Vista International (non-US)
Release dates	December 29, 1999
Running time	145 min.
Country	US
Language	English
Budget	US$50,668,906

The Hurricane is a 1999 film starring Denzel Washington. It purports to be the true story of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, whose conviction for triple murder was set aside after he had spent almost twenty years in prison, but was widely criticized for inaccuracies in its portrayal.

The script was adapted by Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon from the books Lazarus and the Hurricane by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton and The 16th Round by Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter. The film was directed by Norman Jewison.

Storyline

The film narrates the life of middleweight boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, concentrating on the period between 1966 and 1985. It describes his fight against the conviction for triple murder and how he copes with nearly twenty years in prison. In a parallel plot, an underprivileged youth from Brooklyn becomes interested in Carter's destiny after reading Carter's autobiography, and convinces his Canadian friends to engage themselves in the case. The story culminates with the Carter team's successful pleas to Judge H. Lee Sarokin of the United States District Courts.

Controversy

The film was criticized for misrepresenting many of the facts of Carter's life and the case itself, which are well documented in both his criminal and military records, police reports and court documentation. Such critics include Herald-News reporter Cal Deal; Larry Elder;^[1] Thomas Clough; Barbara Burns, the daughter of victim Hazel Tanis; George Kimball of The Irish Times [1], Milan Simonich of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Lona Manning;^[2] The New York Times reporter Selwyn Raab; Paul Mulshine of The Newark Star-Ledger; and Jack Newfield of the New York Post, who stated, "I knew Rubin Carter, attended his fights, covered his retrial and I didn't see much reality on the screen." For example:

The 1940s and 50s was a prosperous time for Paterson and not a time of poverty and violence. By all accounts, Rubin Carter's father provided well for his family.
He didn't stab a pedophile to protect himself and a friend; it was an assault and robbery.[2]
Carter was not sent to juvenile detention when he was a small boy, but when he was 14 years old.
He served only 3 years in juvenile prison before he escaped and joined the military, not 8 years.
During his military service, he was court-martialed four times and discharged "unfit for military service," well-short of his scheduled date of separation. He had served only 21 months of his three-year term of enlistment.[3]
The film depicts him returning as a decorated soldier, though Carter never distinguished himself in the Army.[4]
Carter was a savage street fighter and leader of a gang called The Apaches.
He was actually convicted of three muggings prior to his professional boxing career, including the mugging of a middle aged African Amercian woman. He pleaded guilty to the charges and was imprisoned in Trenton State Prison for four years.[5]
On the night of the murders, his car was stopped twice, but only at the second stop was he arrested.
Carter did not ride in the front seat when his car was first stopped, he was laying down in the back.[6]
The film places Carter in a Dodge Monaco instead of a Polara.
The Lafayette Grill did not welcome African Americans.
Shooting victim Willie Marins was not laying on a hospital bed and did not shake his head to indicate that Carter was not responsible for the shootings. He was sitting upright in a chair and stated: "I don't know, I can't tell" when asked if Carter was one of the shooters.[7]
The Cockershams did not run a tab at The Lafayette Grill, and never drank inside the bar.
Avery Cockersham did not move away or die before Carter's trials.
Patricia Valentine's testimony is falsely given as: "the tail-lights lit up all across the back". She testified that the tail-lights did not light up all across the back.
Patricia Valentine did not change her testimony as is stated by the Canadian investigator played by John Hannah.
Patricia Valentine was 23 years old at the time of the murders, not a middle aged woman.
The film incorrectly states that Carter was tried by two all white juries.
The police emergency call log was not faked to frame Carter.[8]
Police did not use heavy-handed tactics to arrest Carter.
The Canadians did not discover new evidence.
Detectives did not threaten the Canadians or tamper with their car.[9]
The racist detective who, according to the film, hounded Carter from childhood, known as "Detective Dellapesca" portrayed by Dan Hedaya, did not exist.[10]
Carter was not the number 1 contender for the middleweight title.[11]
Burglars depicted as "conspiring" to frame Carter were really seventy-five miles apart, and one of them was in prison at the time.[12]
The getaway scene is misleading in Carter's favor.[13]
There was no speech given by Carter in Federal Court.
The Canadians did not find the diary of a dead investigator.
Prison authorities at no time tried to deprive Carter of the manuscript of his autobiography.
Carter's "90 days in the hole" isn't documented in his prison record or in his autobiography.
His release from prison had nothing to do with "proving the case was built on forgeries and lies", as the lawyers for Carter claim in the final courtroom scene.

Former middleweight Champion Joey Giardello sued the film's producers for libel over the depiction of his fight with Carter as a "racist fix". "This is a joke, [he told the New York Daily News] he never hit me that much in 15 rounds." Referee Polis who scored the fight in Giardello's favor, called the scene "ludicrous". Eventually, the case was settled, with the producers paying the retired champion a hefty sum (reportedly $300,000).^[3]

Some critics defend the film despite its inaccuracy. Roger Ebert states: "Those who seek the truth about a man from the film of his life might as well seek it from his loving grandmother," and further, "The Hurricane is not a documentary but a parable, in which two lives are saved by the power of the written word."^[4]

Awards

Washington was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Various newspaper articles in the New York Post, The New York Times and the Miami Herald in particular, suggested that the controversy over the film’s accuracy might have cost Washington the Oscar.[14] However, he received a Golden Globe Award in 2000 and a 'Silberner Bär' (Silver Berlin Bear) from the Berlin International Film Festival. Director Norman Jewison was awarded the 'Prize of the Guild of German Art House Cinemas' at the same festival. All in all, the film received six international awards.

Cast

The following celebrities appear in archive footage included in the film;

Trivia

"Hurricane" is also a song by Bob Dylan, released in 1975 and included on his 1976 album Desire. It tells the story of the alleged injustice behind Rubin Carter's imprisonment. It is often described as a Hit Single, although its highest placing was just #31 on the Billboard chart. Brief archive footage from The Rolling Thunder Revue of Dylan appears in the film, showing him performing the chorus of the song.
Ani DiFranco recorded a version of Dylan's song for the film's soundtrack but in the end, the original version was used instead. DiFranco's version can be found on the album Swing Set.
"Hurricane" is also the name of a second song, by Black Thought, Mos Def, and Common, which appears on this film's soundtrack. It too tells the story of the alleged injustice behind Carter's imprisonment, though its lyrics are completely distinct from Dylan's.
A picture shown in Carter's cell, supposedly of Malcolm X , is actually a picture of Denzel Washington from the film Malcolm X.

References

^ ""Hurricane" warning". Jewish World Review article by Larry Elder. February 4 2000. Retrieved 2006-10-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ "TopTen Myths about..... Rubin Hurricane Carter and the Lafayette Grill Murders". The Lafayette Library, Lona Manning's collection of articles and legal documents about the Lafayette Grill murders. Retrieved 2006-10-23.
^ "Record of civil action complaint". Reproduction of legal document. Retrieved 2006-10-23.
^ "The Hurricane". Review by Roger Ebert. Retrieved 2006-10-23.

[1] ""Hurricane" warning". Jewish World Review article by Larry Elder. February 4 2000. Retrieved 2006-10-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[2] "TopTen Myths about..... Rubin Hurricane Carter and the Lafayette Grill Murders". The Lafayette Library, Lona Manning's collection of articles and legal documents about the Lafayette Grill murders. Retrieved 2006-10-23.

[3] "Record of civil action complaint". Reproduction of legal document. Retrieved 2006-10-23.

[4] "The Hurricane". Review by Roger Ebert. Retrieved 2006-10-23.

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