|
| -1- |
"BODY PARTS"
PRODUCTION INFORMATION |
"Body Parts" is a psychological horror-thriller starring
Jeff Fahey as Bill Chrushank, a criminal psychologist who emerges from
a near-fatal accident with a newly-grafted arm. As he attempts to return
to his happy family life, he is plagued by sporadic violent actions towards
himself and his family. The search for these violent origins leads Chrushank
through the nature of evil, to a vicious killer who once had Bill's new
arm.
The film was directed by Eric Red from a screenplay written by Red
and Norman Snider, screen story by patricia Herskovic & Joyce Taylor,
based on the novel Choice Cuts by Boileau-Narcejac. Frank Mancuso, Jr.
is the producer, Michael Macdonald is the executive producer, and Jack
E. Freedman and Patricia Herskovic are the co-producers of the presentation
of the Motion Pictures Group Paramount Pictures, a Paramount Communications
company. |
| -2- |
Eric Red first achieved recognition for his motion picture debut
as the screenwriter of "The Hitcher." He wrote and directed "Cohen
and Tate," co-wrote the screenplay for "Blue Steel," and
co-produced and co-wrote the screenplay for "Near Dark."
Red explains how the film evolved: "I thought that the subject
of limb transplants would make a good thriller. The psychological ramifications
of having someone else's arm grafted onto you, the fact that your personality
might change because of the operation, and the idea that the arm might
bilong to a killer, would create a mystery.
"Does the main character's personality change because the arm
is taking him over, or because of his natural reaction to the operation?"
"Chrushank (Fahey) is intellectually curious about criminals,"
comments Frank Mancuso, Jr. ("He said, She said," "Internal
Affairs"). "When he discovers violent tendencies within himself
after the operation, his curiosity is replaced by a visceral fear."
Last year, Jeff Fahey received acclaim for his role in "White
Hunter, Black Heart" with Clint Eastwood. Also in 1990, he starred
with Theresa Russell in "Impulse" and with Brian Dennehy in "Last
of the Finest."
Fahey observes, "My character is a man who determines whether
criminals are imprisoned or executed. He questions what |
| -3- |
makes somebody a criminal. After his traumatic accident, the question become
even more complex."
Lindsay Duncan (star of the International Emmy award-winning mini-series
"Traffik") plays the brilliant but misguided Dr. Webb, the surgeon
who guides Chrushank's operation. Initially, the surgery appears to be
successful. As Chrushank's personality gradually changes, he discovers
that the donor, Charlie Fletcher (John Walsh), was a mass murderer. Sentenced
to death, his body has been donated to Webb's experiment.
"We perceived Dr. Webb as an extremely gifted woman whose dedication
and sense of achievement has given her tunnel vision," comments Douncan.
"Working at that level of surgery, she has fantastic power. She and
Bill Chrushank are losing their perspective for different reasons. Bill
is scared he's literally not the same person anymore and Webb has lost
objectivity completely."
Brad Dourif ("Mississippi Burning," Academy Award-nominee for "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"), plays Lacey, who is also the recipient of an arm graft. "Human beings have the capability for physical transformation," says Dourif. "The question is can someone's D.N.A. make a bad person? You can ask a lot of questions about good and evil -- the bottom line is, we don't know."
Kim Delaney ("That was Then...This Is Now") is Chrushank's
wife, Karen, who is helpless as her family |
| -4- |
disintegrates. The cast of "Body Parts" includes Zaked Mokae
("A Dry White Season"), Peter Murnik ("One Cup of Coffee")
and John Walsh ("FX2").
Eric Red collaborated on the screenplay for "Body Parts"
with Norman Snider ("Dead Ringers"). They were confronted by
the medical possibility that in the not-too-distant future donor limbs
be transplanted one human to another.
The director brought the idea for "Body Parts" to producer
Frank Mancuso, Jr. in early 1990 and it was quickly put into development
at Paramount. Shooting began in November on location in Toront, a city
that reveals the stark contrast between old and new with the combination
of austere modern architecture and gothic 19th century buildings.
To research the medical aspects of the picture, Eric Red witnessed
an actual transplant operation, Jeff Fahey read books on criminal psychology,
Lindsay Duncan reviewed medical videos, and production designer Bill Brodie
observed open-heart and mico-surgery in three different hospitals. The
production rented $1.5million worth of state-of the art medical equipment.
"Our operating scenes are basically just as they would occur,
" says Red. "Most of the technology illustrated in the picture
is only a few years away."
Director of photography Theo Van de Sande utilized a wide-screen
anamorphic system for the cinematography, achieving sweeping camera movements
and crane shots with a remote camera. |
| -5- |
Van de Sands describes the look of the film as one of "hyper-realism
-- the wider scope of the anamorphic system gives the action scenes a real
punch."
In the accident sequence where Chrushank loses his limb, his vehicle
is hit from behind from by an 18-wheeler and he is sent through the windshield.
"When Bill's vehicle is hit, he is sent into the twisting car in front
of him," describes Red. who directed more than 200 set-ups for the
film's action sequences. "It's one of the most hair-raising stunts
ever filmed."
Lifelike transplant limbs, which were remote-controlled, were created
by Gordon Smith, head of FX Smith. Before beginning his work on the film,
Smith interviewed doctors and their patients who had experienced the removal
and reattachment of limbs. He molded prosthetics in urethane, which allows
the skin color of the actor to be visible through the prosthetic without
requiring further makeup. |
ABOUT THE CAST
-8- |
BRAD DOURIF (Remo Lacey) was nominated for an Academy Award and won a
Golden Globe and British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for
" One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest." His other films include "Stephen
King's Graveyard Shift." "The Exorcist III," "Mississippi
Burning," "Fatal Beauty," "Blue Velvet," "Dune,"
"Ragtime," "Heaven's Gate," "Wise Blood,"
"The Eyes of Laura Mars," and "W.W. and the Dexie Dancekings."
Dourif has supplied the voice of the evil Chucky in "Child's Play"
and "Child's Play II."
His television appearances include episodes of "Miami Vice,"
"Moonlighting," "Spenser: For Hire," "The Equalizer,"
and "The Hitchhiker", and such mini-series as "Rage of Angels"
and "Studs Lonigan."
Dourif was born and raised in Huntington, Virginia. He began acting
in his teens, both in high school plays and in summer stock. After attending
Marshall University, he joined New York's Repertory Theatre, where he built
sets and studied acting before getting his big break in 1973 with a role
in the off-Broadway hit "When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?" His
other stage appearances include such productions as "Time Shadows,"
"The Three Sisters," "The Doctor in Spite of Himself,"
"The Taming of the Shrew," "The Lion in Winter," and
"Visit to a Small Planet."
|
|
|
写真提供：Life is Gas様
