As a long-time fan of Saturday Night Live and someone who has spent countless hours delving into its history, I must say that “Saturday Night” is a love letter to the show’s origins that beautifully captures the spirit of those early days. While some historical liberties have been taken, the film manages to encapsulate the frenetic energy and creative chaos that defined SNL’s first episode and season.
Prior to the debut of his film titled “Saturday Night” at the Telluride Film Festival, director Jason Reitman shared insights about the pulse-pounding experience of writing an episode for Saturday Night Live. He likened it to the heightened adrenaline levels experienced by test pilots and drug addicts. After the triumph of “Juno“, he spent a week scripting for SNL, a dream come true for him, and was even more awestruck by the process. The movie, which portrays the tumultuous 90 minutes leading up to the first live broadcast on October 11, 1975, has a sense of realism: Filmed in a spontaneous, handheld 16mm style, it whizzes through cluttered studio hallways and bustling stages teeming with activity, conflict, and uncertainty. However, there’s also a fair amount of embellishment happening for dramatic effect and chaos.
In 2018, before delving into “Ghostbusters” sequels, Reitman directed a film titled “The Front Runner“, which depicted the collapse of Gary Hart’s 1988 Presidential campaign. The cinematography was reminiscent of Robert Altman, with a fluid camera movement that followed characters and captured fragments of conversations and scenes. Although the movie was a critical and financial disappointment, I found it captivating. Reitman employs a similar style in this film, but amplified for heightened drama, sensationalism, and conflict. The narrative of “Saturday Night” resembles a distressing dream, with Lorne Michaels (played by Gabriel LaBelle) as the central character. As the producer of “SNL“, he struggles to articulate the show’s concept an hour and a half before airtime. Despite being told that he has a vision, he doubts its existence himself. Characters describe a controversial skit involving bee suits as “postmodern, Warhol, iconic”, implying it’s pretentious, but this description is later used to describe “SNL” itself, suggesting a touch of pretension remains.
A profound truth is woven into the creative process as depicted in the film. Initially, Michaels may have had a clear vision for his show, but now, confronted with its looming reality, he’s disoriented and so is everyone else involved. The aim is to inject an unconventional, underground, even Dada-like spirit into network television, which requires him to be surrounded by individuals who thrive in chaos and skepticism. As a result, the madness intensifies, creating a disorienting, sometimes nauseating sense of uncertainty that pervades the entire film.
In this film, the chaotic style of production seldom allows for prolonged scenes to develop, prompting the actors to employ a mix of acting techniques and our collective recollections to bring their characters to life. The cast effectively emulates the original cast, yet they avoid imitations, with perhaps the exception of Cory Michael Smith’s portrayal of Chevy Chase, which leans towards an impression but still manages to be convincing given Chase’s self-aware persona. Matt Wood bears a striking resemblance to John Belushi, but he presents him as a disenchanted artist, reluctant to sign his contract and visibly humiliated by the circumstances of doing television comedy in a bee costume. The film doesn’t showcase much of Belushi’s iconic physical energy, but it hints at it beneath the surface. As Andy Kaufman, Nicholas Braun captures the right amount of awkwardness, and his brief, peculiar, largely silent scenes in the early part of the movie build to a satisfying resolution towards the end. Ella Hunt perfectly encapsulates Gilda Radner’s sweetness, although her stage performances are not extensively depicted.
It would take forever to go through the whole cast here, but they’re mostly aces. Matthew Rhys, in his brief moments, gives George Carlin a chest-thumping, confrontational machismo. As Garrett Morris, the show’s first Black cast member, Lamorne Morris strides confidently around the studio while constantly wondering what he’s doing there, a perpetual outsider. As the bottom-slapping Dan Aykroyd, Dylan O’Brien has a nice, chummy unpredictability, able to go full-nerd one minute, full party boy the next. His libidinousness gets a fun turnaround when we see him play a scantily clad man being harassed by a group of female construction workers. By that point, Reitman has already sent Michaels into one of NBC’s other stages to witness a garish dance number featuring Milton Berle (a howlingly good J.K. Simmons) groping a bunch of showgirls; the contrast between the TV That Was and the TV To Come couldn’t be starker, even as we get hints (muted, naturally, in this cinematic love letter) that the TV To Come came with its own share of issues.
The movie Saturday Night condenses many of the captivating plotlines related to the first episode and indeed, the entire first season of SNL, into a single night. For instance, when Willem Dafoe is presented as NBC’s stern-voiced, uninvolved head of talent David Tebet midway through the film, it might seem puzzling as to why he would appear just before airtime on a show he seems unfamiliar with. However, this character was actually an advocate for SNL, having been involved with its development for months.
In essence, condensing and enhancing are fundamental aspects of filmmaking, particularly noticeable in movies where the action unfolds within a compact timeframe. It’s astonishing to think that Lorne Michaels, on several occasions before airtime, would venture out onto New York City streets, pluck a joke-writer like Alan Zweibel from a bar where a comedian was struggling with his jokes in a private room. While such an event may seem implausible, it appears that this did not occur as described. In reality, Zweibel was already involved with Saturday Night Live before its debut, despite writing cheap jokes for Borscht Belt comedians and working at a deli counter simultaneously. The exaggerated tales surrounding the first episode of SNL may be embellished, but the chaotic energy that pervades the show’s production seems to resonate accurately with those who have been part of it. In other words, while Saturday Night might not align perfectly with historical facts, it captures the essence of the experience truthfully.
Read More
- Discovering the Infinite Power: The Abiotic Factor that Could Change Everything
- AAVE PREDICTION. AAVE cryptocurrency
- BONE PREDICTION. BONE cryptocurrency
- Uncovering the Mystery of Red King Players in Clash Royale – What Reddit Users Have to Say
- The Last Epoch Dilemma: Confronting the Gold Dupe Crisis
- Finding Resources in Palworld: Tips from the Community
- Skull and Bones: Navigating the Quest for Extra Teeth in the Game
- UFO PREDICTION. UFO cryptocurrency
- Diablo Lag Issues: Is the Latest Update Playing Tricks on Gamers?
- Unveiling the Mystery of Palworld IVs: What Redditors Have to Say
2024-09-01 18:54