Word: hjortsberg
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Parker cannot be held solely responsible for the film's ludicrous content. Credit must also go to William Hjortsberg, whose novel Falling Angel Parker adapted. Surely the author must be held responsible for such linguistic masterworks as Harry Angel, Louis Cyphre (as DeNiro states, "Mephistopheles is a mouthful in Manhattan) and Epiphany Proudfoot as well as the generous amount of scenes set in or around places of worship. One can easily see what attracted Parker to this work. No pulled punches anywhere--it's a veritable primer of platitudes...
Labyrinthine tales like this (based on William Hjortsberg's 1978 novel Falling Angel) rarely make it to the screen, for a simple reason: the significant action has occurred a dozen years before, so the entire plot must be exposition pocked with explosions of violence. Parker, an itchy director (Midnight Express, Fame) with a bang-on sense of textbook timing, occasionally tries to pump up his flashback talkathon with chase scenes that distract from the film's mood. But he has located a chic, grim style for the story. Garish, ominous colors flash vividly across his monochrome palette. The streets keep...
...William Hjortsberg. 157 pages. Simon & Schuster. $4.95. A honeymooning American couple, a witch, a dwarf, assorted deaths, a mad seduction in a careening telepherique-adding up to zero...
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