Saint Jack Blu-ray (Peter Bogdanovich, Ben Gazzara)

I love finding undiscovered (at least to me) gems! This movie made me feel like I was a resident of Singapore and a friend of Jack in the 1970s. It has the same peripatetic style as its main character. Moves from place to place with Jack as he checks in with his many contacts and clients day and night. Jack is in a dirty business but he seems to have his heart in the right place. He cares and it shows. Yet he is not a pushover and he stands up for his people. What he won't do is be a creep and damage a man's career for the money. At the end he has principles that he adheres to and the viewer leaves satisfied that all will be ok for Jack and his life in Singapore. Thanks for making this available Amazon.

Loved Ben Gazzara in this role, such a cool man. A very strange journey in 1970's Singapore. Young Peter Bogdanovich director and actor in the movie. Must have been difficult and a fun journey to put this movie together. Somewhat disturbing, which is good. I could not live in such a foreign land as and American and be as happy and carefree as Jack was. Jack loved the people of Singapore, and was a free soul.

Meandering and without a plot, SJ isn't a bad movie. Most of the acting is good, its portrayal of pimping and prostitution while not seedy or odious enough was better than most Hollywood portrayals of it. As I have noted in other reviews of 70's films it had a nude scene and as in most cases it didn't add anything to the movie. Saint Jack is a rare western cinematic glance at Singapore which is one of the film's pluses.

Ben Gazzara at his best. If you want to see some of the old Singapore like Beetle Street before they tore it all down to modernize this is your chance. It's an off beat tale and probably not for everyone. A bit of a seedy slice of life perhaps but a slice none the less.

I liked it - cinematography, play and of course Ben Gazzara along with mandatory appearance of Peter Bogdanovich; but what I found most interesting particularly from somebody who visited Singapore in 2010 is amazing difference in time - people, buildings and general atmosphere of traveling back in time... Nice movie...

Orson Welles was right, Orson should have Directed the Movie. Peter Bogdanovich was terrible as a Director and Actor in the Film. Bogdanovich just lacks being Photogenic and is Boring devoid of any emotions whose only Characteristic is a Poker Face.As usual, Ben Gazzara was Superb as Gazzara is in most all Performances. Few to none Actors have such a Unique Look and brings out the Best in Facial Expressions that portray Gazzara's Character Thoughts and Without the need of Actions in the Film. Gazzara nails the Genuine Portrayal of a Underworld Figure in Charge of providing Governmental Illicit Trade in Drugs, Prostitutions and Gambling of 1970s. Gazzara Acting is the direct opposite of Bogdanovich in the Film. It was Peter Bogdanovich 4th Straight Film Flop and Roger Joseph Ebert liked it with 4 stars? In those days of Siskel & Ebert that was the Kiss of Death for any Film Review, but still Respected Roger Ebert's Professionalism Different Views on Films.I have been to Singapore many times, and it has far more Interesting Places such as the Gardens by the Bay, Haw Par Villa Torture Museum and Maritime Experiential Museum then Portrayed in the Film. I did find the Nomenclature of Cultural Words Origins of Cities Names and Remnants of British Shakespeare Societies interesting. However, 50% of the film was Too Long Shots of Walking, Running and Sitting as well as Taking Rides in Cars, Cabs, and Buses with Multiple Hotel Scenes just lacking any Substantive Plot. Could not wait for the Film to End and the Ending was just as Bad as the Beginning! I respect others who feel otherwise and enjoyed the movie very much!

Could have been good but seemed like 70's drivel

This item was advertised. as used but its never been opened. If BYU bookstore. has any more items like this I will gleefully purchase them. Excellent edition to my collection 5 stars all the way!

Una película de genero incasillable. Buenas interpretaciones. Con momentos crudos., alguna apariencia documental. Proostitución y gansterismo.Edicion francesa

Ce long métrage inclassable sorti en 1979 tranche avec la filmographie habituelle de Peter Bogdanovich, même si les références aux styles d'Orson Welles et de John Cassavetes sont toujours omniprésentes. Le côté social et contestataire du premier et le côté languide du second dont Ben Gazzara était l'un des acteurs fétiches.Il se dégage du film une étrange douceur, une étonnante tristesse languide mais parfaitement maîtrisée.Jack est un "entrepreneur" de maison close à Singapour, paternaliste avec ses employées, unanimement apprécié par toutes celles et tous ceux qu'il côtoie hormis bien entendu par la pègre locale qui voit en lui un dangereux concurrent, ami fidèle et toujours affable et souriant. Un anti-héros en quelque sorte.Pas de réelle violence physique ni de recours à celle-ci même aux moments où l'on s'y attend le plus. Aucun esprit de vengeance. Jack traverse sa vie comme il l'entend vêtu de chemises fleuries et voyantes. Il apparaît comme un somnambule alors qu'il est le témoin tout à fait conscient des retombées néfastes de la présence américaine dans cet Asie à feu et à sang qui s'embourbe dans la guerre du Vietnam. Peter Bogdanovich tourne entièrement son film en décors naturels dans une ville de Singapour aujourd'hui disparue, capitale de tous les trafics et base arrière des troupes américaines à la recherches de "consolations" sexuelles.Pour couronner le tout Jack a une morale que bien des gens n'ont pas.Ben Gazzara dans le rôle de Jack irradie de séduction et de talent. Toujours présent et jamais importun; bien au contraire.Un film qui sort des sentiers battus et qui mérite d'être vu.

Der Film von 1979 wirkt fast wie eine schnell gedrehte Doku aus dem Singapur der 70er Jahre, mit Bildern von Märkten, Clubs und nächtlichen Gassen. Die Handlung verblasst gegen das allgemeine Ambiente und gegen die vielen Nahaufnahmen des gutaussehenden Ben Gazzara. Es gibt einige schöne Kamerafahrten und gut choreografierte Bewegungsabläufe.Gegenüber der gleichnamigen Buchvorlage von Paul Theroux (1973; 4 Sterne in meiner separaten Besprechung hier) wurde die Handlung deutlich umarrangiert; der zeitliche Ablauf wirkt im Film unübersichtlich, das Ganze zerfällt in einige Episoden plus viel rein Atmosphärisches (New York Magazine: "the movie has no narrative drive"; wohl auch, weil das Drehbuch noch während des Drehs laufend umgeschrieben und um neue Charaktere, die man irgendwo getroffen hatte, bereichert wurde). Die Akteure erscheinen im Film lebendiger und sympathischer als im Buch, nicht zuletzt dank Hauptdarsteller Ben Gazzara, hier ein liebevoll lächelnder und jede Schulter klopfender Zuhälter mit Herz - fast schon monoton. Gazzaras Kumpel im Bandung-Club zeigt Bogdanovich als Knallchargen, die staubtrockenen Dialoge des Romans machen im Film keinen Eindruck; der Regisseur präsentiert lieber schöne Frauen, dunkle Gassen und immer wieder Ben Gazzara cool und sympathisch in Nahaufnahme, er wirkt ebenso wie Denholm Elliot sehr authentisch und "da". Die im Buch mehrfach ausgemalte Szene, wie der Hauptakteur ein Boot voll chinesischer Freudendamen zu einem ankernden Ozeanriesen steuert, erscheint im Film nicht.Der Film wurde unter einem Vorwand in Singapur gedreht, denn einen Rotlicht-Streifen hätte die Regierung des Stadtstaats wohl nicht genehmigt. Bild und Ton auf meiner DVD sind ausgesprochen schlecht; vielleicht liegt es auch daran, dass Saint Jack für den speziellen Look mit Fuji- statt dem bunteren Kodak-Material gefilmt wurde. Es gibt keine Untertitel, auch nicht englische, jedoch ein 20minütiges Interview mit Peter Bogdanovich sowie getrennt dessen Kommentar, der sich zum Film abspielen lässt. Ben Slaters Buch Kinda Hot (fünf Sterne in meiner separaten Besprechung) erzählt die Entstehungsgeschichte des Films spannend und lebendig.

As director Peter Bogdanovich says in the accompanying interview on the DVD, he deliberately tried to avoid cliches when making 'Saint Jack'. He was trying to avoid the Hollywood film making system when he went to Singapore in 1978 with a small crew, filming a book that had already been banned in Singapore, and pretending to be filming something much more acceptable. As 'a proud graduate of the Roger Corman Guerrilla school of film making' he filmed entirely on location, using many non-actors in the cast, with much improvisation of the script. The result is a fresh, almost documentary film, which although depicting a Singapore which has long been demolished 'in the name of progress', is somehow timeless. Based on a novel by Paul Theroux, who is best known as a travel writer, it is the story of a life, or of life, there is no real plot, because life doesn't have a plot. The unifying element in the film is the friendship between Jack Flowers and William Leigh, brilliantly and subtlely played by Denholm Elliott.The film is continually 'understated', it doesn't give 'direction' to the audience, or 'moral guidance'. One particular scene stands out for me, when a very young GI has been violent to a girl in Jack's brothel, Jack goes to the bedroom where the young man is sitting on the bed staring blankly into space. In any other film angry words would be spoken, or even physical violence, but here Jack just looks silently, not even angrily, for what seems like an age. After all, what can he say? This guy, little more than a child, may be dead in a few days when he goes back to fight in Vietnam.This film makes me painfully aware of how bad most films made today are, as evidenced by the piles of cheap dvd's in the bargain bins that no-one wants to buy, even at £1. This film IS worth owning, an antidote to Hollywood, needed even more today than when it was made. Best summed up by Bogdanovich, speaking of Jack Flowers: 'He's not Clint Eastwood'.