Sunday, April 2 at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, the 1985 production of Revolution will screen at 7:30pm. This may not be enough to get you into the theatre, but you'll change your mind when you hear that star, Al Pacino will be there for a pre-screening interview. This is a very rare opportunity to see the legendary actor in person. Moderator, Bernard Rose, will present the questions to Pacino, who will answer in a way only he can. Come hear his thoughts on how he approached and performed his character for this period piece film directed by Oscar and BAFTA nominee, Hugh Hudson.
In the early days American revolution, a trapper and his young son get pulled in as unwilling participants. Pacino plays a fur trapper whose son who is conscripted into the British Army as a drummer by a villainous Sergeant Major played by Donald Sutherland. As the father of the young teen, he is spurred on to fight for the freedom of the Thirteen Colonies in an attempt to save his son. He the process he crosses the path of an aristocratic Daisy McConnahay (Nastassja Kinski), who comes to support of the American troops.
Although a ludicrous choice of casting, Pacino does mange to give his standard great performance even though his New York accent continually gets in the way. To quote the movie monitoring website, Rotten Tomatoes, the film is "Unlikely to inspire any fervor with its miscast ensemble and ponderous script, Revolution is a star-spangled bummer." The "fresh" meter is a depressingly low 10%, and the audience score isn't much higher at 32%. With a budget of $28,000,000 (a staggering sum at the time) the returns were a dismal $358,574. That's what they call a major disaster and absolute flop. Under these circumstances it will be interesting to see just what the actor and moderator will chose to talk about.
The film's horrible outcome is somewhat amazing as it was directed by the same man who only a few years earlier received an Oscar nomination as Best Director for Chariots of Fire. However, that was the pinnacle of his limited career. The recently deceased Hugh Hudson, got his start in documentaries and commercials before moving to narrative features. His very first was the 1981 Best Picture winner, Chariots of Fire, which was met with major critical and commercial success. His follow-up picture was Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. Apparently, it was Hudson’s use of period settings to tell stories with contemporary appeal that led to his procurement of Revolution. Sadly, the result was less than appealing.
Your decision to attend the event will have to be based on your love of Al Pacino and not the promise of a night of good entertainment. Which can still be anticipated by the presence of one of the greatest living actors of our time.