Rumble Fish opened at the New York Film Festival in 1983 and on its first viewing was booed mercilessly. It was subsequently torn apart by critics and put down as self-indulgent and overloaded with ambition. Now, Francis Ford Coppola’s film is recognised as something more important than a simple display of vanity. While it is continuously praised for being a stylistic and photographic triumph, the true value of the film is evident in the influences that helped in giving it form. Rumble Fish is infused with perspective and philosophy backed up by a rich history.

Coppola’s inspiration can be seen in many aspects of the film. The somewhat methodical development of each character is fascinating, with influences reaching far and wide and from many different angles. One of the many elements that really drew me into the story was the undying existential mood that is present throughout and something that is emphasised by the central protagonists. For one, a number of parallels can be drawn between the film and the novels of Albert Camus and elements of his work in general – in particular the character of Meursault (the Outsider) and the Motorcycle Boy, played by Mickey Rourke. Before filming, Coppola actually assigned Rourke a selection of the existentialist philosopher’s novels, in order to get an idea of the character that should be developed. Motorcycle Boy possesses the detachment, indifference and narcissism that many of Camus’s characters possess while he also styled himself on certain photographs taken of the author himself – the cigarette dangling from his lips.

This character – misunderstood, ever-searching – is portrayed as a tragic figure. The Motorcycle Boy is perhaps the best example of the film’s existential influence. Though it is true that his detachment and indifference can be immediately linked to the protagonists so often portrayed in Camus’ works of fiction, his inner struggle is reminiscent of Antoine Roquentin, Jean Paul Sartre’s central character in the Frenchman’s masterpiece, ‘Nausea’. Just like Roquentin, the Motorcycle Boy is portrayed as an ‘actor who no longer finds his work interesting’.

The individualism that is emphasised through the Motorcycle Boy is also present in the work of Orson Welles – which very much shows the director’s influences in past filmmakers. While Rourke’s character is an example of this, the influence can be seen strongly in the filming itself. The photography of Rumble Fish is influenced heavily by Orson Welles and German expressionism of the 1920’s. The scene in which Rusty James is injured is a good example – the close-up of Mickey Rourke looking into the camera like a mirror seems to be influenced a great deal by the deep-focus shots favoured by Welles, removing characters from the people and events surrounding them – seen noticeably in his most notable work, Citizen Kane.

The atmosphere stirred up in the film is probably best described as that of a doomed existence – the fate of Rusty James, whose character could amount to more, but who is ceaselessly trying to be someone he cannot be, trapped behind the shadow of his brother and caught up in a world where violence is brought out of thin air. In this way he is also portrayed as a tragic character in a strange world.

Both of these characters perhaps represent one of the film’s underlying themes – the passing of time and the difficulty and indifference of existence. In this way, Rumble Fish can also be said to have been in some way influenced by the French New Wave. Though, stylistically, Rumble Fish was born out of the German expressionists, the emphasis on the individual and the absurd hints at much of the French New Wave. The works of filmmaker, Jean-Luc Godard (films such as Breathless and Pierrot le Fou) – simple plot, lack of focus – can clearly be seen when looking at Coppola’s ambitions in the whole project. He is challenging the rules of film and of cinematic thought, as the existentialist continues to challenge the world around him and the system that plays with his existence.

There is a clear dissonance which can be found in the lighting, the simple editing but striking contrasts, the compositional exaggerations and the camera angles very much hint at German expressionism, in particular ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’ by Robert Weines, a prime example of a cinematic movement focused on rejecting realism. The stylistic overload, obscurity and the extravagance of the whole film masks the story in a way that distances Rumble Fish from the viewer, but pulls him in at the same time. The numerous clock shots, the photography in which a moving sky races above the viewer intend to further emphasise the passage of time and the act of watching a life drift by.

The mood and the atmosphere found in Rumble Fish can be traced back to so many ideas, while the film seems to embody a whole load of them in its own unique way – a quality which makes this piece of cinema exceptional in its own right. The dreamy and philosophical nature of the film does not intrude on the viewer’s experience of its reality but instead adds to it as only the nature of a Coppola film could.

Read also:

Rumble Fish at IMDb

Rumble Fish at Rotten Tomatoes

Rumble Fish (film) at Wikipedia

Rumble Fish (novel) at Wikipedia

Rumble Fish (awards won and nominated for) at IMDb

Existentialism at Wikipedia

Complete guide to the French New Wave and new wave cinema from around the world at newwavefilm.com

Search Unsung Films for “Francis Ford Coppola”

– Rumble Fish [DVD]

