Brian De Palma

Marking his return to a major studio production after several years of independent film making, Carrie turned out to be a major commercial breakthrough for De Palma. Adapted from the first novel written by Stephen King, the film is one of De Palma’s most admired and powerful films to date. Together with its special effects and De Palma’s split-screen and slow motion camera work, the film reached new heights for direction. 

It is interesting to note that because of the direction De Palma gives for a counterclockwise circle of the camera during a dance scene, he was actually offered direction of both Saturday Night Fever and Grease; both offers that he wisely refused. John Travolta did however have a small part in Carrie, along with Sissy Spacek as the lead role. The film was shot in 50 days for a modest $1.8 million and at that time was De Palmas biggest critical and commercial success.

De Palmas next movie The Fury did not enjoy the financial success expected of it and in result 20^th Century Fox canceled plans to back De Palmas next major project The Demolished Man, an adaptation of a science fiction novel by Alfred Bester. Reaching the conclusion that he had had enough of bloody, expensive movies, De Palma decided to return to his roots of filmmaking and take a new direction.

He decided to return to Sarah Lawrence College and teach a course in Low-budget filmmaking. The course contained undergraduate to graduate students, ages 18-26, with the purpose of teaching how to make independent films and ultimately making one of their own throughout the course. The result was Home Movies, a comedy with a filmmaker-on-filmmaking subject. De Palma admits today that Home Movies depicts much of his own childhood.

Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, Brian De Palma continued to ride the movie making roller coaster of both success and failure. Although many of his movies contain camera direction unparalleled by many other directors, the movies themselves have received constant critical lashings and commercially have been relatively unsuccessful. When a De Palma film receives the success it strives for, it seems to be followed up with a box office bust, something that has plagued De Palma from the very beginning of his career. 

The overwhelming success of The Untouchables (1987), a film adapted by screenwriter David Mamet from a popular TV series was then buried by De Palmas next film The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), which will forever be known as one of Hollywood’s biggest busts.

Emotional roller coasters have plagued De Palmas personal life as well, being divorced three times. His first marriage was to actress Nancy Allen whom was cast in many of his movies. The couple was married for four years, from 1979-1983. His second wife, producer Gale Anne Hurd, gave birth to De Palmas first child, a daughter Lolita, but the marriage ended in divorce as well. De Palma was married once again in 1995 to Darnelle De Palma, whom gave birth to Brian’s other daughter Piper, yet that marriage only lasted 7 months, and by April of the next year De Palma was divorced for the third time. 

De Palma likes to take risks, to strive towards the limit of movie making abilities, and this may be one of many reasons why so many well known actors have recently worked with him. Brian De Palma has directed all such names as Tom Cruise, Nicolas Cage, Gary Sinise and Tim Robbins within the last 5 years. Even with all his ups and downs, Brian De Palma continues to work hard and strive towards new and undiscovered direction in movies. Although his most recent motion picture Mission to Mars may have received much more criticism than expected, the special effects in the movie along with the realistic view of space and the beyond are unmatched to date. Although De Palma’s next film is at the moment a mystery, one can only assume it will be something worth talking about, we already know the critics will.