A middle-aged man snaps and creates a trail of violence across Los Angeles in Joel Schumacher’s fascinating and still discussion-worthy Falling Down, coming to 4k UHD & Blu-Ray from Arrow Video this month.
Joel Schumacher’s Falling Down, written by Ebbe Roe Smith, is a film that welcomes a discussion.
Is Michael Douglas’s Will “D-Fens” Foster a hero, a man who has had enough and is pushing back? Is he a villain, a man “wronged” because he sees himself as a victim when he isn’t, and his rampage is unjustified? Somewhere else? In the thirty-three years since its release, every facet and outlook has been explored. And how one sees it varies with their background, the life they live, and age (how I’ve seen it over the years has shifted with age and experience). It’s a film of infinite variables, and these approaches keep Falling Down in the public eye and discourse. Coming in this time for the coverage of the new release from Arrow, Joel Schumacher’s complex and complicated film is again open to discourse in a continually broken and cruel world.
Let’s be clear, even with things so much in the grey area: D-Fens crosses many lines, is in the wrong, and is likely about to commit heinous acts if not having to walk to his destination, and being caught up in his rage odyssey [see, to note the other day on Odyssey – another film using that story as a skeleton] against everyone who has wronged him. But yet, amid that, there’s a truth of his frustration. Things are different. His life has gone worse, and so much of it is out of his hands. His frustrations: inability to find a new job due to the changing world and his skills, prices going up, endless traffic, being late to breakfast hours, and others are ones we can relate to in some way. His voice is diminished, in real and imagined ways. And he acts on it, finally reaching the cracking point. Who hasn’t wanted just to get up and leave their car in the traffic, who hasn’t wanted to be direct with a rude construction worker, or smarmy counter person? Who hasn’t felt they’ve been wronged? There’s sympathy for the devil in his violence and going just too far. But a measured take. This is going to sound weird, but he’s racist; but broadly, meeting the Neo-nazi of Frederic Forrest is even too far for him. Not a great guy, but not THAT.
And that’s why Michael Douglas has never been better as D-Fens. He finds that complexity. Wrong in so many ways, yet also sympathetic, playing to the greys. That’s the nature of filmmaking and presenting from this point, the line between protagonist and hero is blurry. In another film, the recently passed Robert Duvall’s Pendergrast would be the focus, dealing with a D-Fens threat (remember, he’s likely going to go “home” to kill his wife and kid, if not directly stated otherwise. Barbara Hershey is wonderful as the wife). Instead, by moving the standard following person, it creates a duality of Pendergrast and D-Fense, the other side of the same coin. A retiring police officer is also ignored, put down, and considered obsolete by those around him. Schumacher sees this, sees the world, and choices around these two similar men coming to their specific ends. I appreciate Schumacher’s control, finding the level between them, between D-fens and the world. Falling Down could become a Death Wish clone in other hands, exploitation, or push a higher hell yeah notion. Instead, Schumacher keeps it all simmering, an uncomfortable malaise of the heat of LA, where the smog and tailsmoke place as much of a haze as the purposeful ambiguity. [side note: the LA Riots occurred during filming, bringing an additional level of social commentary, albeit unexpected, but absolutely informing the public perception on release a year later.]
Falling Down, over 30 years on, is still a fascinating piece of cinema, one often seen only on a superficial level, but it contains a depth thanks to Ebbe Roe Smith’s script and Joel Schumaker’s even-handed direction (he often gets cited for the wildness of his Batman movies, but he was a very fine director. Don’t let Batman & Robin overshadow The Lost Boys). Michael Douglas is iconic as D-Fens, and that powerful performance is one of the reasons the film lingers on, still inciting discussion and dissection.
The Presentation
Arrow gives a new 4k restoration, approved by cinematographer Andrej Bartkowiak. Damned good one, working with the heat and haze, the direct and grime of 90s LA. The city is a vibrant and detailed landscape, highlighted by the intensity of the look. I remember watching this on a fuzzy VHS and again on other discs, and is an example of seeing it come clearer and better. The audio is 2. And 4.0. In English with English subtitles.
The Packaging
Arrow presents Falling Down on both 4k UHD & Blu-ray (either/or) on a single disc, with the iconic image of Douglas with a shotgun. The reversible sleeve features the original artwork on both sides in a case matching the choice. IT has a booklet within and an O-sleeve with the standard art on the outside.
The Features
Arrow ports the commentary and Michael Douglas interview from the previous releases and adds several interviews and a location featurette.
Commentary (archival)
This is the sort of commentary that is stitched together of people coming and going. The main chatters are Joel Schumacher and writer Ebebe Roe Smith, but also present are editor Paul Hirsch, LA Times writer Shawn Hubler, and actors Michael Douglas, Frederic Forrest, and others. IT’s a great commentary. It’s very insightful in the methods and madness of D-Fens and all around him. Of course, plenty of talk in the hows of filmmaking, but I appreciated the whys of it all for the character and his world. Really digs in.
Man on the Edge (new)
Screenwriter Ebe Roe Smith talks about his original ideas of film and how it was molded from thought to film, his career as an actor and writer, and the time since in resolution to the film. Good stuff, as on the commentary, he has plenty to say and does it well. (18m) (side note: this interview is how I learned Schumacher died in 2020. I missed that somehow.)
At War with the World (new)
Composer James Newton Howard talks about his collaborations with Schumaker and how this film helped him become a name in the industry, along with the process. (9m)
Going Home (new)
One of my favorite types of features – locations! Seriously. I love seeing how a place changes over time and just how filming locations are used. It immerses me. Here, we’re guided through D-Fens’s journey across LA and see the differences. Being a film, his journey actually goes all over rather than the straight line of the film. (13m)
Deconstructing D-Fens (Archival)
Michael Dougas talks about the complexities of D-Fens and getting into his head, how he worked the character, and where he lies. Across all the features, I really appreciate the insight. (10m)
Original Trailers
Two trailers, 2.5 minutes each.
Image Gallery
163 images from production and publicity.
Booklet
Included is a bound 25-page booklet. In addition to the standard info/transfer/photos are two essays. In ” I’m The Bad Guy? Nostalgia, America, and the Military Imagination in Falling Down” by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas describes D-Fens to an older, White Male America, and the shifts of the early 90s in culture, thus informing the film. “White Collar: The Look of D-Fens” by Simon Ward continues with D-Fens as a man out of time, lost to the past. Both essays continue to explain how insightful this release is upon the character and film.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Joel Schumacher’s Falling Down remains an intense and powerful film, one that still gets conversation. And for good reason, there’s a lot to unpack even after countless viewings. Arrow gives the film a great-looking transfer and a wonderful set of features to build the world and culture around it, leading to further discussion.