The Unfilmable Movie: 24 Years of Failure | Video Essay (feat. Benjamin August Literature)
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- Опубліковано 27 тра 2024
- “Your heart’s desire is to be told some mystery. The mystery is that there is no mystery.” - Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian is widely considered to be one of the Great American Novels. And yet, over the 24 years that the film rights have been available, it’s never had a film adaptation that reached completion. Why? Well, one thing’s for sure: It’s certainly not for lack of trying.
Huge thanks to Benjamin August Literature for collaborating on this project with me! Check out his channel here for more Blood Meridian content:
/ benjaminaugustliterature
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Special thanks goes out to our patrons for making this possible! Thank you so much to Rachel DeLisio, Ethan Rudder, Peter DeLisio, Lisa DeLisio, Mariah Helm, Samuel Copeland, John DeLisio, Jeanette Clark, Heather & Michael Clark, & Hero.
Another big thanks to KaiAfterKai and Afterthoughts from the Essay Library for proofreading and giving me amazing script feedback!
Music Used (in order):
New Equipment (Firewatch OST), Full Steam Ahead (Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks OST), Stay in Your Tower and Watch (Firewatch OST), The Lumpy Pumpkin (Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword OST), Serenity - Prof. Riddman, Tranquility - Prof. Riddman, A Quiet Time (Red Dead Redemption 2 OST), rose - lukrembo, More Gun (Team Fortress 2 OST), Lonesome Town (Red Dead Redemption 2 OST)
Sources:
www.indiewire.com/2016/02/joh...
Adapting Cormac McCarthy: Tracking Blood from Page to Screen - Stacey Peebles, 2017
Blood Meridian- Screenplay - William Monohhan, 2004
www.showbiz411.com/2016/05/05...
www.nytimes.com/1985/04/28/bo... - Фільми й анімація
this video sucked lol
Lmao yea
@@chriscampbell5417 who hurt u
Wow. What an ass-backwards comment, I hope you're being sarcastic. This was an excellent video - great depth of discussion, damn fascinating topic, very solid presentation, and obviously a ton of background research.
@@chriscampbell5417 The opinion of Tenacious D fans should not even be acknowledged on the internet or in real life
@@chriscampbell5417 continue coping by all means
It's not unfilmable, but it's probably un-Hollywoodable. This story reminds me that those who hold rights without producing the goods should lose those rights.
I agree!! I think it’s high time Rudin lets go of the rights so someone else can take a stab at it. I’m firmly a believer that a Blood Meridian movie could be amazing!
@@SocraticCinema I throw Peter Jackson into the ring as someone who might be able to handle the violence and gore suitably.
@@davidmcbryde3570 I agree someone else should be given the opportunity. But, Peter Jackson...No...just, No.
@@rustyshackelford934 jackson's gore is amazing and I would love to see him do BM a la LOTR + Braindead
@@baldanders if service level gore is all you want from an adaptation of Blood Meridian, then there’s plenty of people that could handle it, and there wouldn’t be such trouble for filling the job. But to find someone who could really capture it all, the violence, the ethereal nature and the philosophical struggles of the human condition in such an insane and powerful novel you need someone who is more than good with special effects. To stay true to the novel, you need someone who can think out of the box, and Peter Jackson is not it. I mean, I’m not even a fan of his interpretation of LOTR. I didn’t care for them to begin with, but I especially did not after I read the books. He took the surface level shit and was not able to capture the essence.
If someone complains that Blood Meridian isn't an authentic western, that's a deeply ironic claim from a complete lack of historic education. It was painstakingly written from countless primary historic sources McCarthy spent 7 years studying. You could say it's the "only" authentic western, lol. If you read "Notes on Blood Meridian", you come to the horrific realization that its a shockingly accurate work of historic fiction. Even small characters are usually real life people.
I always saw it as a “anti-western” and an “anti-violence” novel. Like a “Here’s what happened from the eyes of scalp-hunters, what a lot of western cowboys were like, here’s how violence was perceived in the era, and it’s bad.”
@@L_For_Literature To say that it's an "Anti-Violence" is partially correct and close to the moral point of the story - but I think it's so much more than that: Violence is the center piece of the novel: it's given pseudo-religious sanctity and presented *without* moral arguments. It is entirely spectacular. It's portrayed as horribly, powerfully and poetic as possible.
What makes Judge Holden such a powerful villain is that his arguments and motivations are nightmarish, BUT wholly correct and assumed as such - the author is proposing that the world is in fact so dark and horrible because Judge Holden is....correct. This story (in broad strokes) factually happened.
So, I would build off of your point by saying that the central narrative is a "biblical" style morality myth that shows violence as a pseudo-spiritual disease that holds the same place in men as a religion because of violence's hideous power and primacy in nature. The book depicts violence as violent men see it - it's spectacular and darkly thrilling - it demands attention and your participation in it. BUT - evil's true goal isn't just to kill you, but prevent you from reaching out to higher purpose. It's a Gnostic tragedy about someone who fails to awaken spiritually as a hero - and for his inaction - dies having never realized a life outside of hell or worth living.
"The true power of evil is that it forces all who fear it to imitate it."
I like your take. Dr. Hungerford said a lot of the same things in that two part lecture at Yale.
Thank god you put the only in '', cause Red Dead's 8 painstaking years of creation didn't go to waste for authenticism in western.
@@judgeholden6761I think assuming Mccarthy agrees with the Judge is also assuming Mccarthy loves the trio in Outer Dark. He doesn't. If he did, he wouldn't portray them so disturbingly.
If wendigoon could only condense it down to 5 hours, any attempt by a film maker to half that would be spitting on art.
Did he do an adaptation or did he spend five hours barreling down the camera and summarizing the plot?
Give it a watch he goes through the plot and does the best analysis of the book that I’ve heard. Truly a deep thinker.
@@ParkerTJames he’s doing analysis now? This is news to me, last I checked in he was just summarizing copy pastas and hawking merch.
@@xIQ188x wendigoon sucks, hopefully WF does a review. At least we know it would actually be researched and not just a reading of the wiki page while wendigoon laughs and mocks it.
@@honorablegent1201you didn’t watch the video lol
The Judge in cinema needs to be exactly like he was in the novel. As Tobin told the Kid, "He appeared to be a lunatic, and then not." The Judge should appear almost reasonable, someone you'd want to root for, and then turn on the audience, revealing his true colors. If he's too cut and dry, it would come across as cheap.
Yeah the only performance I can think of that captures what I would like to see in the judge is Brando in Apocalypse Now.
I would have him portrayed as jovial and almost carefree. That would make the scene of him in his room with the children even more shocking
@@mrttripz3236 yeah Brando is the only one that could pull this off right - I can’t think of anyone
Philip. Seymour. Hoffman. We lost a great chance in his passing. I always pictures him as the judge after watchin the master.
Gandolfini
The violence would absolutely have a place in modern media but the problem there would be that most people who are into violent things today are in it for the pure exhibitionism. Those people are not Cormac’s intended audience. He is not showing all this violence because it gives him a kick. The purpose of the violence, I believe, is to highlight the horror of the fact that this is existence. That you are alive, living your one life, and this is how it is spent. Surviving unimaginable horror despite being surrounded by so much complex fascinating beauty.
It would also be a very volatile in todays ultra social justice warrior scene with how all the races are depicted (First Nation people, whites, blacks, Hispanics, the fool/disabled character, etc…) it would be like setting off a powder keg!
@@meg2249 which sux coz the more we pretend Those things didn't exist the more we are going to get blindsided by them
Sad but true. They both become less meaningful when never discussed or treated with anything beyond a very surface level "that's bad", and also become more appealing to people as edgy attitudes to adopt when they become too taboo for public perusal
@@meg2249 oh and let's not forget the state of Florida who wants to erase history and act like none this happened. Social justice indeed 🥴
@@meg2249 you seem like the sort of person to say that Blazing Saddles couldn’t be made today. The entire point of the novel is that the good old days of the old west were violent and that the genocide of natives was evil, two things the reactionary right not only disagree with but are actively trying to erase. The idea that it would trigger the snowflakes is silly, especially considering how “woke” this book was for its time.
You know who should direct "Blood Meridian"? Robert Eggers.
Eggers is amazing
The sheer amount of funding needed to film this, he'd have to get studio funding, and give up rights to the final cut, which he swore he'd never again give up after The Northman
yes.... no. maybe!
Eggactly!!! He would capture the mood.
Yes, I’ve thought this for a while. Eggers uses surrealism and colorful dialogue in his films really well
If you read the book, the kid is never mentioned amongst the group who scalp their enemies. The story only mentions the kid afterwards, after the rest of the gang does their thing.
The kid is a perfect impression of the reader. Detached, yet present. Like a reader of a story. Or when you dream. If the kid scalped people in the story in your mind, then he did. But since it's never mentioned, I feel it says more about the reader as to what the kid partook in other than what the story explicitly says.
Doesn't Judge Holden say some stuff towards the kid (or perhaps it was directed at Tobin, or perhaps it's meant to be ambiguous as to who the remarks were meant for) that he never really fit in with the gang, was not a true believer in Holden's Cause, etc? When it's just the three of them.
@@fuzzydunlop7928 Towards the end, he says he kid's heart was never in it, and only one person in the Glanton gang didn't commit his life to war.
Thanks, i watched the wendigoon video too
@@boskilingenfelter9515 Audiobook was only ten hours long, so I listened to it at work. I guess the next time someone recommends a book, I'll just say no. Since I'm not allowed to find things I discover interesting. The guy in this video didn't even read the fuckin book lmao.
???
One of the main appeals of blood meridian is the style and beauty of it's poetic prose. Every page is full of beautiful sentences presented in an epic biblical structure, there's hardly any plot to justify making a film and without Mccarthy's language it would just be a boring mess. Cormac Mccarthy's writing is just amazing. Profound, powerful and poetic. Truly a genius of our times.
This.
his writing is pretentious & boring. Acres & acres of "poetic prose" everyone's so giddy about is just purple fluff. And no novel is too good for quotation marks.
@@JackieBillyTom Simply not true.
@@L_For_Literature simply 10000% true
@@JackieBillyTom writing is pretentious when the words and sentences hold no sustenance and make no sense, but the writer is intending to sound big brained. This isn’t the case with McCarthy. Just because you have poor reading comprehension doesn’t mean the writing is pretentious.
You’re mad he writes better than you could ever dream of writing. Saying something is pretentious is pretentious. Go read some more modern day trash, bud.
James Franco thinking he has the chops to pull off Blood Meridian is pure hubris, like he makes a few stoner movies and thinks he can film one of the greatest American novels ever written
I mean when you check out his non-stoner content he knows what he’s doing. He did a really good stage production of “of mice and men”
One of the greatest novels ever? 😂
He did a pretty faithful interpretation of Child of God and it was good but it is, without question, the worst date movie ever: grim, unstinting, and just gross. It performed poorly at the box office and critics didn't like it. The thing is, it was a faithful rendering of the novel. If he took the same tack with Blood Meridian it would've been the same thing, just with a larger budget. It would have been good, box office poison. Franco also did a really good, faithful-to-the-book job with As I Lay Dying and it didn't do well either. If the theatre-going public was a bunch of bibliophiles who wouldn't tolerate any alteration to great novels Franco would be the man, but they aren't.
Hes actually a pretty good actor he probably could have played the kid pretty well but as far as directing idk about that
@skeletorlikespotatoes7846 yes, it's in the running for greatest American novels ever.
As intimated in the video, the spirit of McCarthy's novel has been adapted for the screen. The 2005 Australian drama 'The Proposition', directed by John Hillcoat to a screenplay by Nick Cave, a McCarthy admirer, captures much of the flavor and existential dilemmas of McCarthy's modern masterwork.
100%. The Proposition is incredible.
I agree.
But it's an intimate, smaller work.
Assassination of Jesse James is very good too and did a great job with Ron Hansen's prose and tone poem sections
Everyone watch Wendigoon’s video on this book it’s awesome and well worth it despite the video length. He goes into more detail of the plot/characters/etc of the book
Or don't spend 5 hours listening to someone paraphrase the novel and just read it yourself, it's worth it
@@paulyp36 Why not do both? Read the book first, obviously.
No
@@paulyp36 He even says to read the book first, video is still entertaining either way.
Man. I would kill for a Scorsese Blood Meridian. Even if it wasn’t perfect, you know at least some of the scenes would be amazing.
30 years ago.
Scorsese wouldn't do well with westerns.
@@clintjanes3784 were gonna have to wait and see with killers of the flower moon
After seeing how he did Last Temptation of Christi feel like his adaptation of Blood Meridian would have been incredible
@@summerrose791 even after the disaster of " the departed " ?
This is so fucking cool, I'm so glad Cormac McCarthys Blood Meridian is getting more and more popular even outside us book nerd clan.
Thank you! Slowly but surely, I’m joining you all haha
@@SocraticCinema You goddamn better!
You need professional help if you think this book is cool or even good. It's trash.
Ohhhhh so it wasn’t a hit? Only had a few thousand fans? Give it UP! You ain’t special you didn’t discover anything,….the book was HUGE…..Christ you have GOT to be 14 or some nonsense to even write that out and press send 🙄😂🤣😂
The greatest movie that can never be made. To do it right:
1. NC-17 rating
2. At least 5 hour runtime
3. Huge budget and insane cinematography. Simple shots of men on horseback won't cut it, every scene would have to be surreal and horribly beautiful.
4. Actually sorting out the plot and true meaning of each scene, ESPECIALLY the ending. The ending is one of the most debated in literature, and interpretations of the ending effect how you recall the entire book. In truth, there are 4 or 5 versions of Blood Meridian in my head depending on how you interpret the ending. That would be near impossible to recreate on camera.
5. Casting the judge near impossible.
6. Doing justice to the prose.
I think Bryan Cranston would be a great judge. He did such a great job being the "good and bad" guy in breaking bad
@@bringme1kscrubscribers10 while Bryan Cranston is a great actor, I don't think he's imposing or intimidating enough for a character such as the judge.
Rory McCann
Brendan Fraser, Christian Bale or Bradley Cooper as The Judge.
@Eric Brown none of which are even close to 7ft
So hear me out: Blood Meridian as a fully cell-animated or stop-motion feature. Yes, it would take two to three times as long to make and animated features for adults are still a hard sell, but you could capture both the beauty and the surrealness without it seeming out of place, the violence could be stylized without feeling sanitized, and you could open up casting to people who have good vocal presences if not necessarily physical ones.
The only person who I think could probably have done it would have been prime Alejandro Jodorowsky. The level of violence and philosophy in El Topo is the only filmic parallel to McCarthy's vision of the Old West I can think of.
He has the mysticism but lacked the overbearing martial determinism required for this tale.
Jodo always lets you know that it's a play thru his ludic games.
It would have to be a vanity project.
Made by a millionaire fan who doesn't care about critics or profit but is literally just making the movie for themselves to watch and any others that might be interested.
That’s me. Am working on an idea.
Does anyone truly think Franco could do this book justice????
In a word… no. Does anyone actually like Franco at all?
@@grigoregruesome3606 have you seen his adaptions of Faulkner's As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury? Both so bad makes you want to weep. Must of been the way he was raised.
I wasn’t sure wether to thumbs up or down but no he absolutely would try and get naked and rub his balls on the script.
@@grigoregruesome3606 I like his comedies. I also thought The Disaster Artist was pretty good. Not sure how good an adaptation of a serious novel he could pull off.
Absolutely not. Franco is a chump.
Someone else mentioned Robert Eggers as a potential director, which I believe is a grand choice, but I also believe Paul Thomas Anderson would be an exquisite selection. Much as he's not particularly big on overt violence in his works I very much imagine that he would be willing to cross that line for the sake of a faithful adaptation of this book.
Outside lf Eggers I'd love to see either Ari Aster, Tarantino, or Denis Villenuve. Either a short series or two movies can work imo. It will be rated R for sure, and most countries would ban it. And it would barely make any money unless the whole movie is good, which in turn makes it a cult classic.
@@marcocarmona4463 An HBO backed mini series by Eggers/PTA would be a dream come true.
The monkey paw closes a finger, you get a Blood Meridian movie directed by Paul W Anderson
If they gave Eggers a real budget he’d pull it off for sure. No doubt in my mind that he’d capture the prose perfectly based off everything he did with The Lighthouse, even with how he sort of obfuscates the audience’s perception of the truth. And not that The Northman is nearly as brutal as Blood Meridian but he certainly pulled off a similar brutality (periodically) in that. Not to mention his insane attention to historical details like the linguistics. Aside from The Northman with all the studio interference, the language in all of his movies is perfectly accurate. Idk if he’d even want to adapt it but he’d be great if he did
@@marcocarmona4463 Tarantino? Give me a break... Tarantino makes cartoons.
Remember... "Come and see" was filmed... blood meridian can be filmed
Come and see is PG-13 compared to what Blood Meridian would have to be to not be a complete joke.
Not a fan of the prospect of a mini-series. We need a precisely and poignantly written, aggressively produced yet intricately directed 3 hour cinematic experience and NO LESS.
I could see either one working out. If you want to capture all the detail and minutia of the book it has to be a mini series.
If you want to capture the energy and emotion of the book it has to be a movie
I always thought it fit more as a mini series. But lately I’ve been more interested in seeing it as a film. I think it needs to be 3h at the least though. Possibly longer for the ending to have any real punch
A miniseries is the only way justice could be done to the book.
I think the sweet spot would be two films
@@theadversary really? I dont know. Where would you end the first one? The more I read it the more I think it could be done in one, however, one long film.
The guy who made Tomahawk Bone could pull off this adaptation. Or Mel Gibson could also do it
I think Damian Leone could do it, have you seen terrified 2? He did great with the added element of surrealism to the violence and the magnetic performance of the clown. If he were given an actual small budget instead of nothing, which is what two hundred thousand dollars is, even a million, he could do it. Just have it done at an art house studio like IFC Midnight or A24. Not sure about Focus though, that studio apparently screwed over Robert Eggers when he wanted to make The Northman more transgressive of a revenge tale.
That's a tall order. Zahler is a good choice but it should be episodes not a full length feature. 1great season would be perfect.
I think if you got A24 to do it and found a director from Scandinavia, it would work. Some trippy Swedish art film maker could do it.
S.Craig Zahler is probably the best guy to tackle this adaptation. He's known for his nihilistic and slightly fantastical spins on genre films while keeping it all grounded enough. I would love to least read a draft of his adaptation of Blood Meridian.
@@paintingcube3853Terrifier 2 is like a fucking Hallmark movie with gore added lmao. He knew he couldn't get funding to make a dumb movie about some chick whose dad was a comic writer, a magic sword, and other fantasy nonsense. He shoved Art the Clown into it and called it "Terrifier 2" bc he knew that's the only way he was getting any budget, he just shoved the two ideas together and it's terrible (especially the ending). There's no reason he should be given a titan like Blood Meridian.
I would love to see an animated 3-part miniseries of Blood Meridian which captures the spirit, violence, and evil of the American classic! What do you think?
If you read the book the kid is not really mentioned in the blood shed allowing you to determine the kid’s role & how involved he was allowing audiences to form their own opinion of the kid
Hard to do if you make a film/show bc it strips the watcher of the ability to form their own vision of the kid or to interpret their actions
Because of how long it is, whoever will direct should be allowed to make it into a 2-part film in the same way Andy Muschetti did his remake of "It" and how Denis Villeneuve did his remake of "Dune."
Villeneuve is a helluva good director.
@@bluegregory6239Or maybe get Villeneuve to direct it?
@@David-dc3nk Not a bad idea. His body of work is impressive.
Did people just forget about the dark westerns of the 60s and 70s? While nowhere near as bad as Blood Meridian, the Great Silence I’d say is pretty horrifying movie, Loco is an exceptional villain.
If it isn't done in the next few years, I will adapt this incredible and harrowing book into a true cinematic and vivid spectacle. Completely true to the story
aye I'll be a key grip or sth
word i’ll be your dp or something
Honestly I think a fan making a film adaptation would be better than some Hollywood director doing it. The movie would be best if made by an idie studio, major studios would be too much of a wimp to show all the gore and details which is needed to have a faithful adaptation.
@@vengeance1450 I just need to get Michael Madsen to play the judge somehow
i'll do the funding and overview. right after i finish my project. time is the enemy. too many plans, not enough time.
Robert Eggars is the only big filmmaker who could make a faithful adaptation that would work today if you think about it
Ideal directors:
Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Robert Eggers
Alfonso Cuarón
Lynne Ramsay
Paul Thomas Anderson
I love these picks! I think Iñárritu could do a great job based on his work in The Revenant.
How about Coen brothers? They did a pretty good job with No Country for Old Men.
I feel like Oliver Stone could be really good as long as he had a very good and level headed co director to reign in his energy.
This will be unpopular but I think the short attention span and fast paced cinematography that stone loves would be amazing in the scenes of violence and destruction. But there also needs to be slow paced and methodical cinematography for all of the scenes in between.
@@hasancasperlabuschagne7579 I think they could get the action scenes done but I don’t imagine they’d be optimal for the slower scenes
Besides The Coen Brothers, Robert Eggers, and Antonio Campos (barely) it’s just difficult to think of directors with the specific flair and talent to match Cormac’s writing for the novel.
James Mangold, Ang Lee, Richard Linklater or Danny Boyle
S. Craig Zahler, Mel Gibson
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Denis Villeneuve. Cary Joji Fukunaga.
^dudes are just here naming their favorites. Half of these people would be awful.
you put a ton of effort into researching + writing this video and it definitely shows!! i didn't know anything about this subject before watching so i learned something new today. great vid yayyy
Thank you so much kiki!!! that really means a lot to me. It was a lot of fun researching all the weird rabbit holes this story goes down. Now you have some new fun film history to share with your pals!
After seeing what they did to the dark tower I'm okay with this staying a book.
Looks like John Hillcoat (the proposition, the road) is going to direct it. This is a true story. Personally, I think Robert Eggers should direct it.
Excellent video! I've always wanted to hear a streamlined story of the adaptation attempts. Thank you
Glad you liked it! I found myself wanting the same thing, and I figured if I don’t make it, who else will? 😭
Blood Meridian is my introduction to karmic McCarthy as a writer. While listening to the audiobook version of it, I kept imagining Benjamin Byron Davis who played Dutch van Der Linde in Red Dead Redemption 2 as the judge. hopefully if it is ever adapted into film or mini- series they could get him to sign on to play the judge.
The description of the meadow is the one that caught my eye most too! I shared it with all my friends. Really great to see I wasn't the only one who found it breathtaking
This video is amazing! Just finished Blood Meridian, and it really messes with your brain. The difficulty of putting it into cinema is really easy to see in any of the passages of the book. The effort is visible, keep up the great work!
Thank you very much! Means a lot to me :)
Looks like it’s filmable now
Very nice work on this. I had read a lot of this information but seeing it all presented side by side in one narrative is very revealing.
Thank you! That’s why I made it haha, I was tired of tracking down all these different stories and rumors - I wanted there to be one central location for all the info!
I'm surprised Tarantino's never tried this sounds right in his wheel house
so true. I can hear the 70's soundtrack now. Of course, "stuck in the middle with you" will play during the scene where the kid is stuck hiding "between" the judge and tobin. my favorite scene will probably be Toadvine's monologue on the differences between quarter pounders in mexico and the united states, to which the Judge replies "a quarter pounder that exists without my knowledge, exists without my consent." Chills...
i love tarantino but i feel like he’d make the violence too stylised and almost comedic if he adapted blood meridian, which works well in tarantino’s own films but i don’t think would work well with the novel’s narrative
@@Inkypencil22 Yes, I love QT, but he would try to impose his own style too much upon the interpretation, which would not convey the author's genius.
I instantly find you very likeable. You are a breath of fresh air, and even though its not a treasured genre for me i think you are doing a good job
Great video! - of the countless times I've read Blood Meridian - I always think about it cinematically....you've answered a lot of questions I had. Keep up the great work - really interesting stuff
Very insightful, thank you brother
This is a criminally underrated channel. Your production value is really good. Keep at it, and I can tell you will be super successful!
Thank you very much! This just made my day haha :)
I think it's definitely filmable, you just need a director like S. Craig Zahler who's not afraid of bleak cinema and a studio like A24 to back it
After watching Bone Tomahawk....yes
or Eggers. I really think the Coen's should cause No Country is so good.
CORMAC IS MY FAVORITE AUTHOR AND BLOOD MERIDIAN IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOK. CITIES ON THE PLAIN IS MY 2nd. I love this book and with all the violence, there is beautiful descriptions of the landscape, flora and fauna. What a beautiful writer. I read this for the first time while incarcerated it was written so awesomely that I was transported from my confines into the world he depicted. Such mastery with words. His lack of punctuation really helped to place me inside of the movie playing in my head.
2nd best is probably 'Suttree'. I say this after reading all of Mr. McCarthy's novels multiple times and much reflection.
I feel like this movie actually wouldn’t be bad, and the visual medium could really be gorgeous if you combine them. Well, gorgeous and horrifying, seeing the Judge completely naked in the cabinet is one of the scariest things I can imagine
I always thought Villeneuve would be a good pick, it could be split into 2 movies like Dune
Not a bad idea. Villeneuve's body of work is impressive.
This video popped up in my recommendations after watching wendigoon's breakdown of the story. I'm looking to getting the book and experience it for myself seeing as everyone has their own interpretation of the kid.
The test screening for Franco blood meridian is on UA-cam
Excellent discussion. Love how much passion you have for the book.
The Coen Brothers should direct Blood Meridian.
I actually think that Mel Gibson would be a good candidate to direct this movie. He has the guts to make bold and risky films that mainstream Hollywood is petrified of. We know he can depict grisly violence. He would have a deep underlying reverence for the biblical themes of the book.
YeH but he’s investment suicide. His name attached is more like to kill the project before it gets off the ground
Mel Gibson is a racist psychopath with no understanding of Christianity. He would probably think the Judge was the good guy.
Cormac McCarthy wouldn’t want a nazi directing any of his books
Apocalypto was pretty solid film. Squishing a thousand years into a single movie is a bit whack. As a historian I can’t forgive that, but the movie itself was extremely well made. The actors speaking Mayan. Showing the fall of the classical Maya. It’s genuinely a fantastic film and gives a glimpse at what most people can’t comprehend.
With a good book like this, let Mel read it a bunch and he’ll make a good movie out of it.
I agree. Gibson could do well with it. D'Onofrio is the obvious choice to play Judge Holden.
weird how I stumbled upon this video randomly the same day they announced John Hillcoat would be directing a Blood Meridian adaptation lol. Hope it works out for him, I loved The Road.
Thanks, interesting and fun to watch.
Personally, I think a limited series would not be a good idea because breaking a story that intense into chunks inadvertently applies to it the stink of other neo-westerns, which always seem to be trying the sell the soap and get the audience to tune in next week, binge watching notwithstanding. It's only me I admit, but I think that in attempting to recreate the intense and personal experience that reading the book brought to me (and I'm assuming others as well), the story needs to be one singular movie, albeit a long one, which would be just fine with me. Oh, and don't cut out any of the violence. McCarthy did us the literary service of allowing us to look at the gorgon of human depravity by way of polished metal, enabling us to understand, yet not be turned to stone.
i will only be all for it if the cohen bros get ahold of it.
I second the motion. Motion passed.
Lol the song at 16:20 gave me flashbacks of Arthur getting super drunk with Lenny in the saloon, loosing him, and then shouting "LENNY" at everyone
Great video! Congrats for the research and the emotion you put in the video. Saludos from México!!!
I really enjoyed this video! BM is my all-time favourite novel and the history of all the failed adaptations is really interesting. I agree with you about a HBO Limited Series adaptation, there's too many amazing moments to fit into a single two hour(ish) film. Hell, even a film loosely based on Chamberlain's memoirs would be interesting (and less disappointing if it were to flop).
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! That’s really great to hear. Maybe someday we’ll get our HBO show 🥲
Great video dawg, Franco would have butchered Blood Meridian. I think I’d only want to see Coen make it.
Thank you! And yeah…. I’ve seen the Franco test footage since releasing this video and it was not good, to say the least,
Ang Lee, anyone?
Amazing video, you're a great storyteller!
This feels like my call for adventure
For as young as you are you've managed to create a well researched and intresting essay, you have a real talent. Keep it up
Honestly A24 needs to get the rights. Imagine Ari Aster taking ahold of this
upvote this comment more then the video
This one right here.
Came here after watching the Wendigoon video
Hate on Franco all you want. He directed a very good adaptation of Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying."
Cormac McCarthy was a fan of Faulkner's, and tried to use the stream of conscious technique that faulkner helped pioneer. Blood Meridian makes absolute sense for Franco to want to direct it
I remember reading this book and although it was very difficult to make out the exact points the Judge was making in this book, what I could comprehend was some of the deepest philosophical stuff I’ve ever heard in my life about how everything in the universe is essentially war
I swear to the good people of this comment section that I will, to the best of my ability, grow up creating films. Whether it be writing, producing or directing. I am going to attempt to amass enough wealth and notoriety to create the ‘unfilmable film’, or I will go bankrupt trying. Wish me luck.
Hey if you ever get the ball rolling and want someone equally as passionate to help you, reply to this comment and I'll fly out and be there day and night helping you make this thing!
Good luck!
If this adaptation goes well then it better not backfire
Dennis Villenue has shown that can deal with violent material, beautiful cinematography and difficult adaptations. I believe could be a strong candidate
If not Villeneuve, James Mangold could pull it off.
Well done!
Robert Eggers should direct this
Ooooh now THAT i could see!
@@SocraticCinema He would prioritize getting the Judge as unsettling on screen as he is in the book. He wouldn't turn the Kid into a true protagonist or feel the need for a heroic ending either.
No.
I recall reading stories years back that BM was rumored to be directed by Todd Field.
This young man is very talented, I very much enjoyed this video, Blood Meridian is a brutal look at 19th C America/Mexico, a masterpiece.
I haven’t read this book since college 6 years ago. I only thought about it for the first time a couple of days ago. Never searched it up on my phone, never talked about it, I only just thought about it. And now suddenly, out of the blue, out of millions of videos of books in the world, UA-cam recommends me videos on Blood Meridian…
Beautiful work
Thanks for the video. I am almost through my third reading of Blood Meridian and would love to see a film or mini series, done right. The problem of the Kid ostensibly disappearing for lone stretches of the novel is solved if one studies Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev. In Rublev Tarkovsky leaves the main character for long stretches where Rublev is either totally missing or acts as a witness to the world around him. The Kid can be handled in a similar manner. Now who plays the Judge?
Honestly, I think that based on the very little I know about the Judge, Russell Crowe would be a good choice.
I think Rory McCann would do him justice.
Thoroughly enjoyed this, young dude!!! Well done!
The movie Ravenous reminds me of BM. I think the story takes place around the BM timeline. Bone Tomahawk feels similar
I’ve read it three times and believe with the right people involved, it would be able to be filmed, but in a limited series. Only if those that would be doing it had complete creative and editing control and there were no rating issues upon its release. Thanks.
I'm here because of the Hillcoat announcement. Great video.
If they make this movie after I die, I’m asking for a day pass!
Anyone who believes it impossible to put the violence in this book to film needs only to watch The Nightingale (2019)
And to reference another Australian movie, and in my opinion the nearest we've got of Blood Meridian in cinema, The Proposition with the screenplay by Nick Cave.
Excellent commentary. New subscribed. Thanks!
Love the Zelda tracks. I think Terrence Malick may be the only director with a sophisticated enough aesthetic sense and developed philosophical conscience to adapt Blood Meridian, his filmmaking style is the only method truly enigmatic and spiritual enough to capture the sublime indignities and transcendental beauty of the prose. Nature is gorgeous and the violence is orgiastic which is a contrast I think Malick is uniquely equipped to capture. The only problem is I don’t think he’d ever do it, the violence is probably to pornographic for Malick. But we’re just dreaming.
Very interesting- you’re an excellent presenter.
Thank you! That’s very kind :)
I am a writer, unpublished. All my stories are direct representations of dreams I have had that were really long, really vivid & for some reason carried a strong straightforward & cohesive storybook narrative. Epic stories that wrote themselves in matter of moments. In my opinion an anomalous occurrence that must be recorded. Anyway...
One time after i had first began my Blood Meridian obsession in high school i had a dream I was at the movies where showed a trailer for a Blood Meridian movie. I remember feeling very excited & nervous & then waking from fear.
The details i recall is that it had a morbid mutation of Lonesome Dove meets John Wayne epic vibe, like corny & epic tone with very dark & brutal asthetics. It was being narrated/marketed by a theatrical old movie-man voice like a trailer for a western from the birth of color television. Then my dream turned nightmarish as it went on showing saddening montage of clear genocidal imagry with the beauty & production quality of the old American classics. The ending tag line of the trailer was:
"Americans will never feel more ashamed"
Then I woke up.
That's quite a dream. I have frequent vivid and sometimes violent dreams too. I guess mine are a reflection of the fiction I consume.
Blood Meridian would work so well as a film it doesn’t need to be a mini series. You just have to have the right director and screenwriter. We havent seen any good attempts yet, you just have to have the passion for creating this story in the best way possible. It has to be a film version of the story however so different pacing condensed scenes but if done well is totally possible.
Great video! maybe we will get what this book deserves.
You drop almost in passing that you are about to get your hands on the Tesich script that sounds so epic. You MUST let us know how that turns out or post it or something. Huh?
Unfortunately I never did receive it! Not sure why, the library that was supposed to send it to me wound up ghosting me. Wish I could’ve read it!
The child starts in TENNESSEE. Read the book.
One hundred years of solitude was considere unfilmable, yet there is a project running.
The actual issue is convincing new age people to enjoy something different than instant satisfaction.
Damn a series would be epic. HBO jumps to mind. I saw Windagoons video now I’m infatuated with this book. Great video 🙏🏽 thank you
Realized I never left a comment cause all I could think of was “Dang, well now I know a lot about Blood Meridian”
Great research on this, awesome guest too. Question though, if you could get a director for this book who would you pick?
Hmm… Gotta be the Coen brothers! They’ve proven they can do well with other McCarthy novels (No Country For Old Men), so I feel like they could do it justice.
I wonder how Paul Thomas Anderson would handle such an adaptation.
Paul Anderson of Resident Evil fame would beva better choice.
Or the Coen Brothers
Or maybe David Fincher directing, but he's been busy with Netflix
Beautiful use of full steam ahead. God those games were underrated and I loved the score
It’s the writing that is truly amazing and cannot be reproduced on film. Sure, Hollywood does violence very well but unless the director is a real fan of the book and understands what the author is trying to say it’s not going to work. Some of that writing is the best any American author has ever written.
Very cool breakdown! I pretty firmly believe that "unfilmable" is mostly a fake idea. Movies are just really hard to make and sometimes some that should be amazing fall apart. Personally I think getting hopes up for any adaptation of a favorite book is dangerous. They can go so poorly for so many reasons that I prefer to be pleasantly surprised rather than let down...But hey this video reminded me I need to read at least one McCarthy novel soon; any suggestions on a first one?
edit: oh i forgot to say! your voiceover gave me real jacob geller vibes in this one (very good thing)
I agree with you! I definitely think Blood Meridian is filmable, but you’re right that we should be careful about getting our hopes up, especially given the film’s rocky track record. As far as a McCarthy novel…. why not Blood Meridian? 😂 I’ve also heard many good things about The Road, but I haven’t gotten around to that one yet. And thank you very much about the voiceover! I was very self-conscious about this one, especially since I was using the camera for the first time, so it’s nice to hear that it came out alright!
@@SocraticCinema "The Road" is a great first McCarthy read. A lighter touch with the prose, with little of the density of much of Blood Meridian or Suttree. Disturbing all the same, but a very rewarding experience. Great video!
You need to read this book before you make sweeping declarations about how filmable it is.
Whos here after watching wendigoon?