FIRE SALE
US, 1977, 88 minutes, Colour.
Alan Arkin, Rob Reiner, Vincent Gardenia, Anjanette Comer, Kay
Directed by Alan Arkin.
Take your average U.S. TV situation comedy episode, exaggerate the characters beyond parody, point and pepper with black satire and you'll be on the wavelength of Fire Sale. You'll probably laugh/chuckle all the way through, despite the strident tone and the targets close to home. Is Australian society very different from American? If you like your laughs straightforward and not too pointed, leave this film alone. Alan Arkin acts and directs this tale of your average American family, exhibiting the lunatic side of attitudes and behaviour: parents adopting seven-foot negro basketball star orphan, a funeral social before the death, refrigerator suicide attempt, fire and life insurance and arson, etc. etc.
1. The significance and tone of the title? The ironic happy ending after all the details in preparation for the burning of the shop? The visualising of the credits and their tone for the rest of the film?
2. The nature of black comedy? Audience enjoyment of it, appreciation of the satire, the exaggerations, the poses, the excessive dialogue etc.? Audience ability to see this kind of black humour? Its coming close to the bone and audiences rejecting it? The accepted styles of exaggeration within a framework of realism? Black comedy and the offence to ordinary taste? For a purpose?
3. The film as an example of American black comedy? Its parallelling of the basic situation comedies of television? Its taking a typical American family, the grandparent generation, the children? The presentation of events and situations likely to be found in such television series and exaggerating them, showing the lunatic side of them? Showing the values and lack of values in these situations? A comedy of exaggeration? How well did this film blend taste, expectations, exaggeration?
4. The comedy of lunacy and insanity? How does it contact and communicate with an audience? The humour of the dialogue and its exaggeration and an at atmosphere of laughing? How much insight via exaggeration and laughter?
5. The film as loud, showing the various paranoias of modern America? The taking of the family unit as a microcosm of America? The taken-for-granted atmosphere of society, wealth, manners, style? The picture of the American dream of affluence and success? The non-toleration of failure? The parent expectations and the pressure on the children? The nature of family relationships, the ambitious and wealthy father and his managing of things, and dominating mother (and the absentminded mother)? The particularly Jewish tone of this comedy? The next generation mirroring the older - and moving towards it? The family relationships, not listening?
6. The introduction to E and Marian? Their successes and their failures, their relationship, the lunatic side of their daily behaviour, their place in the family, the arguments about having a child, their ways of communicating and not communicating, Marian not listening? E and the refrigerator scene - and death. The question of adoption, of work?
7. E and his role as a basketball coach - his success and lack of success? The visualising of the training sequences, the song, play? The importance of money? Ezra's hopes for money? The scene of his son and the humorous background of the adoption - the fact that he was seven foot, negro, sixteen? Bringing him home and Marian's immediate acceptance of him, treating him as a baby? The finale with his grandparents seeing him? E= and his life dominated by fear - his crawling back to his father on his hands and knees, his abuse of his brother, his defiance? His hopes for the game and his son's failure and fear, the team booing him and Ezra going ahead with the fire plan? (And the irony of Marian treating him like a child, nursing and encouraging him, and gaining the position of coach?)
8. The parallel of Russell with Ezra? The nervousness of his asthma, his fare, the clandestine meetings with Virginia? His inability to cope with the shop? His father's pressure and ridiculing him, as with Ezra? His decision to buy, getting the new stock, decision about the insurance? Trying to cope with his father and mother in the hospital? Trying to cope with Ezra and their verbal and physical fights? The plan for the shop? The raising of the money? The combining with Ezra at the finale to prevent the fire? The irony of Russell and Ezra being blessed with financial success and independence from their father?
9. Fikus - in himself, as a father? Arrogant, his health, his age? His relationship with Bertha and the way they talked to each other? The humour in detail of their going away on holiday, the loading of the car? The irony of his treatment of Sherman and his plans for the burning of the shop? The black humour of his collapse, his illness in the hospital, being turfed out of the hospital because of not having money, his wife thinking he was dead, his sons coming to him and arguing with him, the preparation for the insurance deal, the measurements for the coffin, Sherman coming to get him and his presence at the fire? What satire in the presentation of the American father? (The success of the mutual groaning and asthmatic scene with Russell?)
10. The portrait of the American mom with Bertha? Her values, absentmindedness, taking the photos during the trip, her incessant chatter, holidays in Florida, thinking the hospital was a hotel, playing bridge, not understanding what was wrong with her husband, continually talking to him while he was in coma, the painting of the home and her absentmindedness in talking with Russell and Ezra, realising he was not dead after preparing the coffin and the suit, the humour of the caterers who had done her hysterectomy. her behaviour at the party? The speeches? The satire on the American mother?
11. The presentation of Al as the businessman and his deals with Russell and delivering the clothes. taking them back and then leaving them when the money was there - the greedy businessman?
12. Virginia and her pushing of Russell - and the happy ending after they were married?
13. The humour with the painters in the house and their carrying Fikus around on the bed. the decisions about the colour, the psychology and the painter telling Mrs. Fikus about her husband? His wearing the suit. being asked to make the eulogy - and because he didn't know him not telling lies?
14. The ironic comedy with Sherman and his shell-shock, the American memories of the war, the detail of his getting out of the hospital and his leaping over the wall, being dragged by the truck. stealing the wheelchair, going down the highway with the police chasing him, going round in circles and making the policeman crash. his arrival at Fikus' place and getting the information, the way that he played with fire, the hypnosis and his falling asleep and the explosion. his success in burning the shop down? How heavy the satire?
15. The presentation of the police and their exasperation especially the man with the motorbike?
16. The nature of the insurance claim and Fikus' reaction to Russell's plan, Ezra and Russell combining to save the shop, their stealing the fire engine, the truck, the knocking over of the motor cycle, their seeing their father, the mix-ups and the slapstick at the burning of the shop? The background information of the team winning the basketball?
17. The burning of the shop and their transition to the successful finale of the Fire Sale, success for the two sons after their deal with their father, the family going on
holidays and the pregnant wives?
18. The irony of having a happy ending for this kind of film?
