IN DEFENSE OF 'THE ALAMO' FILMMAKERS STRUGGLE TO BE TRUTHFUL IN FACE OF CONTROVERSY.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Writer History is very messy, and Texas history is messier than most. So says filmmaker Joseph Tovares, a Texas native, whose well-received film, ``Remember the Alamo "Remember the Alamo" is an iconic quote in American culture. It spurred on the forces of Sam Houston at the battle of San Jacinto. Background "Remember the Alamo" was a battle cry for Texans during their battle for independence. ,'' premiered earlier this year on PBS' ``American Experience American Experience (sometimes abbreviated AmEx) is a television program airing on the PBS network in the United States. The program airs documentaries about important or interesting events and people in American history, many of which have won impressive .'' ``The frontier was a very unforgiving place. It was never about good guys and bad guys. The truth is in the gray areas.'' Messy history makes for interesting reading, but it has a tougher time fitting into the time constraints In law, time constraints are placed on certain actions and filings in the interest of speedy justice, and additionally to prevent the evasion of the ends of justice by waiting until a matter is moot. of a feature film. John Lee Hancock, another Texas native, knew that two years ago when he agreed to update that most famous slice of Lone Star Lone Star (or Lonestar) may refer to:
Eighteenth-century mission in San Antonio, Texas, site of a historic siege of a small group of Texans by a Mexican army (1836) during the Texas war for independence from Mexico. .'' Still, in hindsight, he admits, ``There's a reason people do epic films with just one character. It's more difficult with an ensemble. You want to represent all these different points of view and you just run out of time. It's incredibly difficult.'' ``The Alamo,'' which opens Friday, is the 13th feature-length film to examine the 1836 siege of the famous San Antonio San Antonio (săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. landmark where fewer than 200 men, including legends like Davy Crockett and James Bowie Noun 1. James Bowie - United States pioneer and hero of the Texas revolt against Mexico; he shared command of the garrison that resisted the Mexican attack on the Alamo where he died (1796-1836) Bowie, Jim Bowie , battled thousands of Mexican soldiers led by dictator Gen. Antonio Lopez Antonio Lopez is also the name of:
``With the John Wayne movie, well, there was a place called 'The Alamo' and there were a few of these famous men there - otherwise you pretty much have to know it didn't happen that way,'' says historian Bruce Winders, curator at San Antonio's Alamo complex. No lone stars And veracity veracity (v  ras´itē),n was important to Hancock, who, like Ron Howard before him, wanted to make an Alamo movie that dealt with facts more than mythology. Howard spent several months in late 2001 and early 2002 honing Honing could refer to
``We did a lot of research, talked to many, many people and spent a lot of time thinking about how to do this thing in a way that had never been done before,'' Howard says. ``It was an ambitious idea and I'm not sure if we ever really nailed it.'' Ultimately, Howard and Disney parted ways, though Howard remained as producer. There were differences over budget (Howard and producing partner Brian Grazer graze 1 v. grazed, graz·ing, graz·es v.intr. 1. To feed on growing grasses and herbage. 2. Informal a. To eat a variety of appetizers as a full meal. were looking at $125 million; Disney wanted to cap it around $80 million), rating (Howard adamantly wanted to make a graphically violent, R-rated movie; the studio wanted a more family-friendly PG-13) and compensation (Howard and producing partner Brian Grazer and actor Russell Crowe, who was to portray Gen. Sam Houston, wanted $30 million up front, plus profit participation; Disney wanted the paydays smaller with more money coming later if the film turned a profit). Hancock, fresh off a left-field hit with the G-rated baseball film ``The Rookie,'' was offered the job after Howard passed. What was he going to say - no? He grew up in Texas City and, like many other Texas boys, played the Alamo in his back yard when he was a kid. ``Lord knows I directed it enough times in that back yard. In some ways, it felt like my personal destiny to make this movie.'' Like Howard, Hancock wanted to make an unsentimental movie, rooted in facts and told from many different points of view. He took a pass at the screenplay, now credited to himself, Gaghan and Leslie Bohem Leslie "Les" Bohem (born 1950) is an American screenwriter and television writer. He is the son of screenwriter Endre Bohem. Les Bohem's writing credits include the miniseries Taken, Dante's Peak, Daylight, and The Alamo. (who originally initiated the idea and took it to Howard). And as much as Hancock wanted to stick to the facts, he found himself incorporating some of the mythology as well. Confronting the legend ``You have to at least acknowledge that it's there,'' Hancock says. ``There were three questions everyone always asked me when I was making the film. Are you going to have (Lt. Col. William) Travis draw a line in the sand? And I did - only it was to show where the well was going to go. The Bowie knife Bowie knife throwing weapon invented by James or Rezin Bowie, frontiersmen in Texas. [Am. Folklore: EB, II: 207] See : Wild West ? Is he going to pull it out? Of course. And the coonskin cap - is Davy going to wear it? And he does in the one scene where he's playing the mythological myth·o·log·i·cal also myth·o·log·ic adj. 1. Of, relating to, or recorded in myths or mythology. 2. Fabulous; imaginary. myth version of himself. ``But I don't see these guys as superheroes Superheroes are fictional heroes who possess abilities beyond those of normal human beings. Superheroes may also refer to:
tr.v. de·bunked, de·bunk·ing, de·bunks To expose or ridicule the falseness, sham, or exaggerated claims of: debunk a supposed miracle drug. it.'' It's a common practice in historical films these days, Winders says. ``There's much more acceptance of flawed heroes in movies now,'' he says. ``In fact, I think people prefer to see their heroes as human.'' Adds Tovares: ``You couldn't make that John Wayne version today and get away with it. Audiences are more demanding.'' Wayne himself didn't get away with it, although his movie has won a devoted following over the past four decades. Both a love letter and a piece of propaganda at a time when Cold War tensions were escalating, Wayne's ``Alamo'' is filled with rousing rous·ing adj. 1. Inducing enthusiasm or excitement; stirring: a rousing sermon. 2. Lively; vigorous: a rousing march tune. 3. patriotic speeches like this one, delivered by The Duke himself, playing Crockett: ``Republic. I like the sound of the word. It means people can live free, talk free, come, buy or sell, be drunk or sober, however they choose. Some words give you a feeling. The same tightness a man gets when his baby takes his first step, or his first baby shaves, and makes his first sound like a man. Some words can give you a feeling that make your heart warm. Republic is one of those words.'' Hancock's ``Alamo'' contains its share of speeches, too, but it tries to give equal air time to the participants. The movie aims to portray the conflict as one that's not simply Mexicans against Americans, but one that includes many Tejanos (Mexicans living in the Texas territory) rebelling against the imposed rule of Santa Anna. ``Everyone has their own Alamo - it's a tough story to tell,'' Tovares says. ``You have the traditional white, Anglo-Texan view of the Alamo. Then you have Mexican point-of-view and then you have the Tejanos, who largely saw their future tied to the influx of Anglos. They were very active in recruiting people to come to the territory.'' A necessary delay Some of the cultural context remains in Hancock's final cut of the film, but most of it ended up being cut as he whittled the movie down from its initial three-hour length. ``The Alamo'' has weathered its share of bad publicity, largely stemming from Disney's decision to move the film from its original December release date. But the postponement was entirely practical. Hancock simply needed more time to put together the pieces in his complicated film. ``It's more historically accurate than any other Alamo film,'' says Winders, who saw the movie twice last week in San Antonio. ``Having said that, I had some folks say they were having some trouble understanding the first part of it. They were trying to set up the historical context for what's going to happen, but when they cut the movie down from three hours, a lot of that explanation got condensed con·dense v. con·densed, con·dens·ing, con·dens·es v.tr. 1. To reduce the volume or compass of. 2. To make more concise; abridge or shorten. 3. Physics a. .'' Hancock believes his ``Alamo'' is the most faithful account yet put on film. Yet he also seems resigned to the fact that the finished product will never exactly be the film he had originally envisioned. ``These are complicated ideas, and people like simple things you can easily grasp,'' Hancock says. ``But at some point, you've just got to put stuff out there and see what flies. I didn't go into this with any political or personal agenda. I was just interested in presenting the history of the thing a little more, and I think we got it up there.'' Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) On the cover: The real Alamo, in San Antonio, Texas “San Antonio” redirects here. For other uses, see San Antonio (disambiguation). San Antonio is the second most populous city in Texas, the third most populous metropolitan area in Texas, and is the seventh most populous city in the United States. As of the 2006 U.S. , as it looks today. (2 -- cover -- color) Reel History `Alamo' filmmakers try to get it right (3) Lt. Col. William Travis (Patrick Wilson, left), Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton Robert George (Bob) Thornton (born July 10 1962, in Los Angeles, California) is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA whose career lasted from 1985 to 1996. He was a 6'10" 225 forward. He holds career averages of 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 283 total games. ) and James Bowie (Jason Patric) stand their ground in ``The Alamo,'' the latest film interpretation of the legendary battle. (4) The 1960 version starred Richard Widmark, left, as James Bowie, Laurence Harvey as Lt. Col. William Travis and John Wayne as Davy Crockett. |
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