Bone DVD Review

Bone DVD Review

Reviewed by SuperNova

DVD released by Blue Underground

Comedy/Drama - 1972
95 minutes/Color
English
Rated R

Directed By: Larry Cohen

Original Story By: Larry Cohen

Produced By: Larry Cohen

Staring: Yaphet Kotto, Jeannie Berlin, Andrew Duggan, and Joyce Van Patten

Plot:

In Larry Cohen’s directorial debut, Bone, we meet a Beverly Hills married couple by the way of Bill and Bernadette. All seems fine as the film opens with Bill (Andrew Duggan) skimming the top of his pool to remove the collected residue of dirt and excessive algae as he fantasizes about his day job of being a used car salesman. His wife Bernadette (Joyce Van Patten) lounges poolside mildly content to not lift a finger as she basks in the sun. Larry Cohen accentuates upon this incompatible relationship by teasing the viewer with two undesirable objectives who neither stimulate or arouse the analyst and have conceded their point of blossom. An argument ensues as Bill discovers a rat has somehow got stuck in the pools filtration system and with both Bernadette and Bill too afraid to retrieve the pesky rodent Bill calls for a pool service company. Trepidation seeps from the atmosphere, as the saturation of uncertainty grows far too apparent when a big black African American known as Bone (Yaphet Kotto) shows up and offers to assist the couple with house chores. Naive to Bone’s intentions the couple invite him inside and so begins a maniacal journey into persuasion and perversion.

Once inside Bone demands money from the couple and is forced to search through various belongings and paperwork to uncover any assets the two may have. The humor plays out like a violin bow against severed arteries as Bone discovers he’s picked the wrong people because Bill and Bernadette have no money to steal. Dissatisfied and angered Bone threatens to rape and then murder Bernadette if Bill doesn’t arrive back at their home by three o’ clock with money withdrawn from an old savings account. Left to fend for herself, Bernadette tries to subdue Bones anticipation by making him food and serving him mixed drinks. The sexual chemistry between the two is fascinating to watch especially when Bone almost commits himself to actually sodomizing her, but stops just right before the act leaving Bernadette to question Bone as a man and his desire to fulfill the growing fantasy between them. Unfortunately the lust between them outweighs the bond Bernadette and Bill have and the two voluntarily commit infidelity.

So where is Bill during all of this? He’s around, contemplating his actual love for his wife and parading around her life in his very own unforgiving hands. What occurs is a perfect example of the addiction our society has for sex and money and the manipulation by the easily misguided. We as a viewer have come to discover both Bill and Bernadette long for something more desirable out of their relationship and this results in the betrayal of love the two had for each other and the underlining of lust and gluttony that plays a pivotal role in the actions in which we partake. It isn’t long before Bone and Bernadette become suspicious of Bill’s return home and decide to go out and search for him. Scared and running for his life Bill now finds himself all alone and without answers. Will Bernadette find him? And if so what will she do to him? Find out when you watch Larry Cohen’s remarkable movie Bone.

Reviewer’s Thoughts:

In Bone Larry Cohen exploits a culture identified by misconceptions and uses bigotry as a context to accentuate upon human nature and the disparities that drain from our posture when required to accept skin tones that don’t correspond with our own. Here Larry Cohen is not trying to make a statement regarding the desegregation that took place in the early fifties, but instead he’s providing us with a theme that exposes the vulnerability of the human conscious and the discomfort between two varying ethnic groups even after all these years of egalitarianism. There’s a sense of apprehension that can’t be subdued and ostensibly is quite evident throughout the picture. It’s a rarity in which we find ourselves mimicked to elaborate upon the desultory and misleading impressions that purposely and vindictively negate what can and should not be. The two lead characters in Bone fallaciously weave a vision that may be examined as fictitious to an extent, but it’s the daring and influential approach by Larry Cohen that suggest rationality isn’t far beyond the preconceptions that plague our daily lives. While Bone doesn’t necessarily taunt our perception with fixations that aim to serve a purpose it does however put emphasis on the stigma being built between diverse cultures.

Bone isn’t a film that tries to associate itself with a commentary parallel to the sanctions of separate but equal. Rather its acknowledgement about such a situation blended with diversity has enough merit to practice the understandings that could be classified as a tutorial for discrimination. Even though Larry Cohen’s intentions within Bone weren’t to establish a monarchy for white supremacists underneath its satire liner exists such a theme. Though delicately infused with dark vulgar humor to make it less apparent the signs are very relevant throughout the film. That’s not to say Bone isn’t a well structured story because indeed it is. Often we make assumptions regarding what it is we fear and cannot easily accept. It’s these assertions that to this day still manage to craft controversy with the slightest of a hand gesture or the reprehensible hate language projected from our voice. The reason why Bone transcends so well to modern life is because of its distinguishing ability to separate cold reality from fictitious incidents. Larry Cohen is fully aware of the subject matter on hand and uses it almost like a narrative to sum up the culmination of our past. Within Bone we meet Yaphet Kotto a big black African American envisioned by Bill and Bernadette who have somehow embodied the image of a man embedded in our mind confined to pick cotton from the fields in the years of slavery.

Yaphet Kotto is such an outstanding actor and certainly adds much significance to this film, which was molded after the character he portrays. It’s with the help of Larry Cohen’s clever directing that Kotto doesn’t come across as a stereotypical character, but rather a man who’s limited to do one job because it’s all he’s ever done. Bone creates sympathy by drawing inspiration from history books and provides us with an outlook some of us will never know or have never seen because of our skin color depicting our life style. Bone could be examined as a thief or even a murderer, but Kotto is able to justify his actions with morality. Andrew Duggan, known as Bill in the movie, portrays a cunning car salesman who lives and breathes to create a rebound of fortune for himself without showing grief for anyone around him. He’s flamboyantly shrewd in the face of jeopardy and is the kind of character who would sell his soul for a small fee. Ingenious, often contradicting and always down to business Duggan plays Bill almost fluently. Joyce Van Patten isn’t eye candy if we can be rational for a moment here, but what she is, is real and defiantly brave when surrounded by inhumanity.

Joyce Patten’s character Bernadette harmonizes contentedly to modern day America and conservative housewives pigeonholed to stay at home and slave over the necessities their spouses wish them to do. In particular cases some women will expand upon they’re failing relationship and seek romance elsewhere to feel the emotions that once surged through their bodies. In Bone the corresponding romance triangle occurs, but opposite finding a new love attractor Bernadette envisions one. From stress to economic differences Bernadette and Bill seem to both suffer in anguish. Their relationship serves no purpose other then to merely fill the empty space between them and their hopes. Neither deserves the other, which ultimately leaves you to question if that’s why they seem so compatible. I believe Bone succeeds as a movie by establishing a specific foundation in which the characters in the film are crafted by the prevailing of their own irrational fear. Larry Cohen does an incredible job by allowing us to see this vision through the eyes of the protagonist. Often intricate at its very best, sometimes confusing and even mysterious, Bone plays out like an aspiration created by the inner self consciousness of Bill and Bernadette draped with calamity that incorporates a significant volume of depravity and nihilism. What occurs on screen could be scrutinized as insensible and a dull staple in the all ready conventional exploitation genre, but to accuse this film of being anything less than an intelligent interpretation of our society at one time or another would be erroneous.

Audio:

Presented here in a Dolby Digital Mono track, Bone sounds adequate enough for a movie its age, but still leaves something to be desired. While voices omit quite lucidly through the front speakers the bass appears to sound a little hollow at times. Dialogue is clear from any muffles and no evidence of audio blips is present. A solid mono track that’s relatively considerable as the majority of the movie concentrates on insinuating motives and paraphrasing judicious antics. The soundtrack was composed by Gil Melle and embodies the southern laid back style of bluegrass. Its connection to the character of Bone in the movie helps weave a solemn tone in the overall atmosphere. The music may seem hardly noticeable, but is subtle enough to remember long after the film ends adding to the profundity and quality this movie seeks.

Video:

Blue Underground presents Larry Cohen’s Bone here in an often gorgeous and always vibrant widescreen 1.85:1 transfer enhanced for 16:9 TVS. For a film over three decades old Bill Lustig’s company deserves a lot of accreditation for taking the time to restore this rarely seen film. Though grain is evident during some scenes by the print offered here the majority of the transfer is nothing short of breathtaking. Colors are deeply saturated and stunningly bold. Exterior and interior daytime shots are beautifully lit without any interference of softness or light fuzziness. Prominently glaring are the flesh tones. Pigments contrast heavily with realism and the close-up contours of Yaphet Kotto’s face can be differentiated immensely. A wonderful transfer that takes advantage of maverick director Larry Cohen’s grace and style and presents it in the original aspect ratio intended.

Special Features:

Released for the first time ever by Bill Lustig’s company Blue Underground, Larry Cohen’s rarely seen movie Bone now has a definitive release on DVD. Housewife, as it was retitled by Jack H. Harris when sold as a sexploitation film, runs twenty three chapters in length and is presented with a commentary track by Writer and Director Larry Cohen, Selected scenes from the aborted first shoot, a Posters and Stills Gallery, Theatrical Trailers, Radio Spots, and a Biography on Director Larry Cohen all courtesy of Blue Underground. The main menu is animated with the musical soundtrack and consists of a chapter’s selection menu, and an extras materials supplement. Bill Lustig accompanies Larry Cohen on this wonderful commentary track for Bone. Enthralling and riveting with intelligence Larry Cohen talks passionately and honestly about the film he was trying to make and the message he shaped everything around. This commentary is highly recommended and I found it to be thoroughly engrossing with information and dedicated to the movie being discussed. There’s a short seven minute interview with distributor Jack H. Harris in which he enlightens us on the problems Bone had trying to find a particular audience and finally after several title changes from Beverly Hills Nightmare, Dial Rat For Terror and even Housewife, Bone managed to do just that. The theatrical trailers feature the film under Jack Harris’s title Housewife, which resembles more of a sexploitation movie and takes away from the concept of Larry Cohen’s vision. It’s a bit provocative and unquestionably controversial for its time.

There is a great collection of photographs in the Posters and Stills gallery ranging from behind the scenes pictures to promotional artwork and even box covers. The radio spot consist of two separate advertisements and run roughly thirty seconds in length. Originally shot on 16mm film before aborting the shoot due to being dissatisfied with the quality of his work, Larry Cohen has provided us with selected scenes from Bone with earlier actors who would go on to be recast. The footage is presented here in black and white with some evident print damage and grain. Running close to thirty minutes in length these various scenes provide a great overview of Bone in the making and the process that was endured to assure the right talent was cast. A lot could be said about Larry Cohen and the unique vision he manages to create. A look at his biography puts emphasis on his long illustrious career and proves that he is one of the most influential directors to grace American cinema and has strived to create story of the macabre and deranged while adding social perspective into the heart of his work. Presented for the first time ever completely uncut, uncensored and loaded with fascinating extras Bone is a DVD you shouldn’t pass up.

Commentary with Writer and Director Larry Cohen

Selected Scenes from the Aborted First Shoot

Poster and Still Gallery

Radio Spot

Theatrical Trailers

Broadband

56K Modem

Larry Cohen Biography

Conclusion:

Bone is a complex examination of our society’s revelation during times of injustice and preconceptions. While not effectively gripping in its overall commentary Larry Cohen does create a remarkably solemn tone that suits Bone quite adequately. Passed off as a comedy though not originally intended to be, Larry Cohen’s Bone remains to be one of the director’s more sincere films that decisively deals with controversy without being too eccentric and narcissistic so that the subject matter on hand still remains faithful to the directors vision.

Movie ***½/*****
Audio ***/*****
Video ****/*****
Supplements ****/*****