'A' masterpiece of 'B' genius

Rating: 10/10 (15 May 2001)

In the hands of Tim Burton the story of Edward D. Wood Jr  widely hailed as the worst filmmaker of all time  becomes a magnificently bizarre comic-tragic tale of a unique artist' and his struggle to make incredibly bad movies. Set during the Halcyon days of B' movies in the 1950's, Ed Wood' examines in great sympathetic detail the life, loves, film directing and cross-dressing habits of a man who has symbolised everything that is bad about motion pictures. Wood was a native of small town America who came to Hollywood to achieve fame and stardom just like so many others, and in the process he achieved just that but for all the wrong reasons. Artistically inept in every way, each of his theatrical and cinematic features was always greeted with groans of horror and disbelief on the part of critics and producers alike. Yet with this film the tragedy of Wood's abysmal work was introduced to another generation of moviegoers who were prepared to fondly recognise the eponymous hero as the King of bad movies  a title he truly deserves.
Depp in the role of Wood provides another characteristically quirky performance, brimming with exuberance, passion and a little self deprecating irony. Burton's film  beautifully shot in black and white  paints a loving portrait of the artist as a young battler, determined to realise his vision in its entirety and yet completely oblivious to the fact that he just had no ability whatsoever. A film that could so easily have been a cruel parody about a talentless no-hoper has under the masterful and subtle direction of Hollywood's later day Ed Wood become a wistful homage to a man with a vision that no one wanted to see.
Central to this movie is Wood's friendship with the ailing washed up Bela Lugosi  a major motion picture star who achieved international fame as the lead in the 1931 version of Dracula' and then gradually plummeted into obscurity and drug addiction. Lugosi stared in many of Wood's most famous films including Night of the Ghoul', the unforgettable Glen or Glenda' and the one widely regarded as the worst ever committed to celluloid, Plan 9 from Outer Space'. Martin Landau both looks and sounds like the downtrodden movie star who is desperately trying to recapture glimpses of his former glory, and deservedly won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the role. Ed Wood's reverential treatment and acceptance of the man everyone else forgot is the touching heartbeat of the film that sketches its characters as so inherently likeable despite being outcasts of society.
With its inspired casting and evenly paced direction that blends a mixture of horror, comedy and tragedy, Ed Wood' is perhaps the finest film in Burton's distinguished yet highly unusual career. In some respects it works well as a later day Sunset Boulevard', a damning indictment of Hollywood's shunning of the little guy and burying the stars that have lost their appeal, yet on the other hand it is reverential biopic of a man who followed his dreams and visions as diligently as his mentor Orson Welles  although without the same degree of success. The principle strength of the film lies in the outstanding performances of Depp and Landau, with a supporting cast including Sarah Jessica Parker as his demented girlfriend, Patricia Arquette as his one true love, and Bill Murray as camp would be transsexual providing excellent support.
Wood may well have been the worst film maker of all time, yet as Tim Burton himself said `It takes talent to make a really good movie, but it also takes talent to make a really bad movie.' Wood never compromised what little artistic integrity he had, and in the process he has given us some rare atrocious gems to savour. These in turn have provided Burton with enough material to make a Grade A' film that celebrates the life of Wood and shows him as a man with a vision who was prepared to realise it at any cost. Finally we get to see that vision as it was originally intended. Quite simply this film is a masterpiece.