Friday, February 19, 2010

The Other Massachusetts

By Lars Trodson
 
Today marks an unusual event in movies. Rarely do you have two movies released on the same day that are directed by two legitimately legendary figures. It’s one thing if Michael Bay and McG release a movie on the same date, but quite another when its Martin Scorsese and Roman Polanski.
 
And each of their films take place in Massachusetts, oddly enough. One, “Shutter Island”, helmed by Scorsese, was filmed at least partially in the Bay State. The other, “The Ghost Writer”, was made by Polanski. I read that Polanski had to shoot his film in Germany because, of course, he can’t visit America.
 
And while Scorsese shot some interiors and exteriors in Massachusetts, the trailer makes it look like some of it was also filmed off the coast of Transylvania, if Transylvania had a coast. I don’t recognize those high black jagged rocks that I see in the trailer. I expect to look up and see Dracula’s castle.
 
It reminds me of the time when I went to see a Jackie Chan movie called “Rumble in the Bronx.” There was a scene where these guys were playing golf on a course somewhere in or around that borough of Manhattan. Just behind the golf course were these huge, plush, tropical mountains. I thought, hmmm, I’ve never seen those before.