The
Director
Excited by the possibility of
updating and rewriting my screenplay about Antonio Maceo, I began to re-visit
books by Syd Field and Robert McGee and others that promised
to unleash the secrets of successful screenwriting… I also started reading
screenplays with more frequency, even if they had nothing to do with waging war
or achieving independence from a mean and powerful empire.
Some screenplays I couldn’t put
down, such as Tarantino’s “Reservoir
Dogs.” And others I enjoyed more than the actual movies, such as Steve Martin’s “LA Story” and
Tarantino’s “Natural Born Killers.”
Lucky for me the San Francisco
Public Library had lots of screenplays I could borrow, and many screenplays
were now appearing in book form.
But, even if the screenplay was
properly completed and I was to get a producer or agent in HollywoodLand to
read it, and buy it, who could direct it?
Tarantino and Maceo are
a great match, but Maceo also matches well with African-American directors such as John Singleton or F. Gary
Gray or Antoine Fuqua or Spike Lee. These guys may be a better
choice, since they’ve not announced a formal retirement from making movies.
Still. Imagine the headlines:
“Tarantino postpones retirement to direct a movie about Antonio Maceo.” One
thing I like about him is his willingness to remind us of the racist nature of
our culture… hidden from textbooks and denied blatantly by its most visible supporters.
(I refer mostly to the brilliant dialogue in “The Hateful Eight” and the plot
to “Django Unchained.” Yet, to this day, my favorite Tarantino movie may still
be “Jackie Brown.”)
One thing I dislike about him is
his willingness to change facts for the sake of dramatic accent marks. “Inglorious
Basterds” being my case-in-point. The memory of Maceo demands that his story be
told with honesty. (Not to blame it all on Tarantino, but there are many that
probably believe this is how WWII ended.)
Mario Van Peebles made a Western (“Posse”) that I liked at the time but
was panned by critics. It featured a black man returning from the Spanish-American War to seek revenge on
the man who lynched his father. Van
Peebles’ film seems much more relevant today, as our President revives the
racist feelings America nurtured in private while not saying the “N” word in
public. I looked up Roger Ebert’s
review from 1993. He’s still one of my favorite film critics. Except, of
course, for those times when he’s completely full of shit, as he is with “Posse”
(and with “Death to Smoochie” in 2002).
Ebert’s review of “Posse” hints at
potential problems with a movie about Maceo. He clearly acknowledges that the
story “needs to be told.” “It is a West not often seen in Hollywood movies,” he
adds in reference to the presence of black people in the real West but not in
the celebrated Hollywood Westerns of yesteryear that came before his time. (I will
look up what Ebert had to say, if anything, about those Westerns.) Then he obliterates
the film; “Unfortunately, Van Peebles is never able to find a clear story line
and follow it.” Ouch… this hurts more because it’s not true. “The movie is
action without meaning, violence without the setup that would make it
meaningful.”
Denying our racist history is a
well-practiced artform. Now more than ever. We all know its there, we just
avoid discussing it.
I usually enjoyed Ebert’s reviews. But let’s not forget
that, like most critics, he was sometimes completely full of shit.
Richard Price’s screenplays were also lots of fun to read, and I
enjoyed William Goldman’s as well, including
“Magic.”
I began to really think that I
could finish my screenplay, that my original flawed attempt was not that far
off the mark… that if I abandoned the academic nature of the timetables I could
create a film about Maceo that could gain something like the popularity HE had
with Black Americans in his time… (some used “Maceo” as a first name for their
male children).
Dreamer-logic seemed to be on my
side… I was the perfect person to write a movie about Maceo. I spent over a
decade researching Maceo and his role in Cuban history… I was a natural
movie-lover and story-teller… and I was convinced that Maceo’s bravery on and
off the battlefield would inspire new generations.
But simple logic does not a movie
make anymore than simple math a U.S. Presidential election decides.
I was warned against a 2nd
act scene in which Maceo and Spanish General Santocildes have a brief
conversation and Maceo expresses that he would never accept Cuba falling into
the hands of the U.S. Empire, which was also Martí’s fear, and what actually
happened after their death.
Brad Pitt could act the hell out of General Santocildes, the proud Spaniard who faced Maceo in battle
years earlier and has a great deal of respect for the Cuban… and he knows it is
almost inevitable that they will face each other in battle again. (Don’t ask me
what happens. You’ll have to see the movie.)
In the past decade things have
changed in Hollywood, which suddenly seems much more Democratic than
Washington. Even if it’s only dollar-Democracy. Suddenly even the Academy
Awards seem multi-cultural.
The same world-wide audience that
embraced “The Black Panther” would love Maceo
in Havana.
How to sell Maceo In Havana to the public
Today,
the world is much more sympathetic to Cuba than our public media would admit.
And this is where Hollywood’s
dollar-Democracy could benefit the memory of Antonio Maceo.
Almost a full century before
Castro, Maceo faced the Spanish
Empire with fierce devotion and was embraced by Cubans for it. But he became so
hated by the Spanish Empire, in that special way that only empires know how to
hate, that they wanted to kill him.
In between the failed 10 Year War (1868-78) and the Final War for Separation from Spain (1895-98)
the empire sought to rid itself of Maceo through numerous assassination
attempts. (Castro still holds the record.)
The natural elements in our story provide
an easy “sell” in a post-Black Panther
market:
· Indigenous people fighting for independence
· Battles on horseback
· Overdressed Spanish royalty, with black-slaves-dressed-in-white,
decrying their God-given right to rule The
Pearl of The Antilles
· Near-naked rebels with clubs and machetes
Blacks and Whites joining hands for freedom
· A small but proud neighbor country establishing its
own identity through independence from an oppressive regime
· Lots of bloody machete attacks
· Fires, explosions, executions
· Maceo’s battle call “Al machete!”
· José Martí’s speech at Steck
Hall!
· More in-house fighting than in all the “Avengers”
movies combined
· The final expulsion of the Spanish Empire from the
Americas!
You could easily reassemble these
bullet-points into a Marvel 3-D extravaganza that could add billions to
Disney’s pockets. (I’m sure there’s still room in their pockets for more.)
Netflix or HBO or Amazon Prime also could score big with this
project. Right now, there isn’t a single movie about Antonio Maceo, even though
his life featured (naturally) all the things that the top-grossing motion
pictures of the past ten years have in abundance: violence, heroics, blood,
explosions, romance, betrayals, tragedy, relentless scumbags, traitors and
backstabbers, needless human suffering and brief moments of celebratory
happiness. And it isn’t fantasy from a publishing conglomerate, but a true
story of a people still fighting for their independence.
Can what remains of the traditional
Hollywood Studios make such a movie? Or is it up to the new guys?
Will a big-screen film about
Antonio Maceo lead to peace and harmony throughout the world? A time of
commerce and trading unlike any in history?
Please don’t answer that.
NEXT: Who would play Antonio Maceo?
Labels: battles on horseback, Brad Pitt, Cuba, Flor Combet, Havana, HBO, Hollywood, Maceo, movies, Netflix