Arizona Dream

• Johnny Depp: Axel Blackmar
• Jerry Lewis: Leo Sweetie
• Faye Dunaway: Elaine Stalker
• Lili Taylor: Grace Stalker
• Vincent Gallo: Paul Leger

Arizona Dream is an American- French drama film directed by Emir Kusturica from 1993 with Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway, Lili Taylor, Vincent Gallo and Jerry Lewis in the lead roles.

Action

Axel Blackmar works in New York City as a henchman of a naturalist, until his childhood friend Paul persuaded him to travel for a few days to Arizona to attend the wedding of his foster uncle Leo with a much younger woman. There can be Uncle Leo no stone unturned to get him to take over the family business, a Cadillac - branch, and settle down for a long time in Arizona.

Axel, who in no case like his uncle wants to spend the rest of his life in the same place and with only a single profession, can finally be persuaded to help out a few days in business. He meets Elaine Stalker and their stepdaughter Grace know. He falls in love with Elaine, who is sustained by its rich stepdaughter on a large estate. This leads to conflicts with Uncle Leo. This wishes that Axel one day follow in his footsteps, he holds Elaine too old for his nephew. Grace sabotages even the relationship because she also falls in love with Axel and has seen always in competition with her ​​stepmother.

Then Leo dies before the wedding of a heart attack. In a dreamlike scene Axel sees the ambulance with his uncle go to the moon. On the grounds of the Stalkers Grace commits after Elaine's 41st birthday suicide after she confessed her love Axel and found to her horror that she has become very similar to her stepmother.

Soundtrack

Background

The film contains numerous references to film classics like North by Northwest, Raging Bull and The Godfather II, came May 13, 1993 in Germany in the cinemas. In the United States, where the film grossed U.S. $ 112 547, he ran in three cinemas on 7 June 1995. The film is the first U.S. production of the Bosnian director Emir Kusturica, who also makes an appearance as a man in the bar.

For television, A Hörfilmfassung was created in 1998. It was produced by Arte, spokeswoman Katja 's shield.

Reviews

" Only part of successful trial, the American Way of Life ' to caricature with surreal and poetic dreams and from the perspective of a European. The excellent played, photographed a sound and video superbly crafted film tends to exuberant symbolism and becomes entangled more and more in a psychologizing sentimentality, which takes away a lot of his initial charm. "

"Despite the distance as symbol overloaded staging succeeds a native of Bosnia director Emir Kusturica - not least because of the good actor performances -. Realize one of the most charming films about the destruction of the American Dream "

Awards

The film was shown at the 1993 Berlin International Film Festival in competition for the Golden Bear, he won the Silver Bear Special Jury Prize. In 1994, the director for the work at the International Film Festival Warsaw was awarded the audience prize.