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Actors: Howard E. Rollins Jr., James Cagney, Brad Dourif, Mary Steenburgen, Elizabeth McGovern, James Olson, Jeff Daniels, Moses Gunn, Norman Mailer
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Ragtime |
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Adapted from the E. L. Doctorow novel, RAGTIME is a movie directed by Milos Forman in 1981. Eight nominations for the Academy Awards.
The setting is N.Y.C. in the 1910's. Even though the film presents four or five secondary plots, RAGTIME is primarily about the sad story of Coalhouse Walker Jr. who's abandoned his wife and newly born child. Both are taken in by the couple Mary Steenburgen/James Olson who are wealthy members of the white bourgeoisie. Afetr having found a steady job as a pianist in a pre-jazz band, Coalhouse reappears and wants to assume his responsibility for his actions. But, in the same time, he's humiliated by the white members of a local firesquad who have soiled his brand new Ford T and he can not obtain justice from the police forces nor by legal means. Obsessed by this event, Coalhouse will indirectly cause the death of his fiancee who was killed when trying to expose Coalhouse's case to the Vice-President in election campaign. Determined to obtain justice, Coalhouse, in the company of his friends locks themselves in the J.P. Morgan library with dynamite and threats to blow the building up if nobody listens to him. Rheinlander -James Cagney- Waldo, the police chief of NYC, will try to negociate with the idealist Coalhouse.
--Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Ragtime |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1900-1920's
Polit/Social/Race/Gender activism
Yes
Plotlet:
- rrrrrracism!!!!!
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- musician
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- singer/musician
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard curly
Body type
- (man) muscular
Events of movie makes character more...
- irritated
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Black
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- red
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavey
Unclothed?
- buttocks and chest
How much in movie?
- 20%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 60's-90's
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) fat
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
Misc setting
- resort/hotel
- theater
- bar
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- explicit references to deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- excited
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
- seeing breasts
- seeing nude female butt
- seeing nude male butt
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Jazz/r&b
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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