Oregon Movies, A to Z

Body Double is both a sexy thriller and a meditation on the nature of reality and illusion. Do we want to protect a beautiful naked woman or kill her? In films made by Brian DePalma, the two parallel impulses often race along together and ocasionally intertwine.

Craig Wasson, born and raised in Eugene, stars as Jake Scully, the hapless, unemployed actor who witnesses a crime in the hills high above LA.  (I wonder – is the protagonist in Avatar named as an homage? Has someone already written up an essay on Melanie Griffith as an avatar in Body Double?)

Melanie Griffith won critical acclaim for her performance as Holly Body, the practical, beautiful, barely dressed damsel in distress. This is the film with the horrified, disdainful line  ”Unconscious is good but dead is better – I know all about you guys!” adlibbed by Griffith she clambers out of a freshly dug grave.

Dennis Cozzalio at Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule is the best guide to understanding the complexity of DePalma’s project in Body Double. In fact, Cozzalio provides the best Beginner’s Guide to DePalma available on the planet.

I hereby claim Body Double as an Oregon film, based on the contribution of Oregonian Craig Wasson, the lead actor.