Man On The Moon (1999)

Milos Forman's 1999 biopic "Man on The Moon" documents the life and career of self-proclaimed "song and dance man" Andy Kaufman. I’ve known about and been somewhat fascinated with Andy Kaufman ever since I became interested in SNL and that sort of American comedy, but even so ‘Man on the Moon’ is a film I’d always been aware of but never actually gotten around to watching. I’d heard the stories of how Jim Carrey took to extreme method acting on set, causing fights and making himself almost impossible to work with, and how it produced one of the best performances of his career. While it did intrigue me, I've always found method acting makes me majorly cringe so I was scared to see if the results were worth it. I can now say that even though it's a clear over-exaggeration of Kaufman's quirks and behaviour, it's an amazing performance in a great film that is not only an informative biopic, but an overall emotional, touching film.

The film follows Kaufman's career in comedy, from singing nursery rhymes in small clubs to performing at Carnegie Hall, as well as his family and love life, and his eventual death (or "death"). The film starts with a fourth wall break, with Andy staring at the camera and introducing 'his movie' as the Foreign Man, and then switching back to himself, telling the audience it was to get rid of anyone who didn't understand. This immediately throws the audience off and confuses them in a very Kaufman inspired move, and makes them question what kind of a film they're about to watch, as well as introducing the character of Andy right away as eccentric and unafraid to break tradition. It then goes on to show his life mostly chronologically, with the exception of a flashback to him performing as a child. Even though biopics can sound boring as they usually just document someone's life from beginning to end, Man on the Moon is definitely not a boring movie. It shows Andy's career but also shows his real personality and behind the scenes moments audiences who knew the real Kaufman might not have seen. Forman deliberately plays games with the audience and purposely suspends the sense of dramatic irony, as we seem to know as much about what's real and what's not as the characters in the film.

The film isn't only informative, but it's emotional and moving in many parts. Jim Carrey fully embodies Kaufman, obviously doing his fair share of research to learn what he was like behind the facade of the characters and jokes, which not only creates a great, 3D character in it's own right but would definitely stir up emotions for fans of the real Kaufman. Was the crazy method acting necessary? Probably not. Carrey said that the 'spirit of Andy took over his body', causing him to behave the way he did, but in reality he proooobably could have just done his 'impression' of Andy, (he even called up Milos Forman asking if 'Andy' was too much to handle and that he could just do a 'good impression' of him if he was, but Forman declined) and it would have been an equally good performance without the terrorising of literally everyone on set. However he didn't, and we still got an amazing performance that fully embodied Kaufman's manic energy while still creating emotional moments, for example when he finds out he's been fired from SNL or when he tells his friends he has cancer. The film is simplistic in it's cinematography, with Forman choosing to focus on the dialogue and relationships between the characters rather than the stylistic factors, much like Billy Wilder's films. One thing I especially liked about the film, and about Forman's directorial style in general, is that he chooses to leave in scenes which seemingly don't add anything to the plot. He cuts these scenes in between important scenes and scenes that move the plot along, perhaps to add an element of calm, and to show the minute details in life that are often skipped in a big budget film. This is important in a biopic like this one, because the audience never really knew the true Kaufman, so they can give another look into what he was really like.

The film can compare with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Forman's most famous film, in many ways. They both focus on misunderstood outsiders, and the idea of being different to the rest of the world. Granted, Kaufman and McMurphy are very different characters, but the idea of being an outcast still applies to both of them in their own way. There are also themes of rebellion; McMurphy literally rebels against authority and Andy rebels against the traditions of performing. Stylistically, Cuckoo's Nest isn't focused on stylistic cinematography and surrealism, much like Man on the Moon. Forman lets the narrative develop through the characters and the dialogue.

I would honestly reccommend Man on the Moon to anyone, as it was an incredible watch that I feel has something for everyone. If you're a fan of Kaufman, there may of course be some elements of Carrey's performance that might not be accurate, but it tells the tale of his life without just focussing on things that any fan might know. You get an intimate look at him as a person. It's funny and touching, and is a story that even though it's filled with controversy, is something everyone should experience.