Your Film Fave Is Problematic: Goncharov (1973)
While the Goncharov meme has grown colossal on tumblr, it’s important to remember that the film is in fact quite reprehensible for numerous reasons regarding its production.
Here are some of the most critical for you to know:
Stanley Kubrick forced Cybil Shepherd to do over 150 takes of a traumatic scene, despite not being involved with the production in any way. By the time Kubrick was escorted away from the set, Shepherd had suffered two heart attacks and lost all her hair. She quit and was later re-hired at ten times her salary, with a brand new wig and slightly used discount artificial heart.
An unnamed production assistant contaminated the catering’s guacamole with PCP, resulting in numerous sick crew members and the infamous and hallucinogenic “Projectile Ear Wax” sequence.
Producer Martin Scorsese went quite insane during his time in the Philippines jungle. As the jungle did not feature in the film, nobody to this day, including Scorsese, have any idea why he was there.
The animatronic sharks infamously didn’t work as their foam interiors got weighed down by the seawater, resulting in the entire shark attack scene having to be removed. Thus the presence of the dead shark in the ballroom remains unexplained in the finished movie.
Studio interference resulted in nearly 2 hours of cuts to the 3.5 hour film, including the original version of the death of Sigourney Weaver, the cameo by Elijah Wood (who would not be able to make another film until after his birth in 1981), the sewer orgy, and the pie fight ending.
Robert De Niro had to shave his mustache for another role when filming went several months over-schedule. Its presence on the upcoming Criterion Blu-Ray is CGI.
Terry Gilliam was fired on the first day of filming. He was never to have directed the film, but was fired anyway, as was the tradition in Hollywood.
Marlon Brando behaved so poorly that he scared the director up a tree.
A lion mauled cinematographer Jan de Bont.
So enjoy the jokes, but never forget the hard times that afflicted the movie.
