Philip Seymour Hoffman - 1967-2014

The first Monday of the month and it was quiz night at the APH, but that was not the highlight. Following the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman at the weekend Rosy (who co-runs the quiz and produces the Cambridge Film Festival magazine, 'Take One') pulled together a special edition of the magazine to distribute around the Picturehouse.

The first film I saw Hoffman in was 'Twister', as Dusty - the hyperactive storm chaser with a taste in glorious rock music that served as the film's soundtrack (in between the real stuff) while he supplied the comic relief against the backdrop of whirling chaos that was the rest of the film. There's one scene though, where he suddenly realises that the two the team has stopped to rest in is about to be hit, when all the comedy fell away from his role as he ran to warn the others and that was maybe the first inkling I had that this was someone to watch (though not until years later, being a 12 year old who just wanted to see things explode at the time).

Fast forward to his later career and that inkling was right, he turned into one of the best character actors of all time - from his sneery, deadbeat Freddy Lounds in 'Red Dragon' to Gust Avrakotos, possibly the best spook ever on film in 'Charlie Wilson's War' (which is probably my favourite performance by him). The most recent role I saw him in was as Art Howe in 'Moneyball', where he's playing second fiddle to the partnership of Pitt and Rogen, but still assuredly making sure the camera knows where to look when he's on screen.

Like the tragic loss of Paul Walker earlier in the year, Hoffman's death has raised questions about the role he was currently filming for the final 'Hunger Games' movie - he had a week left to film which suggests a simple bit of CGI trickery won't be able to replicate the performance. A lot of discussion has turned to wondering if this is the time when we may see mo-cap performance overlaid with a human-realistic model, and while it's intriguing it's not something I'd like to see.

This turned out longer than I'd expected, but here's what I want to close with, that moment from Charlie Wilson's War:

"My loyalty! For twenty-four years people have been trying to kill me! People who know how. Now do you think that's because my dad was a Greek soda pop maker? Or do you think that's because I'm an American spy? Go fuck yourself, you fucking child!"