As is the case any time an auteur of the movie industry dies, one must take stock of his output. The wealth and breadth of what he’s brought into the filmic lexicon. In Miloš Forman’s case, that oeuvre is formidable (even if sparser than others) to say the least. With the sort of career trajectory that could only happen in the 70s (as it did for Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma, etc.), Forman gained his footing in the American landscape quickly after just two Czechoslovakian productions (Loves of a Blonde and The Fireman’s Ball). Yes, with Taking Off, Forman was able to secure the attention of Saul Zaentz and Michael Douglas for an adaptation of the Ken Kesey classic, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Regardless of whether it was for Forman’s ability or simply because, as he later claimed, he was “in their price range” for a director, it was with this film that Forman ascended to what he would become in the annals of Hollywood: Great, with a capital G.
In between the vehicle that would also solidify Jack Nicholson as an icon, Forman brought us only three other tautly directed pieces to the screen: Hair, Amadeus and Valmont. The latter, released in 1989, would keep Forman largely quiet for the rest of the 90s, that is, until 1996’s The People Vs. Larry Flynt. Tackling the controversial publishing magnate with the deft gentleness that only Forman could, one part in particular seemed tailor-made for a certain notorious trainwreck of a grunge rock goddess: stripper-cum-junkie (not to be confused a stripper cum junkie).
As much of a value to Forman as he was to her, Love commented of her experiences on set after his April 13th death, “I was surrounded by love on both of my films with him, and other than Kurt and Frances, they remain the highest points in my life.” She has also attributed Forman several times in the past with her determination to stay sober so that she would not disappoint him in her portrayals, particularly and ironically of “exotic dancer” (at one of Flynt’s own Ohio clubs) turned Hustler co-publisher and wife to Larry Flynt, Althea Leasure. Conveying the destructive behavior of a woman who becomes addicted to, among other “pain relievers,” heroin in the wake of her husband being shot outside of a courthouse in 1978, along with his lawyer, a conflation of Alan Isaacman (Edward Norton) and Gene Reeves Jr., there would have been no better person for this silver screen incarnation than Love. At the time, however, she was worse off than 2007 Lindsay Lohan for insurability.
Love stated to Rolling Stone on April 15th, “Against all odds, and a horrified studio, [he] plucked me from an audition and used [his] own money to get me bonded and insured, based on my word that I would not do drugs (I did not). Doing a good film is fun but Milos made it a joy…Milos accepted me and my demons.” And, it seemed, once they were accepted by someone in a position of authority, they were no longer needed. This transcendent and, at times, ethereal performance is what led Forman to cast Love in his next film, yet another biopic, Man on the Moon, this time about polarizing comedian Andy Kaufman. The theme of this one-two Courtney Love punch being films about men who have caused some of the most divisive public reactions in twentieth century history–and, to some degree, the woman behind them. Once again in the empowered girlfriend role, Love plays Lynne Margulies, who met Kaufman after participating in one of his illustrious stunts (in actuality, it was on the set of the film My Breakfast With Blassie), this one pertaining to wrestling with women, goading on live audiences as he challenged the female sex to prove they had strength in anything other than cooking and cleaning. Able to see past the fact that “there is no real Andy” and that he’s just “pretending to be an asshole,” Lynne becomes romantically involved with him as he persists to engage in what ultimately turns out to be yet another elaborate prank that no one is in on with Jerry “The King” Lawler of the Continental Wrestling Association. It was one of his best kept hoaxes, in fact, not revealed to the public for over a decade. Love, who in her own personal life had dealt with a complex and emotional genius, is also custom-built for Lynne’s combination of “spiritedness” and empathy. As one of the few, if not only, long-term relationships Kaufman had in his lifetime (Forman didn’t want to get into the part about having a child he gave up for adoption with is high school girlfriend), Lynne remained his significant other through the diagnosis of his rare form of lung cancer, an emotional feat not everyone would have been willing to stick around for–especially since engaging in any interaction with Andy was already an emotional feat in and of itself.
While any other director might never have seen the acting prowess of Love (apart from fellow punk rock non-American Alex Cox with Sid & Nancy and Straight to Hell–though these would not be nearly as indispensable to her film legacy), Forman was determined to wield her artistic talent beyond the recording studio, the result being two of the best films of his later career (clearly, Natalie Portman wouldn’t be as good of a muse as she was for Zach Braff and Darren Aronofsky in Forman’s final film, Goya’s Ghosts).
So while the “thing” Forman might be most remembered for is, arguably, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, let us never forget the Hollywood star power he imbued Courtney Love with at a moment when everyone had written her off as a reckless addict possibly responsible for the murder of her own husband. Like Flynt not standing for Althea’s ostracism for her physical appearance after being undercuttingly judged for contracting AIDS, neither would Forman accept mainstream cinema’s shunning of Love. Bizarrely, and, as a side bar, the white supremacist ultimately convicted for the attempted murder of Larry Flynt (the identity which, at the time of the biopic, had not come to light), Joseph Paul Franklin (also ultimately indirectly responsible for spurring Althea’s drug habit), was born on April 13th, the same day Forman would die.
