Rollerball
Short description
In a future where corporations have replaced governments and wars and crime have supposedly been eliminated, the public is kept content and controlled through Rollerball, a violent team sport that mixes elements of hockey, boxing and American football. Players are expected to be interchangeable and anonymous, and the game is meant to demonstrate that the individual counts for nothing. Jonathan E., a veteran star of the sport, becomes a favourite of the crowds, and his prominence unsettles the executives who run the world. When they press him to retire, he refuses, and the authorities respond by changing the rules of the game against him. James Caan plays Jonathan, with John Houseman as the executive Bartholomew, Maud Adams as Ella, John Beck as Moonpie, Moses Gunn as Cletus and Pamela Hensley as Mackie.
Norman Jewison directed and produced the film, working from a screenplay by William Harrison. It was his eighth feature as director, following Jesus Christ Superstar and preceding F.I.S.T. Made on a budget of about six million dollars, it took roughly thirty million at the worldwide box office, a strong return for a science-fiction drama of its period.
On IMDb it holds 6.5 out of 10 from around thirty-two thousand votes, on TMDB 6.3 from a much smaller base of 645, and its critics' rating stands at 6.5 from 112 reviews, so professional and audience assessments sit close together.
What's left behind the scenes
- Contrary to rumors, no one died during filming.
- The film is based on a story by William Harrison.
- The game scenes were filmed at the Olympic sports complex in Munich, West Germany. Local residents were invited to attend the games as spectators. Director Norman Jewison hoped to convey the idea that violence is unacceptable with his film, but the audience enjoyed the game so much that, to Jewison's dismay, talk of forming rollerball leagues arose after the film's release.
- Initially, there were concerns about the extras needed for scenes supposedly set in Tokyo. The filmmakers left flyers and invitations to participate in the shooting at local hotels, and on the appointed day, 150 Asians gathered near the set.
- Many of the extras involved in the film were paid extra to cut their long, fashionable hair into short styles. This was necessary to avoid associating the events in the film with the time period in which it was being shot.
- Film director Norman Jewison cast James Caan as the rollerball champion after seeing him in the television film “Brian’s Song” (1971), where he convincingly portrayed the famous American football player Brian Piccolo.
- Rollerball was so realistic that the actors, stunt performers, and extras played it during breaks between filming.
- Norman Jewison employed certain techniques (frequent use of zoom, classical music, and modern architecture made of glass and concrete) in this film, inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s 'A Clockwork Orange' (1971).
- This was the first film to credit all stunt performers in the credits. Jewison was so impressed with their work that he decided to break with the established tradition of keeping the names of stunt performers off-screen. Jewison’s innovation took hold, and stunt performers have been credited in the end credits ever since.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
