Hail, Caesar! (2016), written and directed by the Coen Brothers, explores the fascinating concept of a group of communists working to fight against and overthrow the rigid, exploitative studio system that dominated Hollywood in its Golden Age. One of the key players in this movement that we see in the film is Burt Gurney, portrayed by Channing Tatum. In the film, Gurney is initially depicted as a typical movie star of the era, reminiscent of Gene Kelly, but we later find out he is heavily involved with the communist plot. By the end of the film, Gurney is escorted into the ocean by the communist screenwriters to board a submarine, which will take him to the Soviet Union to help him “become a Soviet man”. As the submarine surfaces, an unnamed Submarine Commander emerges. The scene takes place at night, and the Submarine Commander is only seen in shadow, hinting at the way the communists work in the proverbial shadows. The choice to have the Commander on screen is interesting, as he doesn’t say anything, he and Gurney only salute each other. What makes the character more interesting is that he is played by Swedish actor Dolph Lundgren. Despite his Swedish background, Lundgren is best known for portraying the Soviet boxer Ivan Drago in Rocky IV (1985), which draws heavily on the Cold War conflict between the United States and the U.S.S.R. Because of this, it is natural for audiences to see Lundgren and associate him with being a sort of Soviet threat. This relates to themes of referential acting in Mathijs’ “Referential Acting and the Ensemble Cast”. As Mathijs states, “referential acting involves the self-conscious design of a performance on the basis of a previous one”. He goes on to say that “the referent is not just a gesture, act, or performance that preceded it in the same scene, or even the same film, but also one from the same career, or one that… has become a cultural icon or cliche”. This perfectly describes the casting of Lundgren in such a minor role, with a very limited character space.
Work Cited
Mathijs, Ernest. “Referential Acting and the Ensemble Cast.” Screen, vol. 52, no. 1, 2011, pp. 89–96. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ezproxy.tru.ca/10.1093/screen/hjq063.
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