Recommended reading - Jacob's Ladder, by Bruce Joel Rubin (2000)

Jacob's Ladder

by Bruce Joel Rubin

Published 2000.
Published by Applause Books.
 
ISBN-10: 155783086X
ISBN-13: 978-1557830869
 
Back cover description:
 
From the director of Fatal Attraction…
and the writer of Ghost…

Jacob’s Ladder.

Written by Bruce Joel Rubin.
An Adrian Lyne Film.
From Carolco Picture.
Produced by Alan Marshall.
Directed by Adrian Lyne.

With over 100 photographs from the film.

“… the screenplay moves from the nightmarish to the visionary … page for page, it is one of the very few screenplays I’ve read with the power to consistently raise hackles in broad daylight … Read it. It’s extraordinary.” – American Film.

“… one of the most original and powerful screenplays to be seen in Hollywood in years … One feels in the hands of a benevolent and sophisticated teller.” – Cinefantastique.

“… a humanistic thriller that hits like a thunderbolt.” – Fangoria.

The complete final shooting script in professional screenwriter’s format together with an annotated appendix of deleted scenes.

Jacob’s Chronicle, Bruce Joel Rubin’s book-length account of Jacob’s odyssey to the screen.

Applause screenplay series.

On this day in movie history - Brainstorm (1983)

Brainstorm

directed by Douglas Trumbull,

written by Philip Frank Messina and Robert Stitzel,

based on a story by Bruce Joel Rubin,

was released in the United States on September 30, 1983.

Music by James Horner.

Cast:

Christopher Walken, Natalie Wood, Louise Fletcher, Cliff Robertson, Jordan Christopher, Donald Hotton, Alan Fudge, Joe Dorsey, Bill Morey, Jason Lively, Darrell Larson, Lou Walker, Stacey Kuhne-Adams, John Hugh, Ira David Wood III, Keith Colbert, Jerry Bennett, Mary Fran Lyman, Jack Harmon, Nina Axelrod, Kelly W. Brown, Desiree Ayres, Debby Porter, Alan G. Butler, Robert Bloodworth, Georgianne Walken, Jimmy Boyd, Charlie Briggs, Ann Lincoln, Robert Terry Young, Bill Willens, Jim Burk, James J. Casino, Robert Hippard, John Gladstein, Herbert Hirschman, John Vidor, Bill Couch, Robert Gooden, Wallace Merck, Glen Lee, Ernest Robinson, Roger Black, Tommy J. Huff, May Boss, Clay Boss, Peter Harrell, Susan Kampe, Gary Bohn, Lana Clarkson, John Philip Dayton, Eric Lively, George Sasaki, Don Stafford.

Jacob’s Ladder (1990) – A nightmarish final struggle:

Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

A nightmarish final struggle

Review by Jack Kost

Jacob’s Ladder (1990), directed by Adrian Lyne, released in the United States on November 2, 1990, and based on the screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin, is a rarity of the genre: an intelligent horror story.

Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) is a traumatized Vietnam veteran.

He works for the Post Office and shares a cramped apartment with his girlfriend and co-worker, Jezebel (Elizabeth Peña), in a dilapidated block in Brooklyn, New York, during the 1970s.

Suffering from PTSD, Jacob is haunted by flashbacks from his time in the war, his pain compounded by the grief of losing his son in an accident.

His waking hours are invaded by bizarre and terrifying hallucinations of a locked underground subway station, and demons that stalk him wherever he goes.

He has disorientating periods when he awakes to find himself in an alternate reality where he is still married to his wife, Sarah (Patricia Kalember).

In these sections, his son Gabe (Macaulay Culkin) is still alive.

Jacob attempts to discover the truth about his condition and uncovers a conspiracy involving a failed drug experiment.

The title: Jacob’s Ladder, is a Biblical reference, from Genesis 28:10-21, in which a spiritual staircase, flanked by angels, provides a bridge between Heaven and Earth.

In the latter part of the movie, the chemist, Michael Newman (Matt Craven), describes the enhanced drug as: The Ladder.

Afflicted with back pain, Jacob visits his Chiropractor, Louis (Danny Aiello).
Louis is also his friend and confidante.

When Jacob confides his hallucinations, Louis offers solace and reassurance by quoting the 14th-century German theologian and philosopher, Meister Eckhart:

LOUIS:
Eckhart saw Hell, too. You know what he said? He said: ‘The only thing that burns in Hell, is the part of you that won't let go of your life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you,’ he said. ‘They're freeing your soul’ … So, the way he sees it: ‘if you're frightened of dying and – and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But, if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth.’ It’s just a matter of how you look at it, that’s all.

Bruce Joel Rubin’s screenplay, available in paperback, is an essential read for anyone who appreciates the movie.

It provides a wealth of insight and background information on the development of the story, including the inspiration and meaning behind some of the movie’s most stunning and disturbing images, particularly the visions of the “vibrating” men Jacob glimpses.

The book includes deleted scenes, with reasons why they didn’t make the final cut of the movie.

The acting is understated and flawless.
The strong supporting cast includes excellent character actors: Jason Alexander, John Capodice, Matt Craven, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Eriq La Salle, Ving Rhames, Brian Tarantina, Anthony Alessandro, Brent Hinkley, S. Epatha Merkerson, and John Patrick McLaughlin.

Adrian Lyne, like Ridley Scott, knows how to use light to powerful and atmospheric effect.

Maurice Jarre’s soundtrack sets a melancholic and haunting tone.

So many movies rely too heavily on the jump-shock moment to compensate for lack of plot, or character development.
Jacob’s Ladder doesn’t make that mistake.
The script and plot structure have been carefully thought out.

Jacob Singer is the main character, but in no way heroic.
We feel Jacob’s pain, bewilderment, and terror.
He fights when he has to, particularly in the scene where he is abducted from the street and forcibly strong-armed into the back of a car.
Jacob’s demeanor is, for the most part, quiet, friendly and affable, making his mounting fear and vulnerability more believable.

The quieter sections of the story are emotionally involving enough to make the moments of jarring horror nightmarish and chilling, with a final reveal that is both subtle and moving.

Jacob’s Ladder succeeds on many levels: as part war story, tragedy, drama, horror, mystery, hallucinatory nightmare, and theological thriller, giving the viewer much to think about and discuss.

It’s a disquieting and unforgettable experience that improves with repeat viewings, compelling the viewer to examine reality, existence, and the question of what comes after.

Life is fleeting.
Death is a certainty.
One day, we all have to climb that spiritual ladder.
Ascend … or descend?
Heaven … or Hell?
Which direction and destination will be yours?