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Zoolander

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Zoolander
Directed byBen Stiller
Written byDrake Sather
Ben Stiller
John Hamburg
Produced byScott Rudin
Ben Stiller
Stuart Cornfeld
StarringBen Stiller
Owen Wilson
Christine Taylor
Will Ferrell
Jerry Stiller
Milla Jovovich
CinematographyBarry Peterson
Edited byGreg Hayden
Music byDavid Arnold
BT
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Village Roadshow Pictures
VH1 Films
Red Hour Productions
Release dates
United States September 28, 2001
Running time
89 min.
CountryU.S.
LanguageEnglish

Zoolander is a 2001 comedy film directed by Ben Stiller. The film is based on a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates, and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the VH1 Fashion Awards television show in 1996 and 1997. The short films and the movie feature Derek Zoolander, a dimwitted male model. The title role is played by Ben Stiller, and in the feature film (which Stiller directed), Zoolander's agent, Maury Ballstein, is played by Jerry Stiller.

Plot

In Zoolander, the supremacy of Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) as the world's top male model is challenged by the up-and-coming Hansel (Owen Wilson), an acid-tripping, Great Spirit-worshiping throwback to the 1960s. Derek is publicly embarrassed at the VH1 Fashion Awards when he tries to accept an award given to his rival. Thereafter, Derek is the subject of a Time magazine cover and article mocking his and other models' lack of intelligence. After Derek's roommates — fellow male models — are killed in a "freak" gasoline-fight accident, Derek announces his retirement from the male modeling profession as he is eulogizing his roommates' deaths-or, in his own words, "ugoogalizing". He returns to the coal mines where his father Spencer (Jon Voight) and brothers work, but soon finds himself rejected by his family and desperately out of place as a male model in a hardscrabble coal-mining town.

Prime Minister Hassan of Malaysia is working on reducing child labor in his country. The fashion industry is determined to retain Malaysia as a major source of cheap child labor, and is desperate to thwart the incumbent prime minister. Fashion mogul Jacobim Mugatu (Will Ferrell), helped by his tough assistant Katinka Ingabogovinanana (Milla Jovovich), is inspired by Derek's recent public mishaps and decides to use Derek as a programmed assassin to kill the Malaysian Prime Minister à la The Manchurian Candidate. Appealing to Derek's new-found benevolence, Mugatu convinces Derek to come out of retirement and model Mugatu's new Derelicte fashion line; the Prime Minister is to be the guest of honor at the line's premiere.

While Derek is away at a health spa being programmed, journalist Matilda Jeffries (Christine Taylor), who had previously written the critical Time article, grows concerned over Derek's sudden disappearance, and feels guilty about the effects her article might have had on his psyche. While looking for Derek, Matilda begins to uncover Mugatu's plot to train Derek as an assassin. Matilda discovers Derek being programmed at Mugatu's health spa, and tries to save Derek from it, however Matilda is kicked out of the spa and Derek is brainwashed by a video clip of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's greatest single Relax created by Mugatu. More of the plot is revealed when J.P. Prewett (David Duchovny), formerly the world's greatest hand model and now a recluse, mysteriously appears to inform Derek and Matilda of the vastness of the fashion industry's reach into geopolitical intrigue, implicating the industry in, for example, the assassination of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy to prevent the industry's loss of profit. J.P. is not as stupid as Derek, which he explains by saying that hand models are a different breed from "face and body boys"; nevertheless, he keeps his modeling hand in a hyperbaric chamber which he made himself, and spends over a minute trying to pick up a dropped flashlight with it rather than his free hand.

During their clandestine meeting with Prewett, Derek and Matilda are ambushed by Katinka Ingabogovinanana and Mugatu's henchmen. Needing a place to hide, they go to the one place where nobody would think to look for Derek, at the home of his arch-nemesis Hansel. Derek and Hansel reveal their mutual fear and respect of one another, and Hansel agrees to take Derek and Matilda in. After a drug-fueled orgy among Derek, Matilda, Hansel and Hansel's houseguests, Derek reveals that he is developing feelings for Matilda. The three of them then decide to figure out a plan to publicly announce the assassination plot. Derek and Hansel work undercover as janitors and break into the offices of Derek's agent, Maury Ballstein (Jerry Stiller), whom they correctly surmise to be in cahoots with Mugatu in the assassination plot. Unable to operate Ballstein's computer due to their lack of smarts, Derek and Hansel are unable to retrieve the incriminating evidence. Missing the necessary evidence, Derek goes to the Derelicte show to meet his fate.

The Derelicte debut is highly popular and attended by such illustrious celebrities as Donald Trump, Greg Kinnear, Paris Hilton, Sandra Bernhard, Gwen Stefani, David Bowie, Lil Kim and Gary Shandling. Matilda arrives to try to help Derek just as he begins his entrance onto the catwalk. The house discjockey (Justin Theroux), in league with Mugatu, plays the song programmed to trigger Derek, "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. As he has been programmed, Derek turns into a rage-filled, martial arts-trained killing machine and makes his way kung fu-style down the catwalk to kill the Prime Minister sitting in the crowd.

Before Derek can reach the Prime Minister, Hansel crashes the DJ booth and changes the music to "Rockit" by Herbie Hancock. Hansel and the DJ begin breakdance fighting for control of the turntables, switching between the trigger song and the benign "Rockit", all the while driving Derek closer to his target.

Hansel is finally able to unplug the sound system as Derek is mere seconds away from snapping the Prime Minister's neck. With the assassination plot both revealed and thwarted, Mugatu publicly accuses Derek of plotting alone to kill the Prime Minister. Hansel announces to the crowd that he brought Ballstein's computer with the incriminating files to the show. In another display of his model smarts, Hansel hurls the computer to the floor below to try to reveal to the crowd the files "inside", destroying the computer and the incriminating evidence. Ballstein, on hand for the show and wracked with guilt, publicly admits to the plot and calls his wife to have her bring to the show backup copies he kept of the incriminating files, thereby negating Hansel's foolish act.

Mugatu, his plan having been unmasked, desperately attempts to kill the Prime Minister on his own with a throwing star. Derek steps in front of the throwing star, and unveils his new look "Magnum" (which is exactly like all his other looks, though no one seems to notice), and is able to render the weapon inert by stopping it in mid-air through sheer beauty.

By saving the Prime Minister, Derek wins his father's respect. In the epilogue, it is revealed that Derek has retired from modeling to run "The Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can't Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too," with Hansel and Maury as teachers. It is also revealed that Derek and Matilda have had a son, and their infant son shares not only his father's hirsute eyebrows and spiky hair, but also has the innate ability to display the facial poses that made Derek Zoolander famous.

Plagiarism

Author Bret Easton Ellis has claimed that the basic plot of Zoolander (male model is brainwashed into terrorism) was stolen from his novel Glamorama.[1][2]

Reception

The film was never shown in Malaysia, the country figured prominently in the film, as it is depicted as impoverished and dependent on sweatshops. Malaysia's censorship board deemed it "definitely unsuitable".[3] The film was also banned in neighboring Singapore[4] due to bilateral sensitivities and the movie's excessive drug use.[citation needed] It was subsequently made available in Singapore in 2006,[5] with the R rating. The film is rated PG-13 for sexual content and drug references in the United States.

The movie's box office was hurt by the fact that it opened two weekends after the September 11, 2001 attacks; it was among the first comedy films after the occurrence to enter theaters. At 8:48 a.m. on September 11, WNYW was showing the movie's trailer during a commercial break, but it cut to breaking news to show the North Tower of the World Trade Center burning[citation needed]. In the trailer for the Oliver Stone movie World Trade Center, a poster for Zoolander can be seen in the background as the shadow of the first plane to hit the WTC passes over New York City.

Despite its lackluster initial box office performance, the film developed a loyal cult following and solid DVD sales. It is often shown on Comedy Central and other cable channels.

The film was a moderate critic success scoring a 'Fresh' 63% on Rotten Tomatoes.com.

Currently, the band Cobra Starship, with support from Metro Station, We The Kings, and The Cab are on the Really Really Ridiculously Good Looking Tour. The name was inspired by a quote from the movie.

Derek Zoolander

Zoolander's name is derived from the last names of male models Mark Vanderloo and Johnny Zander. The original combination had been "Zanderloo," which Ben Stiller felt was too close to the original sources.[citation needed]

Throughout most of the film, Zoolander shows an inability to turn left. To compensate, he will continuously turn right until he faces the correct direction. So, rather than making a 90° turn left, Zoolander will turn 270° right. However, a goof showed him exiting the awards show by turning left. <! --In fact, an inability to turn left is one symptom experienced by those with Hemispatial neglect, a condition caused by damage to the right hemisphere of the brain. Patients with this problem compensate in the same way as Zoolander, turning right until they are facing the desired direction.[citation needed]

"Blue Steel" is the name of a male model pose in Zoolander. The film's protagonist Derek Zoolander invented the pose and he protects it as a trade secret (it is supposedly patented). It is his claim to fame, along with his "Spiky Black Hair". The style of the pose is identical to all his other named poses, which include "Le Tigre" and "Ferrari". This contributes to the running joke that despite his reputation as a male model, Zoolander knows only one pose. However, his "Magnum" pose that saved the Prime Minister chiefly involves a left turn, making it different than his previous poses.

Mugatu

The name of the character Jacobim Mugatu is a reference to the Star Trek episode "A Private Little War." In the episode, there is a predatory, venomous primate called a "Mugato". It, like Zoolander's Mugatu, has bright white hair. Ben Stiller has said he is a huge Star Trek fan.

Additionally, when it is revealed that he was a former keyboardist for Frankie Goes to Hollywood, his real last name is shown to be "Moogberg": a reference to the Moog synthesizer and its inventor, Robert Moog.

"Derelicte" is the name given to the fashion line designed by Will Ferrell's character Mugatu. It is described in the film as "a fashion, a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique." The fashion line consists of clothing made from everyday objects that could be found on the streets of New York. Derelicte is a parody of a real fashion line created by John Galliano in 2000[6].

Mugatu is also a parody of the Bond villain Blofeld, who (in the films) is famous for his white cat. Mugatu on the other hand, is always seen with a white poodle.

Parodic scenes

During Derek and Hansel's "walk-off" runway duel, Hansel tells his assistant, "You gotta cut me" (referring to his eyelashes blocking his vision) in a parody of the prize fight scene from "Rocky" where the lead character Rocky Balboa asks his trainer to lance the lid of his swollen eye so he can see to continue fighting.

The scene in which Zoolander and Hansel try to find Mugatu's files parodies the "dawn of man" scene from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, even featuring the famous Also sprach Zarathustra theme.

When Zoolander tells Maury Ballstein that he knows it was he who betrayed him, the background soundtrack is the theme from The Godfather Part II, mimicking the scene where Michael Corleone tells his brother Fredo that he has broken his heart by betraying the family.

The scene in which J.P. Prewitt reveals the power of the fashion industry parodies a similar scene between Jim Garrison and Mr. X from JFK.

Cast

Cameos

References

  1. ^ "The Better You Look, The More You Blog". Information Leafblower. 2005-09-15.
  2. ^ "Bret Easton Ellis Interview". BBC. 2005-10-13.
  3. ^ "Zoolander faces Malaysian censorship controversy". Guardian Unlimited. 28 Sep 2001.
  4. ^ "Singapore bans US comedy film". BBC News. 8 Feb 2002.
  5. ^ "Release dates for Zoolander (2001)". IMDB.
  6. ^ "Political Threads". On The Media. 2008-02-01.
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