Features

‘Hulk’ Brings Payday, But Not Prestige, to Berkeley

By CHRISTIAN NEWTON Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 01, 2003

“The Hulk” lumbered into theaters last week and you know the drill: Mild-mannered nerd wears purple pants, gets angry, turns green, has a temper tantrum and, in this case, is eventually talked out of his manic phase by an Oscar-winning fox playing a scientist.  

Ang Lee, who directed “Sense and Sensibility” and “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,” helmed this monster movie, and aside from the jolly green giant himself, the film isn’t all that bad. Lee demonstrates capable filmmaking, highlighted by an innovative use of transitions, but ultimately the film is too slow and self-absorbed to amount to much. And really, that’s not of any real concern. Crap comes and crap goes in Hollywood. What is of real concern is that “The Hulk” was shot in and around Berkeley; and as such it must be held to account. 

Some films have not been so kind to this city, while others still have immortalized it. 

The 1990s were particularly rough on Berkeley. “Junior” (1994) with Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger represents a low point. The UC campus, likewise, has had rough cinematic sledding, making a photogenic, yet ultimately embarrassing appearance as the backdrop to the forgettable “Boys and Girls” (1999).  

There should be some kind of committee that regulates, and then prohibits, stupid movies from using Berkeley as a film location. After all, there is a history here—not just in the beauty of the town, but an immense cultural history as well—that movies like “Patch Adams” (1998) cheapen. 

Noticing Berkeley in a movie is the same as noticing someone you know in a movie. There’s an initial rush of excitement. You say, “Hey, I know where that is.” Or, “Hey, I live near that.” Followed by an uneasy feeling of shame at realizing that the “this” or “that” you live near is in a movie with Jason Biggs. 

One of the few bright spots is “The Graduate” (1967), maybe the only film shot in Berkeley to properly capture not only the look of the town, but its vibe as well. The film and its themes are ideally suited to Berkeley in the sixties. A film that examines a generation at odds with an increasingly frustrated and hostile establishment couldn’t be shot anywhere but Berkeley. In “The Graduate” the town serves not only as a location, but also as a symbol. 

In certain, distant ways “The Hulk” similarly uses Berkeley in some unusual, if not ultimately keen respects, the most interesting of which is Jennifer Connelly. She has that Berkeley thing nailed: long, dark hair; denim jacket; braided, craft-like jewelry. She’s sensitive, understanding, concerned with The Issues and probably belongs to PETA. In a sense, the town reinforces her character. 

The rest of “The Hulk” is far too concerned with the big green cartoon to give Berkeley much time. As such, what else of Berkeley that appears in the film is what every out-of-towner puts in his film—views of San Francisco. In this case the Lawrence Berkeley Lab and His Lordship’s Restaurant in the marina provide the gazing points. 

Bad cinema and calendar art of San Francisco aside, film is a unique medium to the extent that it is both art and commerce; and Berkeley is home to a surprising number of cinematographers, gaffers, grips and best boys. When a film company rolls into town, regardless of their intended artistic achievement, they generate cash for our economy.  

When Ang Lee and “The Hulk” came here with a bankroll larger than the GDP of most African nations, they not only employed many of our local film personnel, they paid fees to the city, took rooms in hotels and spent money in restaurants. A film that size creates a small but positive ripple throughout our economy. 

We should be happy when films come to town. Ang Lee and his crew were very good to Berkeley. It’s just that Berkeley is long overdue a role in a great film, and “The Hulk” ain’t it.