The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (film)
| The Mysteries of Pittsburgh | |
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Promotional film poster
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| Directed by | Rawson Marshall Thurber |
| Produced by |
Michael London Rawson Marshall Thurber Pete Chiarelli Jason Ajax Mercer Thor Benander |
| Screenplay by | Rawson Marshall Thurber |
| Based on |
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon |
| Starring |
Jon Foster Sienna Miller Peter Sarsgaard Mena Suvari Nick Nolte |
| Music by | Theodore Shapiro |
| Cinematography | Michael Barrett |
| Edited by | Barbara Tulliver |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Peace Arch Entertainment |
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Release date
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Running time
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95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $80,238 |
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is a 2008 film based on Michael Chabon's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (1988). The screenplay was written by Rawson Marshall Thurber, who also directed. It was produced by Michael London and executive produced by Omar Amanat. Shooting in Pittsburgh ended in October 2006, with the film set for release in 2008. It made its world premiere in January 2008 at the Sundance Film Festival. Set in 1980s Pittsburgh, the film follows the affairs of two young men with one woman, and later also with each other.
Earlier attempts to bring Pittsburgh to the big screen failed, including Chabon's own try at adapting the novel. In early 2000, independent filmmaker Jon Sherman (writer and director of 1996's Breathing Room) adapted Chabon's novel into a screenplay, hoping to film it with Jason Schwartzman in the role of Art Bechstein. By August of the same year, Chabon announced that the project had fallen apart, sadly writing, "Ah, well. Maybe someday."
Director Rawson Marshall Thurber got hold of the project sometime prior to 2006, when he began filming after convincing Michael Chabon he could make it work. Chabon had seen the script, and was pleased with it. In order to facilitate the film adaptation, Thurber removed the character of Arthur Lecomte "whole cloth" from the original Chabon novel in what he described as "the most glaring change". Lecomte, a gay man for whom Art begins to develop feelings, had to be removed because Thurber felt strongly "that in order for the film to function properly, it needed a more efficient and more cinematic engine — in short, a love triangle." Consequently, many elements of Arthur Lecomte were folded into the character of Cleveland.
Cast member Sienna Miller created a minor stir in Pittsburgh when, in a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone, she referred to the city as "Shitsburgh", saying, "Can you believe this is my life? Will you pity me when you're back in your funky New York apartment and I'm still in Pittsburgh? I need to get more glamorous films and stop with my indie year." Miller has been parodied in Pittsburgh media (including one article that was headlined "Semi-famous actress dumps on the 'Burgh") and criticized for making what was seen as an unnecessarily disparaging remark, given the special treatment the film's cast and crew had been given by the visitor's bureau and other city offices. Miller soon apologized and said her remarks were taken out of context. She further stated that she was referring to night time shooting schedule of the production, and that what she had seen of the city was beautiful.
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