How did lacrosse evolve from an ancient Native American sport to its modern form. What role did lacrosse play in tribal cultures and conflict resolution. How were traditional lacrosse equipment and rituals different from today’s game.
The Origins and Evolution of Lacrosse in Native American Culture
Lacrosse, a sport deeply rooted in Native American history, has a rich and complex past that extends far beyond its modern incarnation. Originally played by indigenous tribes across North America, lacrosse served multiple purposes in Native societies, from conflict resolution to spiritual healing and the development of physical prowess.
The game’s origins can be traced back centuries, with oral traditions and legends passed down through generations providing insight into its significance. Thomas Vennum’s book “Lacrosse Legends of the First Americans” delves into this fascinating history, presenting 13 legends from five different tribes: the Cherokee, Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Seneca, Ojibwa, and Menominee.
The Spiritual Significance of Lacrosse
For many Native American tribes, lacrosse was more than just a sport – it was a sacred ritual with deep spiritual meaning. Often referred to as the “Creator’s Game,” lacrosse was believed to have divine origins and played an important role in tribal culture and beliefs.
- Healing rituals: Lacrosse games were sometimes organized to heal the sick, with the belief that the physical exertion and spiritual energy of the game could drive out illness.
- Conflict resolution: Rather than resorting to warfare, tribes would occasionally settle disputes through high-stakes lacrosse matches.
- Spiritual preparation: Players would undergo extensive ritual preparations before important games, often guided by medicine men or spiritual leaders.
Traditional Lacrosse Equipment and Playing Style
The equipment and playing style of traditional Native American lacrosse differed significantly from the modern game. Understanding these differences provides valuable insight into the sport’s evolution and cultural context.
Crafting the Perfect Lacrosse Stick
The creation of a lacrosse stick was a sacred and meticulous process in many Native American cultures. How was the ideal tree for crafting a lacrosse stick identified? According to legend, the perfect tree was often marked by a lightning strike, imbuing it with spiritual power.
Once the right tree was found, skilled craftsmen would carefully carve and shape the stick using traditional methods. Materials used in stick construction included:
- Hickory or ash wood for the shaft
- Leather for the netting
- Catgut for stringing
This stands in stark contrast to modern lacrosse sticks, which are typically made from synthetic materials like plastic, titanium, and nylon.
Playing Field and Team Size
Traditional Native American lacrosse games were played on a much grander scale than today’s matches. How large were the original lacrosse fields? In some cases, playing fields could stretch for up to a mile in length, accommodating hundreds of players on each team.
These massive games could last for days, with entire communities participating or spectating. The sheer scale of these events highlights the central role lacrosse played in Native American society.
The Role of Medicine Men in Lacrosse
In traditional Native American lacrosse, medicine men played a crucial role that went far beyond what we might consider a modern coach. These spiritual leaders were responsible for various aspects of game preparation and player protection.
Ritual Preparations and Protective Magic
Medicine men would use their spiritual knowledge to prepare players for important games. This could involve:
- Creating protective potions to prevent injuries
- Performing rituals to enhance players’ strength and agility
- Using spiritual practices to influence the outcome of the game
In some cases, medicine men were even believed to have the power to cause harm to opposing players, such as making their legs cramp during crucial moments of the game.
Legends and Myths: The Spiritual World of Lacrosse
The legends collected in Vennum’s book offer a window into the rich mythological world surrounding lacrosse in Native American cultures. These stories not only entertain but also provide valuable cultural and historical context for understanding the game’s significance.
The Great Game: Birds vs. Quadrupeds
One of the most famous lacrosse legends tells of a great game played between the birds and the four-legged animals. This myth not only explains the origin of the game but also teaches important lessons about teamwork, strategy, and the strengths of different creatures.
In this legend, the seemingly weaker birds ultimately triumph over the stronger quadrupeds through clever tactics and cooperation, demonstrating the values prized in both lacrosse and Native American society.
High-Stakes Games and Their Consequences
Some legends speak of lacrosse games with incredibly high stakes, where the losing team might face severe consequences. In the most extreme stories, losers could literally lose their heads, highlighting the intense competitiveness and cultural importance of the sport.
While these tales may seem brutal to modern readers, they underscore the central role lacrosse played in Native American life and the seriousness with which it was approached.
The Evolution of Lacrosse: From Tribal Ritual to Modern Sport
As lacrosse transitioned from its traditional roots to the modern sport we know today, many aspects of the game changed dramatically. Understanding this evolution provides insight into both Native American history and the development of contemporary sports.
Changes in Equipment and Playing Style
The most obvious changes in lacrosse involve the equipment used and the way the game is played. How has lacrosse equipment evolved over time? Some key differences include:
- Stick materials: Traditional wooden sticks with leather netting have been replaced by lightweight synthetic materials.
- Protective gear: Modern players wear extensive protective equipment, unlike their Native American predecessors.
- Field size: Today’s lacrosse fields are much smaller and more standardized than the sprawling fields of traditional games.
- Team size: Modern teams typically have 10 players on the field, a far cry from the hundreds that might participate in traditional matches.
Cultural Significance and Sportification
As lacrosse spread beyond Native American communities and became popular among non-indigenous players, its cultural and spiritual significance inevitably changed. The game transformed from a sacred ritual with deep community importance to a competitive sport played primarily for entertainment and athletic achievement.
Despite these changes, many Native American communities continue to play traditional forms of lacrosse, preserving their cultural heritage and the spiritual significance of the “Creator’s Game.”
Preserving Lacrosse’s Native American Heritage
While modern lacrosse has diverged significantly from its Native American roots, efforts are being made to preserve and honor the game’s indigenous heritage. How are Native American communities and lacrosse organizations working to maintain this connection?
- Cultural education: Many lacrosse programs now include education about the sport’s Native American origins and significance.
- Traditional game demonstrations: Some Native American communities organize exhibitions of traditional lacrosse to showcase their cultural heritage.
- Incorporation of indigenous elements: Some modern lacrosse equipment manufacturers produce sticks and gear inspired by traditional Native American designs.
- Support for indigenous players: Efforts are being made to increase participation and representation of Native American players in competitive lacrosse at all levels.
The Importance of Lacrosse Legends in Understanding Native American Culture
The legends and myths surrounding lacrosse offer valuable insights into Native American culture, spirituality, and social structures. By studying these stories, we gain a deeper understanding of indigenous worldviews and the complex role that sports and games played in traditional societies.
Cultural Preservation Through Storytelling
The oral traditions preserved in lacrosse legends serve as a form of cultural preservation, passing down important values, beliefs, and historical information from generation to generation. These stories provide a unique window into Native American life that might otherwise be lost to time.
Lessons for Modern Society
Many of the themes present in lacrosse legends – such as the importance of teamwork, the balance between physical and spiritual strength, and the resolution of conflicts through non-violent means – remain relevant in contemporary society. By studying these stories, we can gain valuable insights that apply to modern life and sports.
Thomas Vennum’s collection of lacrosse legends in “Lacrosse Legends of the First Americans” serves as an important contribution to both Native American studies and sports history. By bringing these stories to a wider audience, Vennum helps preserve an essential aspect of indigenous culture while also enriching our understanding of one of North America’s oldest and most fascinating sports.
Lacrosse Legends of the First Americans – HFS Books
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| Format | Paperback / softback |
| Published | July 15, 2007 |
| ISBN-13 | 9780801886294 |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 184 |
| Words | 62455 |
| Halftones, black and white | 11 |
| Line drawings, black and white | 8 |
| Height | 9.25 Inches (US) |
| Width | 6.13 Inches (US) |
| Thickness | 0. 49 Inches (US) |
| Unit weight | .65 Pounds (US) |
| List Prices | $29.00 USD, £24.00 GBP |
| ONIX | v2.1 Reference |
By Thomas Vennum
Johns Hopkins University Press
An ancient Native American sport, lacrosse was originally played to resolve conflicts, heal the sick, and develop strong, virile men. In Lacrosse Legends of the First Americans, Thomas Vennum draws on centuries of oral tradition to collect thirteen legends from five tribes—the Cherokee, Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Seneca, Ojibwa, and Menominee. Reflecting the game’s origins and early history, these myths provide a glimpse into Native American life and the role of the “Creator’s Game” in tribal culture.
From the Great Game in which the Birds defeated the Quadrupeds to high-stakes contests after which the losers literally lost their heads, these stories reveal the fascinating spiritual world of the first lacrosse players as well as the violent reality of the original sport.
Lacrosse enthusiasts will learn about game equipment, ritual preparations, dress, and style of play, from stick handling to scoring. They will discover how the “coach”—a medicine man—conjured potions to prevent game injuries or make the opponent’s leg cramp as well as how early craftsmen identified the perfect tree—marked by a lightning strike—from which to carve a lacrosse stick.
The game is no longer played by large numbers of men on mile-long fields, and plastic, titanium, and nylon have replaced hickory and ash, leather, and catgut. As lacrosse continues to evolve, this collection will help us remember and understand its rich and complex history.
About the Author
Thomas Vennum is senior ethnomusicologist emeritus at the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. He is the author of American Indian Lacrosse: Little Brother of War. He is retired and living in Tucson, Arizona, where he continues research among Indian tribes in Sonora, Mexico, specifically the Seri.
Reviews
“A strong contribution to Native American studies, sports history, and folklore.”
“As this book amply demonstrates, lacrosse has an impressive history and a vibrant contemporary culture.”
– Alan Bairner
– Journal of Sports Sciences
“It is to Vennum’s credit that he has brought these legends to a wider audience and demonstrated the relevance of what might seem at first glance unpromising territory for sport scientists.”
– Alan Bairner
– Journal of Sports Sciences
| Format | Paperback / softback |
| Published | July 15, 2007 |
| ISBN-13 | 9780801886294 |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 184 |
| Words | 62455 |
| Halftones, black and white | 11 |
| Line drawings, black and white | 8 |
| Height | 9. 25 Inches (US) |
| Width | 6.13 Inches (US) |
| Thickness | 0.49 Inches (US) |
| Unit weight | .65 Pounds (US) |
| List Prices | $29.00 USD, £24.00 GBP |
| ONIX | v2.1 Reference |
Add to Cart
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An ancient Native American sport, lacrosse was originally played to resolve conflicts, heal the sick, and develop strong, virile men. In Lacrosse Legends of the First Americans, Thomas Vennum draws on centuries of oral tradition to collect thirteen legends from five tribes-the Cherokee, Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Seneca, Ojibwa, and Menominee. Reflecting the game’s origins and early history, these myths provide a glimpse into Native American life and the role of the “Creator’s Game” in tribal culture.
From the Great Game in which the Birds defeated the Quadrupeds to high-stakes contests after which the losers literally lost their heads, these stories reveal the fascinating spiritual world of the first lacrosse players as well as the violent reality of the original sport. Lacrosse enthusiasts will learn about game equipment, ritual preparations, dress, and style of play, from stick handling to scoring. They will discover how the “coach”-a medicine man-conjured potions to prevent game injuries or make the opponent’s leg cramp as well as how early craftsmen identified the perfect tree-marked by a lightning strike-from which to carve a lacrosse stick.
The game is no longer played by large numbers of men on mile-long fields, and plastic, titanium, and nylon have replaced hickory and ash, leather, and catgut. As lacrosse continues to evolve, this collection will help us remember and understand its rich and complex history.
Lacrosse Legends of the First Americans Paperback edition by Thomas Vennum
Product Details
Product Specification
- Author
Thomas Vennum
- ISBN-13
- 9780801886294
- ISBN-10
- 0801886295
- Format
- Paperback,
- Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press
- Publication date
- 9 Sep 2007
- Product dimensions
- 156 x
238 x
23mm - Weight
- 320g
- Condition
- New
- Language
- English
Table of contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1./cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64707151/BOB_8839.0.0.jpeg)
Animals as Star Players
The Great Game in Which the Birds Defeat the Quadrupeds
A Dog’s Power Beats the Old Chief
2. Game Equipment from the Upper World
The Pale Moon
Playing with an Evil Head
The First Lacrosse Ball
3. Wagers and Warriors
Playing for Heads
Wakayabide Is Killed Playing Lacrosse and Later Takes Revenge
The Warriors of the Ho-Chunk Nation Struggle on Home Turf
4. Tricksters and Culture Heroes
He Who Wears Human Heads for Earrings Defeats the Giants
Manabus Is Dogged by Waves
Why the Turkey Buzzard Has a Red Scabby Neck
5. Trees to Stop the Action
Snakes around the Neck
An Unusual Penalty Box
Conclusion
Appendix: Ethnographic Index
Bibliographic Note
Index
Categories
Non-Fiction History, Politics & Philosophy History History: Specific Events & Topics Social & Cultural History
Non-Fiction History, Politics & Philosophy History Regional & National History History Of The Americas
Non-Fiction Psychology & Social Science Sociology & Anthropology Anthropology
Non-Fiction Sport & Fitness Sport Ball Games Lacrosse
Stationery & Gifts
Non-Fiction Sport & Fitness
Non-Fiction Business, Finance & Law Business & Economics Industry & Industrial Studies Service Industries Sport & Leisure Industries
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Not a single NATO ship can hide from the space Liana
Free Press
© Free Press
Video of the day
“Pion-NKS” is a radar reconnaissance satellite, which is part of the advanced marine space reconnaissance and target designation system (MKRTS) 14K159 “Liana”.
It is intended for constant monitoring of the World Ocean in order to determine the location of enemy ships, and above all aircraft carrier strike groups, and to issue target designation to naval strike weapons to destroy these ships.
“Liana” includes two different types of satellites. “Lotos-S” is intended for electronic intelligence.
It captures the electromagnetic radiation of enemy ships and determines their coordinates for transmission to the Combat Control Center. The first Lotos-S satellite was launched in 2009. However, as a result of test tests, it was found that it does not fully meet the requirements assigned to it.
It took five years to create a more advanced Lotos-S1 apparatus, which was launched into orbit in 2014. Then the space constellation was replenished with three more modernized devices, the last, fifth, Lotos-C1 was launched in February of this year. True, they did not abandon the first satellite, due to software tricks, they ensured that it began to work properly.
Thus, the radio engineering component of the ICRC was fully staffed.
But Liana should include two more Pion-NKS radar reconnaissance satellites. They are necessary in order to improve the accuracy of determining the coordinates of ships and their motion vectors. “Pion-NKS” is able to detect objects with linear dimensions of one meter and at the same time the error in fixing their location does not exceed three meters.
Another advantage of Pion-NKS compared to Lotos-S1 is that it can detect and track ships following in radio silence mode. That is, with the instrumentation equipment that emits electromagnetic radio waves turned off.
So, the first Pion-NKS should have been launched a long time ago, which is necessary for training on the interaction of all elements of the system, that is, passive radio and active radar satellites. But this event was postponed several times to a later date. And now the full-fledged debugging of the Liana ICRTs has begun, the general developers of which are the Central Research Institute of Radio Engineering (TsNIIRTI) named after A.
I. Mints, KB “Arsenal” (St. Petersburg) and Rocket and Space Center “Progress” (Samara).
There is no information about when the second Pion-NKS will be launched into orbit.
I must say that “Liana” did not appear out of nowhere. In the Soviet period of history, the Navy was served by the Legenda space marine reconnaissance and target designation system, which entered combat duty in 1978 and lasted until the beginning of the 2000s of the new century.
Its working principle was exactly the same. But the technical level of space equipment was significantly lower. The “Legend” also included radio reconnaissance satellites (passive) and radar (active). The radar satellites had a large power consumption, and there was not enough power from the solar panels to power them.
We had to equip them with a power plant based on a portable nuclear reactor. The resource of the reactor was small, it was exhausted after 7 months. In this connection, it was often necessary to launch active satellites to replace those that had expired.
And this was not only an economic trouble, but also a reputational and political one. Three times there were accidents, as a result of which the satellite with the reactor could not be taken into the burial orbit. Satellites were destroyed in the atmosphere, and radioactive fragments flew down. Twice the fall occurred in the Indian Ocean. But once 65 kilograms of debris hit the territory of Canada. It’s good that they fell in a sparsely populated area. But it’s bad that some of them had radioactivity of 200 roentgens per hour.
The West constantly pressed on the Soviet Union, demanding an end to “this barbarity.” In the end, active satellites had to be abandoned. It happened in 1988. After that, the “Legend” functioned in a truncated form, not supplying the necessary volumes of intelligence information to the ground.
The Soviet sailors did not have to use the full capabilities of the “Legend”. Because an integral part of this ICRC was the Granit supersonic anti-ship missiles, which had both a conventional warhead weighing 750 kg and a nuclear power of 500 kilotons.
Things did not come to a combat launch of missiles.
However, in all other respects “Legend” showed itself from the best side – in efficiency, in resolution, in coverage of the entire water area of the World Ocean. And here is an eloquent example.
In 1982, during the Falklands War between Argentina and Great Britain for the islands of the same name, all the data from Legends about the situation in the region were collected and analyzed at the General Staff of the USSR. It was clear how many British landing ships were approaching the Falklands, what the defense of the islands was. As a result of the information received from the “Legend”, the place of the landing of the British troops and the exact time of the start of the operation were predicted.
Liana should outperform Legend in terms of reconnaissance capabilities. Firstly, it is capable of bearing enemy ships with significantly higher accuracy, determining their type, direction and speed of movement.
Secondly, the new reconnaissance space system is capable of monitoring not only the surface of the ocean, but also the land.
It is also necessary to say that the designers of the active satellite got rid of the need to use a nuclear reactor on board.
And what about these kinds of systems in the US Navy? Alas, better than ours. If only because the American system has been working for a long time, and ours has been in the status of a promising one for many years. Which is directly related to the lag of the Russian space industry from the American one, and now from the Chinese one.
The US Navy’s NOSS (Naval Ocean Surveillance System) ocean surveillance system appeared at the same time as Legend. The launch of first-generation electronic reconnaissance satellites began at 1976 year.
However, there was no crisis in the USA in the 1990s, which is why the NOSS system exists to this day. True, it already includes third-generation satellites, which have been launched into space on the principles of rotation since 2001. In orbits of 900-1200 km, up to 9 spacecraft rotate simultaneously.
Data on the capabilities of the third generation of the system are classified.
They are revealed by the second generation. The accuracy of determining the location of marine objects reaches 1-3 kilometers. That is, the system cannot be used for target designation of missile weapons. The third generation of the system has greater accuracy, but it is also used to reflect the surface situation throughout the oceans, and not for target designation
The Lacrosse radar reconnaissance system, consisting of four satellites in an orbit of 680 km, can be used to target naval strike systems. Radar operating in the centimeter and decimeter ranges, with a swath of 4000 km, provide location accuracy of 1-6 meters. When narrowing the bandwidth, the resolution can reach 0.3-0.9 meters.
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9 0068
How the American pie”
Sitting down to write “American Pie”, debutant screenwriter Adam Hertz did not at all imagine himself rediscovering the teen comedy genre – he simply actively did not like what he was used to seeing on the screen.
According to Adam, at the end of the last century, the genre of youth sex comedy was in a terrible state and needed an injection of something potent. It was just a matter of getting the recipe right. “The genre sucked itself out, Hollywood is all 9The 0s filmed solid rubbish, as if forgetting that teenagers also love movies, Hertz later recalled. “All I wanted was to make the studios think.”
At the University of Michigan, where Adam studied, he liked film studies much more than other subjects. Deciding that a career as a lawyer was not for him, in 1996, Hertz said goodbye to his native Grand Rapids and went to New York for a six-week filmmaking course. There it became completely clear to him that he did not have enough data for acting, but there were other professions that allowed him to penetrate the Hollywood kitchen.
Adam started working as an assistant in the production of various TV shows, and in his free time he dabbled in writing, however, without much success.
Disillusioned with modern cinema, Hertz wanted to write a good comedy in the spirit of the 80s, but the 15-hour working day squeezed all the strength out of him, not allowing him to focus on creativity. After suffering for some time and sending several unsuccessful drafts to the trash, Hertz found a way out of the situation – he quit his job.
By the time all of his bank cards had credit limits set, the 26-year-old author managed to squeeze out 30 pages of a script and hopefully showed them to his potential managers. “They said the first two pages were brilliant, but the other 28 were crap,” Adam later described the reaction of his first reviewers. “And I decided, okay, let it be just a movie about guys who want to have sex. And when the idea took concrete shape, I dashed off the rest of the script in two or three weeks.
The plot that took shape involved a group of high school friends desperately dreaming of parting with their innocence. There are still a few weeks left until the end of classes, and in order to spur each other, they make a corresponding bet.
Now, finding a “fail-safe” prom partner is becoming a matter of honor for the conspirators, and everyone is trying to resolve this issue in their own way. The shameless jerk Steve Stifler constantly interferes in the plans of friends, with whom they are friends only because it is at his house that the after-prom party will take place – the one at which everything should be decided …
It was the winter of 1997, just in time for the New Year holidays. While the country was resting and skiing, Hertz pounded on the keys, generously drawing the described situations and plot conflicts from personal baggage. Adam wrote off positive characters from his friends and acquaintances, whose habits and favorite phrases he had not yet forgotten after school. In order not to get confused who is who, in the first draft he even called them the names of real prototypes. Stifler, on the other hand, was largely a composite character, without whose foul language, according to the author, the plot would not have been so vital: “Everyone knows Stifler, a freakish moron like him studied with everyone at school.
A couple of such bespredelschikov also fell to my lot. All they wanted was to get laid, and for some reason the people around them had to respect them for it. In general, these two inspired me. Well, I also, of course, wrote off a lot of things from myself. ” According to Hertz, the main character, Jim Levenstein, was and remains his favorite, because he inherited his character in many ways. And even in some matters he turned out to be bolder, having done what Adam himself only dreamed of at one time.
The completed 113-page manuscript began circulating in film studios. Instead of a headline, the author wrote on the title page: “An as-yet untitled teen comedy that can be made for less than 10 million and that will probably outrage many readers, but I think you will like it.” As a result, the script was bought by Universal Pictures for 650 thousand, and the production of the tape was entrusted to the debutant brothers Paul and Chris Weitz. The brothers’ directing experience was zero; they entered the cinema through a side door, attracting the attention of the studio with the script for the animated film Antz written for DreamWorks.
A teen comedy was a good way for them to make themselves known, and there was a reason for self-realization since childhood: Paul and Chris’s mother, Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner Susan Kohner left the big screen at the peak of her career to devote herself to children, and this is what In a sense, it placed responsibility on the brothers.
Future directors saw the drama of growing up in the story written by Hertz: in their opinion, despite the abundance of very rude gags, the need for an early parting introduced an obviously sad counterpoint into the relationship of the characters, pushing them to various madness. Having thus determined for themselves the tone of the future picture, they began casting and staffed the team with serial actors who were ready to work for a modest fee for an interesting role.
Alyson Hannigan was hired due to the fact that before the screen test she did not have time to run to the toilet and, as a result, genuinely impressed the directors with her twitchiness.
Initially, she was considered for the role of Heather, but, after reading the script, the girl asked to give her the part of the geeky flutist Michelle. Some of the young actors who got into the team managed to get to know each other on other projects: for example, Natasha Lionni starred with Mena Suvari in The Slums of Beverly Hills, and she, in turn, played with Eddie Kay Thomas in Carrie 2. Tara Reid managed to participate in such iconic tapes 90’s, like The Big Lebowski, Urban Legends and Cruel Intentions, but the rest had nothing to brag about – they still had ahead. Even Eugene Levy, who by that time had almost thirty years of acting experience and more than fifty roles behind him, was remembered by the audience as the sexually liberated dad of the protagonist, whom he, correctly sensing the direction of the wind, later played more than once.
Locations for filming were chosen not far from Hollywood. Although Hertz’s action takes place in the town of East Great Falls, written off from his native Grand Rapids, trips to the outback were not needed: all suitable nature was found in Los Angeles and its suburbs.
The role of “East Great Falls High”, in which the characters of the tape study, was played by two schools located on Long Beach: interior scenes were filmed in one, the second was used for external plans.
Filming began on July 21, 1998 and ran until September 11. Despite the fact that the Weitzes were debutants, none of them pulled the blanket over themselves: the brothers understood each other without words, never argued, and even “Cut!” at the end of the takes they screamed at the same time. The coherence of their work impressed the rest of the team, so that the shooting of a number of rather sensitive episodes went off without incident. The unbridled script of Hertz only helped the actors in this. Jason Biggs, who played the role of Jim, was very excited when the turn came to the famous pie scene, but he could not help but admit that it was she who helped him overcome his complexes. A ridiculous striptease involving an office chair was given to Jason after that much easier. “I tried to act loose, because the dumber I looked, the less I became in it, and the easier it was to play,” the actor said years later.
Biggs literally experienced both heat and cold: during the filming of the opening scene, to simulate an erection, only a cooked and still hot sausage was stuffed into his shorts; on the set of another scene where his character rushes home, Jason overheated so much that he had to put ice under his shirt. When the required number of takes had been filmed, Biggs was taken to the hospital. On another occasion, the actor overate zinc tablets, poisoned himself and became so weak that he lost his ability to work for the whole day: the scene with Finch (Eddie Kay Thomas) playing golf had to be filmed without him. But perhaps the biggest test for Jason was the relatively simple breakfast scene at the Dog Years diner: as Biggs later admitted, during takes he had to eat more than five dozen hot dogs. This experience was also not easy for directors: Chris Weitz noted in his memoirs that “shooting a group of people sitting around a table is something impossible./cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62333329/ND5_0221.0.jpg)
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Sean William Scott, for whom Stifler was the first opportunity to shine on the big screen, approached his duties creatively: improvisations were allowed on the set, and he came up with so many things that Adam Hertz was eventually forced to recognize Scott as a full co-author: “ This character basically became Sean’s creation. The more he got used to the role, the more detached Stifler became. Shockingly worked on the image of the sophisticated alcoholic Paul Finch and Eddie Kay Thomas. The rest of the actors also gave their best: for example, for the role of handsome Oz, Chris Kline had to learn how to play lacrosse in two days, and Mena Suvari personally performed all the musical numbers.
For the late 1990s, the plot of American Pie was an unheard of audacity, but the young actors were not afraid to take risks, and the opportunity to feel like schoolchildren again entertained them a lot. The only one who asked to make fundamental changes to the drawing of his role was Eugene Levy – Jim’s dad. He wanted to play a good, caring father who really cares about his son, and does not encourage him in every possible way, pushing him into the abyss of debauchery. The production brothers agreed that Jim’s dad should not act like a dirty old man, but there was no time to rewrite the role, so the new image was born as a result of multiple improvisations right on the set. Levy later recalled, “Jim’s dad! When I first read the script, I thought, this guy doesn’t even have a name. It’s like playing some kind of “salesman”. But the role turned out to be a hit, and I’m glad about it. I have never heard a bad word about my character, so when someone on the street shouts “God, you’re Jim’s dad!”, I can only be proud.
The name of the tape was not born immediately. Initially, Hertz wanted to equip his creation with the title “East Great Falls High” – an allusion to the school in which he once studied, then the title was reduced to the name of the town – “Great Falls”. As a result, the punning “American Pie” appeared (“pie” in English is not only “pie”, but also “chaos”, “jumble”; in addition, there is a saying “As American as apple pie” – “As American as apple pie”), which suited everyone and turned into a kind of brand.
The live band invited to shoot the prom was selected on the basis of the most stupidity: the directors wanted to bring down the sentimental pathos of the event and show that the event that all schoolchildren are looking forward to may not actually look cool at all. “This went on for three days in a row,” the Weitz later recalled with a laugh. “Three days of never-ending graduation!” God forbid, to experience it again … Sherman, by the way, didn’t really wet himself there – there was a tube hidden in his trousers, through which water was supplied at the right moment.
In most of the scenes where music was involved (for example, at Stifler’s parties), the dancers had to twitch their limbs in complete silence, otherwise it would not have been possible to record dialogues normally – which, however, did not prevent the Weitz from later adding an amusing a set of more than three dozen melodies. So, the song of the Simple Minds group “Don`t you forget about me”, which the musicians play at the prom, is a reference to the youth comedy “Club” Breakfast “(1985).
When Finch, who has drunk a laxative, rushes to the toilet, The Ventures song “Walk Don’t Run” (“Go, don’t run”) is played off-screen. And the music he seduces Stifler’s mom to is “Mrs. Robinson” from the film “The Graduate” (1967). The members of the group “Blink 182” not only donated their songs “Mutt” and “Going Away To College” for the soundtrack, but also played casual viewers spying on Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) masturbating. Other cameos include Casey Affleck in the tiny role of Tom Myers, Kevin’s older brother. The future singer Christina Milian wormed his way into the group of outsider musicians, and in the crowd of girls laughing at Finch who came out of the women’s toilet, one can see fashion model Stacy Fuson (Miss February of Playboy magazine for 1999 g). Director Chris Weitz chose the most amusing role for himself – it is in his voice that the porn actor shouts from the TV at the beginning of the film: “Go smack my hairy ass!”
for example, the golf scene was advised to be inserted into the film by the father of actor Eddie Kay Thomas, and Chris Weitz came up with the idea of using the monkey in the scene where Nadia appears topless (despite the fact that all unwanted spectators were removed from the site, the animal found by the producers got nervous and pissed himself right on in the hands of Shannon Elizabeth’s boyfriend, who was watching the filming).
At the same time, not everything from Hertz’s initial script migrated to the film. Some scenes were longer, some looked different, and Nadia not only smiled dazzlingly and showed off her body, but also talked. When Vicki (Tara Reid) and Jessica (Natasha Lionne) discussed methods of achieving orgasm at a party, Nadia put in her five cents: “Hands are not always even needed. I can teach you my own method, which I came up with when I attended a ballet school in Prague. You just have to forget about everything except the muscles of the inner thigh … “After the departure of Nadia, Jessica concluded:” It’s no wonder that in the lessons she always has her head in the clouds. At the end of the prom, when Jim was alone with Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), it was assumed that the girl would play the flute in the process of intercourse, and Stifler’s younger brother would watch the couple from the closet. As a result, they decided to cross out the flute and brother, but they left a cry improvised by Alison in front of the camera: “Call me by my name, bitch!” The waiter told them the next bottle of champagne to the bellboy: “Here’s a lucky one!” – “I’ve already seen this couple somewhere,” the bellboy answered.
“This guy is some kind of dancer.”
Knowing that an inexpensive film is more likely to be made, Hertz tried to get rid of everything that could weigh the budget even at the stage of writing the script. The consequence of this principle was, for example, the number of night scenes brought to a minimum, since Night shots are more expensive than daytime shots. As it turned out later, the screenwriter nevertheless miscalculated a little with the budget declared on the title page: the cost of the tape was not 10, but 11 million. But the money had already been invested – all that remained was to reap the rewards.
When the filming was completed and post-production began in the fall of 1999, it turned out that the tape did not fit into any censorship limits. Watching a rough cut of “American Pie” made the motion picture association of America’s (MPAA) moral watchdogs eyes wide open, and they declared that the film deserved no other rental rating than NC-17. This meant that the tape could not be advertised in the media, and no one under the age of 17 could enter the sessions.
Since “Pie…” was filmed primarily for young people, the Weitzes returned to the editing room several times, replacing the most “shocking” shots with alternative shots and removing the most obscene lines. In the fourth version of the montage, Jim fucked the pie while standing to his full height, and not lying on the kitchen table upside down, and the “man’s soup” accidentally drunk by Stifler (made, by the way, from beer and egg white) sounded like a “milk shake” . In the end, the MPAA gave in: the tape received the coveted rating of R and 9July 1999 successfully released in the US box office. The Weitz, unwilling to put up with censorship, put back much of what was cut in preparation for the “Director’s Cut” for the DVD release.
Further known: $235,483,004 in global screen and home video grosses, scandalous status, nominations and awards, MILF acronym entering everyday language, follow-up sequels and direct-to-video spin-offs labeled “American Pie Presents” “In which only Jim’s dad remained from the previous composition, but numerous relatives of Stifler appeared . .. Then, at 19In 1999, the Weitzes could hardly have imagined that in just a few years, showing male genitalia in comedies and smearing various bodily fluids on the screen would become commonplace; at that time, the authors were quietly happy, if only because they were able to show Shannon Elizabeth’s bare breasts and joke about the flute stuck in a causal place.
The fact that the testosterone injection, which Hertz dreamed of doing to the comedy genre, had an effect, the screenwriter found out even before the premiere. He recalls this moment not without pride: “At first, the studio did not really believe in the success of our film, but after the test screenings, the marketers were on their ears: “God damn it, guys, how did you do it? The audience is delighted! ..” Well, it was a hit, and he changed a lot in the industry. But as time went on, Hollywood again began to shoot nonsense instead of comedies, and now, like in the nineties, everything is preparing to die again .
