Coma Produced by: MGM Directed by: Michael Crichton Written by: Michael Crichton Based on a novel by: Robin Cook Starring: Genevieve Bujold as Dr. Susan Wheeler Michael Douglas as Dr. Mark Bellows Elizabeth Ashley as Mrs. Emerson Rip Torn as Dr. George Richard Widmark as Dr. George Harris Lois Chiles as Nancy Greenly Originally Released: 1978 Runtime: 104 minutes Based on the novel by Robin Cook: after her best friend falls into a coma during routine surgery, Dr. Susan Wheeler discovers similar cases at her prestigious Boston hospital. But as her investigation unfolds, Susan uncovers a horrific conspiracy - and suddenly finds herself marked for death. Did art influence your filmmaking career? At the time I was directing, I felt that I was reacting against an emerging period of extremely aggressive directorial styles. The clearest example than -- he's more muted now -- is Scorsese. All those very active camera movements drew attention to the fact that there was a person telling you the story in a specific way, and you were being asked to recognize how it was being told to you. I didn't want to do that. I wanted to do a much more self-effacing directorial style. That was my goal. I think now there's a sort of exhaustion with aggressive directing. Everyone is so camera-zippy. In fact, this whole trend of stunning camera work has been very much influenced by commercials, and directors coming out of commercials. I think it's kind of played out. If you didn't know, could you differentiate Michael Bay (The Rock) from Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction) from Alan Parker (Evita)? Could you really? I don't think so. These guys are doing a similar kind of very heightened visual stuff, which is very exciting, but it's not individual, like Hitchcock or Wellman. Order "Coma" Amazon.com Barnes & Noble DVD DVD VHS VHS Soundtrack © 2002 Constant c Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.