Who's Shot? J.R.
No Country For Old Men might be the best-reviewed film of the year. But Jonathan Rosenbaum in the Chicago Reader pans it. Fine, I like contrarians.
His main reason seems to be he's tired of films about psycho killers. I can appreciate that--I don't see half as many films as he does, and I'm a bit tired of them, too. (I have a friend who's so tired of killers as leads that he won't see The Godfather.)
Alas, Rosenbaum then starts analyzing our taste for crazed murderers by making all sorts of fatuous political connections. Okay, it's been his MO for years, but I can always hope he'll snap out of it.
Here's a good example of his political thinking:
The waves of love that went out to [Hannibal] Lecter [in Silence Of The Lambs], epitomized by the five top Oscars the movie received in 1992, were a mix of giggly fascination, twisted affection, and outright awe for his absolute lack of remorse. This was during the first gulf war, a time when we were grappling with our own feelings about killing masses of people on a daily basis. I suspect Lecter represented a savior of sorts, a saintlike holy psycho who made us feel less uneasy about wanton slaughter.To quote this is to refute it.
Why does he do it? My guess is that he knows deep down his opposition to the war on terror means he supports fascism, so he represses it and projects his fears onto the public.
posted by LAGuy @ 1:00 AM
6 Comments:
I found it particularly interesting he used "SILENCE OF THE LAMBS" as an example of moviegoer (and Academy) fascination with the dark side of human nature.
I understand that stories require conflict, and I won't say anything negative about "LAMBS" which was an excellent film, but the year it came out (1991) was a definitive year in the battle between movie darkness and light. Why? Because this was also the year the first animated film ever got nominated for Best Picture, "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST", as uplifting a film as Hollywood has ever made...
...which should give you a hint as to where I stand/stood on the Darkness/Light movie issue.
In fact, I can still remember watching that particular Oscarcast. Even after "LAMBS" had won Best Screenplay Adaptation, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Director, I swear I STILL BELIEVED Best Picture would go to "BEAUTY".
Hollywood has been proving me wrong ever since.
Todd
Actually, I'm not that big a fan of Lambs. I think Anthony Hopkins is fine, but it's not his story. In fact, he probably has the least screen time of any Best Actor Oscar winner. Much of the rest of the film I consider a fairly ordinary police actioner (with yet another cliched "brilliant psycho").
But then, I often disagree with the Academy's choices. Still, the point is, it's called the Best Picture award, not the Most Uplifting picture award.
No doubt if Beauty And The Beast won, Rosenbaum would be saying we loved it because we were trying to hide our horror at killing people overseas--we identify with Beauty but know we're the Beast.
Just to clarify, I actually believe "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST" was the Best Picture of 1991. In fact, one of the best pictures of the decade.
In fact, one of the best pictures of all time.
Line up for potshots if you will, but it's one of my favorite movies ever.
As for "SILENCE OF THE LAMBS", I seemed to have liked it quite a bit more than you. As an example, I thought the escape scene could be described by a word that is often overused in the entertainment: Brilliant. This is mostly due to the writing, which mostly came from the book, but the movie executed it extremely well.
Todd
P.S.: A final, somewhat tangential thought: Is it me, or is this emotional quality of tension, strain, and distress the only acting note Jodie Foster ever plays?
I didn't notice it in "Paper Moon"
The TV series, that is
"Silence of The Lambs" (strained FBI agent), "Little Man Tate" (strained Mommie), "Contact" (strained scientist), "Panic Room" (strained Mommie #2), "Flight Plan" (strained Mommie #3), "The Brave One" (strained Charles Bronson).
As for her earlier work, I'm pretty sure I even saw some strain/tension/distress in those Coppertone ads.
Todd
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