oh, ivLo irukkA. His films doesn't seem to work for me, will try books atleast.
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oh, ivLo irukkA. His films doesn't seem to work for me, will try books atleast.
I re-read Whore of Mensa recently. I'm most attracted to that concept. It's very high-brow.
any link to American Masters Woody Allen's docu? plis to pm :???:
Woody the comedian - Good (Groucho Marx naming him as the fourth Marx brother ellam remba too much, he forgot that there was a fourth (and fifth) bro in the group).
Woody the filmmaker = overrated
Woody the short story writer = Brilliant!!! Nay, Genius.
As a filmmaker, he's underrated..
I've said this before. A film's script is best compared to short fiction..
I know Queenan is one of my favourite writers and all, but I so agree with him here
:x Naansens maadhiri pEsaadheenga
Whatever Works was excellent
VCB - palatharappatta rasigargaLai kavarndha - excellent. Maria Elena Oscar
Match Point - a beautiful contemporary rework of his masterpiece Crimes and Misdemeanours
Anything Else is fast becoming one of my favourites
I haven't seen Cassandra's Dream, but what little I caught on tv was impressive
Scoop, YWMATDS were sumaar
MiP was lovely.
The man is in fine flow. Can't wait to watch him return to acting in his next...paired with Penelope Cruz :lol2:
enna ezhavu adjectives idhellAm?Quote:
The result was a glum trio of daft, extraneous London films: the sycophantic, culturally benighted Match Point, the paleolithic murder mystery Scoop, and the lugubrious drama Cassandra's Dream.
Repugnant core IS the point. Ebert mentions that when reviewing Crimes & Misdemeanors. asinine plot it seems - right vidu. appadiyE Dostoevsky-ai sattaiyai pudikkalaam.Quote:
This tactic paid off with Match Point, a deceptively repugnant film that did shockingly well at the box office considering its shallow premise and asinine plot, but Scoop was not a hit.
Oh it is such a visceral hatred is it. idhu theriyAma, idhu varaikkin padichchittEnE.Quote:
possibly the only actor on the planet who is more annoying onscreen than Allen himself.
Allen - who simply has no idea how cadaverously gross he looks onscreen
Hahahaha. Amaam...ippo idhukku ennaangara?Quote:
Bergman for Beginners.
:confused2: shoulder-la edhunA chip-A?Quote:
Match Point is actually yet another opportunity for the notoriously craven, Wasp-obsessed director to suck up to the wealthy, heaping all the abuse on the depraved - Irish! - working-class slob
He makes some valid points (on highbrow posturing) but ultimately sounds as deficient as David Denby.
Match Point so ostensibly refuses to be a Leigh film. Leigh's class concerns are rooted in 'reality' as it were & the characters are a thoroughly collaborative calibration (extensively researched with the actor), a far-cry from a WA film. Woody's tends to be about 'intellectual' class than social. He's more concerned by the existential, mortal, & atheistic universe. It's about a deep sense of meaninglessness in moral framework. None of his films function in an allegorical manner as Leigh's tends to be. Leigh's is socio-political. He's shares a lot more in this mode with another NY filmmaker, his phonetic namesake, Spike Lee. In a way, the specifications ala Irish working class isn't quite healthy for a WA film. Also, the Manhattan(s) of early Woody weren't anymore 'real'. It seems every aspect was filtered through the dark-rimmed looking glass. With humor, but nevertheless very affected by Jewish stereotypes ( neurotic schlub, talented schlimazel, unattractive shiksa) who make for compelling tools needed to tell (more so, than 'show', admittedly) the story, in an engaging manner.
Also in many respects I find 'Match Point' to be better than C&M. I remember reading an excellent post by Rosenbaum on this. Will post it here.
AvarukAga vAthAda mAtten, I disagree to one or two points. For example, on Allen being annoying all. I am always happy to see him on screen. Anyway, good that you guys read that piece. Thilak, waiting for the post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kid-glove
Hmm.. I guess he didn't like the Woody story at all. It is extremely well done. It is what prompted me to start this thread actually! Very first post.Quote:
In almost all respects, Match Point is an improvement over Crimes and Misdemeanors. It’s better crafted and more absorbing, and it doesn’t have the distractions of Allen’s wisecracks and extended banal philosophizing.
What is an affair? The man who is never going to leave his wife but has an affair promising his mistress, so. Is it outright duplicity? Is it self-delusion (Sidney Pollack - hating being judged, wanting to relax standards and then realizing he is judgmental and possibly that's what he wants!). Does Jonah want to leave his wife - seems unlikely. He seems to have had an affair because he could afford to. i.e. that he could live a life he has not had a chance to.
The visceral reason is the man with sexual appetite wedded to a menopausal (oru yoogam dhaan) wife. But look at his choice. With Dolores, he has someone who would hold him in awe for being what he is. It's not like he lowers his standards. He doesn't quite see the dignified life becoming of his social station is stifling. But his day-job life with its politeness, reservedness, gentleness is what he has to keep up with, just to be where he is. Whereas with Dolores, it is something out of place, grand. Something she would reach and aspire for. The aphrodisiac-ness of this cannot be understated.
And Woody makes you understand Dolores' desperation. The unchaste, kept woman threatening exposure has rarely (adhaavadhu, naan paartha varaikkin) been shown so damn well.
It is not just the pure hurt at being spurned and used that is working her. She will never ever get a better man that Jonah. And Jonah knows that - indeed that was part of the high!
That is why he knows she will stop at nothing, that is why he knows he HAS to kill her.
It seems clear as ever to us that she is not his intellectual, social match. 'you're kidding me, if you thought this was for real' is what you want to say to Dolores. But a girl - that too not a very bright one - past her prime, with few takers couldn't've believed her stroke of luck when she got Jonah. And one can understand how she may have fallen for him. She is so not a simple gold-digger (for you to feel she 'deserved to die').
I didn't feel Nola in MP was anywhere near as well fleshed out.
And the Woody-Mia Farrow story is also exactly about the intellectual match business. It is not a pure/non-judgmental love (is there anything like that?).Woody is in no social position to cheat on his wife! Yet that is what he tries to do. He also thinks his wife is no match for him. He thinks nearly as poorly of her as thinks of Alda- who is shown to be his 'superior' not just in the 'ways of the world' but also in terms of 'poetry reading'!! So - if only he were not that endearing and relatable a character - we can judge him pretty harshly for putting the moves on Mia Farrow. And we see right before our eyes she is going to smash his hopes and headed exactly in the feared direction. In the end Woody's character does climb his high and lonely moral ground.
And for the charges of "highbrow posturing" (I don't think I fully understand what you are agreeing with k-g), Allen has always made fun of it from inside, no? In C&M for instance, Woody's character is shown to be one with a disproportionately bloated ego.
There are several places where he does this. VCB for example - the famous v/o in the picnic scene - he talks about the free spirit of Europe :lol: That's a bloody mockery of the feel of the movie! The girls are enjoying a European vacation, we think we are enjoying a European movie. But by mere tongue-in-cheek mention he all he makes us think that perhaps the girls just think they are drinking in Europe, and by extension, so are we! End of the vacation, we have to pack our bags and come home and be our confused, restricted selves.
Yes, his people seem to believe 'a good life is art-appreciation based'. And they are - the funny ones atleast - anxious about having opinions about them. But by simply presenting these clamorous, clumsy individuals Woody seems to be repeatedly saying life is elsewhere (the wordless Opera scene in Manhattan - what excellence)
In Interiors, he has the husband talk about being afraid of his anger after he wrote a caustic review of his friend's book. Is he is he afraid his opinions are more important to him than his relationships or is he afraid, he is overbalancing to ensure that is not the case? Who is to say? Isn't this quite close to the problem of the intellectual who can't date a girl who believes in sun-signs?
That's a little uncharitable. ennamO ippo dhaan graduate aana maadhiri.Quote:
Whatever happened, Allen has finally emerged as something of a storyteller
I was captivated by Woody's parts at first. But then, you start feeling more for his story than Angelica Huston. There's something fundamentally wrong if you get distracted like this. Particularly so that the film is about crime.Quote:
Originally Posted by P_R
One other problem I had is that Landau's relationship & domestic situation was neither suggested or portrayed with as much conviction as Pollack's in H&W, or Meyer in MP. Landau's seems harmonious & manageable.Quote:
What is an affair? The man who is never going to leave his wife but has an affair promising his mistress, so. Is it outright duplicity? Is it self-delusion (Sidney Pollack - hating being judged, wanting to relax standards and then realizing he is judgmental and possibly that's what he wants!). Does Jonah want to leave his wife - seems unlikely. He seems to have had an affair because he could afford to. i.e. that he could live a life he has not had a chance to.
The visceral reason is the man with sexual appetite wedded to a menopausal (oru yoogam dhaan) wife. But look at his choice. With Dolores, he has someone who would hold him in awe for being what he is. It's not like he lowers his standards. He doesn't quite see the dignified life becoming of his social station is stifling. But his day-job life with its politeness, reservedness, gentleness is what he has to keep up with, just to be where he is. Whereas with Dolores, it is something out of place, grand. Something she would reach and aspire for. The aphrodisiac-ness of this cannot be understated.
The suggestion seems to be that he had a random fling & he held on it. But he grew out of it.
He could have exposed it & stood a good chance of holding on to the family.
It turns into a blackmail & uncontrollable situation because his financial wrongdoings stood a chance of being exposed.
Hmmm. I looked at it in a different way. There's always a part in him that inherently desires to be amoral. Maybe it's in the DNA. The brother is a goon. Maybe it's the upbringing. There's a childhood sequence of an aunt influencing part of his subconscious. Despite the conditioning, there's still that part wired in to him.Quote:
And Woody makes you understand Dolores' desperation. The unchaste, kept woman threatening exposure has rarely (adhaavadhu, naan paartha varaikkin) been shown so damn well.
It is not just the pure hurt at being spurned and used that is working her. She will never ever get a better man that Jonah. And Jonah knows that - indeed that was part of the high!
That is why he knows she will stop at nothing, that is why he knows he HAS to kill her.
It seems clear as ever to us that she is not his intellectual, social match. 'you're kidding me, if you thought this was for real' is what you want to say to Dolores. But a girl - that too not a very bright one - past her prime, with few takers couldn't've believed her stroke of luck when she got Jonah. And one can understand how she may have fallen for him. She is so not a simple gold-digger (for you to feel she 'deserved to die').
Is the person conditioned to follow a 'moral code' capable of such acts, seems to be the suggestion.
No, it does in lot more subtle ways.Quote:
I didn't feel Nola in MP was anywhere near as well fleshed out.
There's a lot more sexual tension suggested here. Scarlett Johansson vs Emily Mortimer - Is this even a contest?
And the real devils of inherent immorality when they have sex by the fields.
A less intellectual person wanting to stick on to his wealthy, highbrow lifestyle. He 'acts' a lot in his marriage while he is himself with her.
Unlike MP, characters in WA films who are lesser intellectuals, are the ones who are given progressive arcs when they learn the capacity to ruminate in in philosophy, literature, history & arts. But in MP, the person 'acts' his way to enjoy the affluent lifestyle. But not necessarily takes in to the intellectual leanings as the means to realize the meaning(lessness) of life. He is already aware of this. He doesn't need extra credentials. But there are other WA characters (of that intellectual stature) are persuaded to earn it & they feel good about themselves in this progression. Female characters in general. And they use up Woody in this process.
Isn't that part of the problem?Quote:
And the Woody-Mia Farrow story is also exactly about the intellectual match business. It is not a pure/non-judgmental love (is there anything like that?).Woody is in no social position to cheat on his wife! Yet that is what he tries to do. He also thinks his wife is no match for him. He thinks nearly as poorly of her as thinks of Alda- who is shown to be his 'superior' not just in the 'ways of the world' but also in terms of 'poetry reading'!! So - if only he were not that endearing and relatable a character - we can judge him pretty harshly for putting the moves on Mia Farrow. And we see right before our eyes she is going to smash his hopes and headed exactly in the feared direction. In the end Woody's character does climb his high and lonely moral ground.
Again, there's a clearly defined nebbish anxiety that he explores. That would be best served in a different film.
What kind of meta- ness do you derive by contrasting this intellectual match/conflict to the other one (Which is patched up like a serious examination of crime)? Not a lot.
More importantly, like Rosenbaum, I didn't feel it was justified to lack seriousness of a sex victim (in a way, Huston is too, exploited by Landau), where the sole aim was to let Woody contemplate human sexuality is so mysterious, a nice trademark one-liner. But isn't that deep in itself.
Woody's parts serves a tragicomical function. Exposition by Alda made it obvious. Woody being a musician would understand the role of playing different keys & tones to make a more accessible, entertaining film. I get that.
Which wasn't done in a sophisticated manner in MP. There's not much of in-joke quotient here as in his other films. This is where I agree with Queenan. His recent films suffer a lot more. The early films had Woody channeling his Jewish nebbish prototype who tries to make up for his lack of physicality with (pseudo-)intellectual posturing.Quote:
And for the charges of "highbrow posturing" (I don't think I fully understand what you are agreeing with k-g), Allen has always made fun of it from inside, no? In C&M for instance, Woody's character is shown to be one with a disproportionately bloated ego.
There are several places where he does this. VCB for example - the famous v/o in the picnic scene - he talks about the free spirit of Europe :lol: That's a bloody mockery of the feel of the movie! The girls are enjoying a European vacation, we think we are enjoying a European movie. But by mere tongue-in-cheek mention he all he makes us think that perhaps the girls just think they are drinking in Europe, and by extension, so are we! End of the vacation, we have to pack our bags and come home and be our confused, restricted selves.
Yes, his people seem to believe 'a good life is art-appreciation based'. And they are - the funny ones atleast - anxious about having opinions about them. But by simply presenting these clamorous, clumsy individuals Woody seems to be repeatedly saying life is elsewhere (the wordless Opera scene in Manhattan - what excellence)
In Interiors, he has the husband talk about being afraid of his anger after he wrote a caustic review of his friend's book. Is he is he afraid his opinions are more important to him than his relationships or is he afraid, he is overbalancing to ensure that is not the case? Who is to say? Isn't this quite close to the problem of the intellectual who can't date a girl who believes in sun-signs?
But there are judgmental attitudes involved which essentially trivializes a less simplistic being. I obviously don't look for that in a WA film, because I know it serves many functions. At times, it's perfectly woven like 'life is elsewhere' perspective that you've mentioned. But not all films get accounted like that.
I watched part I of the documentary. I'd say there's enough truth to a school-dropout name-throwing Kierkegaard & Dostoevsky without 'em serving a more nuanced function.
Agreed on this.Quote:
That's a little uncharitable. ennamO ippo dhaan graduate aana maadhiri.
But what he's trying to suggest is that MP tells the story in a much more refined way. More importantly, it manages to highlight the crime & makes one feel for the mistress (Despite her own questionable morality & misdemeanors) & the neighbor. It also manages to make the crime a direct implication & not detached. In these respects, WA evokes the real problems of humanity. He makes less compromises, by his own admission.
Exactly. To make these parallels feel equal is itself so 'wrong'. And I think that is very intentionally done by Woody. As Kaufman would say: I'm solipsistic, I'm pathetic.Quote:
Originally Posted by k_g
Of course the sister's abuse experience is largely a joke. But part of the joke is that Woody is only superficially interested in that. He is concerned only about his own 'petty' issues. "My crimes are misdemeanors, the misdemeanors that happen to me are crimes' vice versa for others" is how I made sense of the whole film.
Which is why I was pretty disappointed with Woody making short work of his track in the film.
Grown kids, presenting exercise cycle and all. Respectable people he has over for dinner, the decor of the house (pertinent 'ngrEn). It is unimaginable for him to have the world know he was bonking an airhostess. Adulterous affair with a wife's friend or friend's wife is something else. Revealing would have been a breach too gross.Quote:
Landau's seems harmonious & manageable.
..
He could have exposed it & stood a good chance of holding on to the family.
But you are right, I understand, objectively speaking that it wasn't suggested too clearly. I am just a reading a lot because I like this film and Jonah's situation too much.
:lol: equa, engirundhaalum mEdaikku varavum.Quote:
There's always a part in him that inherently desires to be amoral. Maybe it's in the DNA. The brother is a goon.
Well..never mind.Quote:
There's a lot more sexual tension suggested here. Scarlett Johansson vs Emily Mortimer - Is this even a contest?
The affair in C&M is about power, than about youthful passions. Here it's not the asexuality of the wife, but the seeming expectation of a certain 'acting your age' asexuality expected of him. oor periya manushan -naalE asexual creature dhaanE.
Didn't get this one.Quote:
And the real devils of inherent immorality when they have sex by the fields.
This 'throw caution to the winds' moment didn't work for me. Perpetually cautious Rhys-Myers swept off his feet - is what it is supposed to be. A union where finally the palpable tension built that far was finally relieved. I could see what Woody was trying to do, but it didn't work that way for me. May have a lot to do with my scant estimation of Ms.Johansson's attractiveness.
Yes. His lies and simple-duplicity are the reasons why this affair-situations compares less favourably to the C&M.Quote:
He 'acts' a lot in his marriage while he is himself with her.
In MP I didn't find myself rooting for Rhys-Myers. Even though I am quite supportive of shooting Ms.Johansson.
And that was a very good touch methought.Quote:
MP, the person 'acts' his way to enjoy the affluent lifestyle. But not necessarily takes in to the intellectual leanings as the means to realize the meaning(lessness) of life. He is already aware of this. He doesn't need extra credentials.
And he is not talking survival. He willing to play-act for the lifestyle. What would you rather do, when you don't know what you would want instead?
Yeah. The night-school cultural improvement stuff. But far from it being something to criticize Woody about, he has always shown the emptiness of that, right? He says that quite directly, no:Quote:
But there are other WA characters (of that intellectual stature) are persuaded to earn it & they feel good about themselves in this progression. Female characters in general. And they use up Woody in this process.
Alvy Singer being happy about Annie taking her boyfriend to 'Sorrow and the Pity'.
Or is portraying that as the intellectual equivalent of a makeover itself objectionable?
Hmm I am not so sure. As I said above, his problems being nothing in comparisons to the murder IS the point.Quote:
Originally Posted by k-g
Actually Nola is a poor thing. There is not much to question her morality about, right? Her boyfriend's mother gives her a pretty hard time, she is flopping auditions, she is the other misfit in the #posh family but Woody makes you sympathize with her predicament. Particularly when contrasting with the pretending rat Rhys-Myers is.Quote:
Originally Posted by k_g
Consequently it makes it impossible for anyone to sympathize with Myers. The film doesn't aim to either I guess. But when the doctor feels the heaviness of having snuffed out a life in C&M, you really feel it. The revisiting the crime scene moment, he is simultaneously disturbed by what he has done (still corpse of someone who so recently was a threat) simultaneously removing the evidence. That split when you indulge yourself in self-pity, remorse and without batting an eyelid indulge in self-preservation - I found that highly impressive.Quote:
Originally Posted by k-g
I actually think C&M is more human in this respect. There is an element of self-deception (finally you deceive/convince yourself well enough, you are home and dry) is very well handled here.Quote:
Originally Posted by k-g
vayasaana kaalathula summA illaama pEtti kudukkuraar. inimE ennai kEttuttu dhaan pEsanumnu sollap pOrEn.Quote:
Originally Posted by k-g
In C&M, the deception is possible because it's handled in a compromised manner. That we feel more for Landau is problematic. What if he was directly involved in the murder & then earns the sympathy? Not having to let his brother's hitman to get the job done? What if he didn't have a loving family & had to leave it all for aging air-hostess, who uses his financial misappropriation for blackmail purposes? That would be a real challenge.
The film makes a case that the moral compass is in itself self-deception. Landau coming out of that guilt sort of shunts the extended feeling at crime scene.
Quote:
To make these parallels feel equal is itself so 'wrong'. And I think that is very intentionally done by Woody. As Kaufman would say: I'm solipsistic, I'm pathetic.
Of course the sister's abuse experience is largely a joke. But part of the joke is that Woody is only superficially interested in that. He is concerned only about his own 'petty' issues. "My crimes are misdemeanors, the misdemeanors that happen to me are crimes' vice versa for others" is how I made sense of the whole film.
I'd prefer if the feelings were reserved more for the real victims than the self-absorbed loser. The precedence matters (not unless the film wants to address the problematic attitudes of the audience having to side with the upperclass/middlerclass, both intellectual & social*). Mechanics of C&M so clearly works against that. OTOH, MP is able to tell the story but define proper boundaries that wouldn't problematize. Not have to use the murder to contrast the pettiness of one man, or more directly serve as means to show up the morality that we create for ourselves (& give an expository ending with both adulterous men, one sexual & other intellectual, ruminating.).Quote:
His problems being nothing in comparisons to the murder IS the point.
Nola having sex with Meyers character did strike as immoral & deplorable to me. It seemed that their physical union was a way to offset & release the hassles of having to 'conform' to the highbrow. It worked on that plane to me.
* - I'd revisit C&M more, wanting to identify & feel for Woody's character, Landau's character. But it's exactly this that makes one guilty as charged. IF Woody wants to show that this is wrong, he failed. MP is less problematic & less self-absorbed. More unsettling, less backpatting & less didactic. It's mechanics as a thriller and the visual choices (off-camera violence, Meyers shooting at the screen) shows masterful sensibilities of WA. The element of luck as events unfold deciding one's implication. And it didn't need a philosopher's v-o over a montage!
Thilak, thanks for the link. Tried to read the following discussions between you and PR, but got cross-eyed instead. Irumbadikkira idattula... Parava illa, innoru nAl varen.
By the way, do you know that there comic strips based on him? Here's the creator talking about it, with loads of advice from Woody on writing/creating. Love this para:
Working with Woody was smooth sailing: he was modest, efficient, dependable, focused, loyal, generous, incisive, serious, and witty. But quietly so. Even when an archetypal Allen quip slips out, there are no eye-rolls, no grandstanding, no bada-boom. He doesn't hang out with comics, he doesn't seek the limelight at awards shows, he doesn't demand his name above the title. He also has incredibly clean hands.
Hmm....as I said. I think it is important that Landau himself does not kill in cold blood and has someone else do it for him.Quote:
Originally Posted by k_g
At one point he talks about turning himself in only for his brother to shake him up saying, he won't let him bring him down along with him (damn these pronouns).
Landau insinuates that the brother threatens to snuff him out too.
He is probably not going to turn himself in. Not because he brother will kill him. But rather because he is unwilling to bring his brother down with him. Or so he would tell himself. If not for such familial appendanges, as a 'pure' individuals is his guilt so big that he would have turned himself in. I don't think so to. But now he can contemplate 'what he would have done, if only...'. An intellectual who has the dirty business taken care of by others, thus he is left with the luxury of pure contemplation. The blood on his hands is figurative.
There IS a duplicity here but it is a very deep one, not excluding self-deception. Remember, he can't bring himself to order a hit. He would rather not actually say it than have his brother infer it.
These are precisely the things I found C&M did so well.
Hmm...I felt the film was all about this contrast.Quote:
Originally Posted by k_g
One man who walks away from murder by merely taking a vacation (on can't but think of Dolores wanted to take a vacation to calm things out between them) while another is having his worst nightmare realized(and we also know his wife is going to leave him, so he is about to get his commeuppance!). The latter is crushed by the very reality that he takes pride in being out of step with, while the former, though equally contemplative of deeper issues, manages to handle things deftly when push comes to shove. His remorse itself was a luxurious stint at moral high ground, lady doth protest too much.
Yes it felt so to me too. But I didn't find it immoral or deplorable, because Brian Cox and his wife are - even though the former is polite and accommodative - not people the audience warms up to. We feel a social camaraderie with Nola and Myers.Quote:
Originally Posted by k_g
Even C&M didn't need Levy, did it? It was an interesting snippet. The most interesting thing about the character was his suicide. The man who had it all figured kills himself. It makes us think about murder, whether ending a life is that big a deal etc. That more than any of his points about love.Quote:
Originally Posted by k_g
The thing with his brother, who then hires the hitman - shabba. Diffuse mechanism. Landau acts like the brother is the one who is putting ideas into his head (to which the brother snaps back by asking why would he contact him then), etc. He wouldn't turn himself in. Remorse & guilt being easily short changed & gotten over with, seemed to be the closure. The gaze (and we the audience) warms up to Landau's recovery. And I'd blame Woody for this.
It IS problematic to create a contrast that ends up reassuring. The elaborate exposition in the end underlines that. OTOH, MP ends in a bleak, caustic state. Not much of a backpatting.
Levy's suicide read as 'ending a life is that big a deal' and be linked to murder, IS a problem. Not a favorable feature. But again, I'd much rather not have any of the Woody portion in this film.
I caught the latter half of 'Hannah and her Sisters' on tv last night. Yet another example of Woody's sheer mastery in the art of direction - as I understand it.
In one of the last scenes in the film, Elliot (Michael Caine) kisses his wife Hannah(Mia Farrow) in bed.Earlier that evening, Caine was told, in no uncertain terms, by Lee- Hannah's sister- that their brief affair was over.
Till then he was hoping there'd be some relief from his marriage. A relief which we - sitting outside the film- see as potentially ruinous, because - as he himself says - Hannah is perfect. "Too perfect" is the worst charge he seems equal to laying on her - so much so that one is inclined to think he is grasping at straws to redeem what is simply a primal attraction to his sister-in-law. We do not sympathize with his alleged suffocation in the perfection of his nice wife as we are privy to all his machinations throughout.
With the door now shut on him, they have the only marital confrontation which they seem to have ever had (with a door half-open so we see only one party till it is slammed shut on our face). The circumstances that lead to it are extraordinary in themselves. She asks him uncomfortable questions close to a subject where he has just taken a blow, and is being forced reassess his position. Her timing is an example of superb depiction of typical couple-moments.
They come as close as possible to the frank exchange of emotions but Elliot stops short of yielding to the moment and revealing the unnecessary. The perilous sense of individuality which can hurt loved ones badly, was possibly reigned in because his hopes had just been dashed moments ago, thus (presumably) making his survival instinct come to the fore. A day earlier this conversation would have been different and its outcome possibly longlasting.
But even in that argument, during his pre-emptively angry dismissal he (and we) sees that she considers him above and beyond any shred of suspicion. One can infer that itself would make him comfortably relieved on the practical plane, while simultaneously heavily guilty on the emotional/relationship plane (which by way of constructing this sentence I have inadvertently suggested is orthogonal -sheesh - to the practical plane). In fact she is the kind of person who may feel guilty for making him feel so. This humungous trust surplus is likely to make him feel all the more terrible.
That is the night he kisses her - after ages, we infer- quite intensely and professes love.
What do we make of that moment?
Is that a moment where his animal passion is being 'merely' channeled to his wife?
Now that the temptation is cleared away, is he investing all his emotions sincerely back into the marriage?
We like to believe the above two are different. We see a duplicitious, weak, self-serving man and a innocent, kind-hearted wife.
But it is also quite possible he himself doesn't know the difference at that moment. After all, every moment is labelled and defined at a later point in time.
We see weak man who wants to survive, who doesn't want to cause hurt - now that there is little to gain from doing so.
And, as he indicates in a voice-over in the subsequent scene, feeling change and pass.So, it was indeed wise to keep mum about something which, left to itself, will fades into inconsequence. Or so it seems at that time
http://dagalti.blogspot.com/2012/01/...ow-anyway.html
Manhattan Murder Mystery - Fantastic (thriller part was a little underwhelming). Tonnes of roll on the floor moments. ROFLMAX was when Woody says 'See I told you!' to Keaton sitting inside the car seeing a 'Dead' lady walk into a hotel. :rotfl3:
"This woman is forever dying"
"That's an alternative lifestyle" to Keaton who reads out a news from the morning paper. The news - A man killed 10 people and ate each one of them.
"Try giving her the present". Woody and Keaton visit an old lady with a gift, and Keaton finds her dead.
And a so many of them. :bow:
enna pr ivlo promote panraar...
ivaroda best edhachum irundhaa suggest pannunga... pakkaren...
SS
Start with this scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZVGh...e_gdata_player
comedy tv serial madhiri irukku...
oru padam sollunga paakkaren..
sorry to poke my nose here.
SS,
My all time favorites are Annie Hall and Manhattan. Watch these two, you will know who Woody Allen is. I have seen only few of his films, but I once I watch his films, I can never watch other films for atleast a month. OnnumE illaatha maadhiri irukkum, aana nalla patta rewind panni kEkara maadhiri, padam mudinchadum, rewind panna vaikkum, that too immediately (I mean you are rewinding 2hours, not just 5 minutes). I never felt like this. As far as I know he is an encyclopedia.
thanks VS.... paathudren..
evlavo vettiya irukkom... imdb ellaam poi padam thedrom... ipdi yarachum soningana evlo vasadhiya irukkum...
makkalae.... plis to start a must watch movies thread... evlavo uttu poirukku...
Adhu maadhiri 2,3 thread indha section-layE oru 5-6 varusmaa irukkE.. Naanellaam adhai padichu therinjikittu dhaan ipdi peter vidradhu :lol2:Quote:
Originally Posted by SoftSword
Start with simple/straight ones like Manhattan Murder Mystery. See you already got 4 recos within 4 hours.
SS,
When I wanted to watch the best of the best of Hollywood films few years back, I searched and searched and end up with this link.
http://www.filmsite.org/momentsindx.html
This link serves me a reference. I was skeptical initially, but after watching a few from their list, then I started collecting them. Very authentic list atleast for me. Now I have 80% of these films in my collection.:smile: Every one is a must watch. You would see the last best film was made in 1977 (:wink:) according to this list and my very favorite, 'One Flew Over Cuckoos' Nest' (1975).
Thanks V_S for the link. Will start collecting/watching the movies!
'non indian film u watched'... naanum neraya murai adha thedi paatthu dhaan solven...Quote:
Originally Posted by Nerd
adhula sila padam mokkayaa kooda irukkum...
sari neenga anga oru 10 must watch movies list podunga... ellaarum podattum...
thanks VS, would bookmark the link...Quote:
Originally Posted by V_S
downloaded annie hall already...
Good SS :smile:
venkki, you are welcome.
Please also find 50 greatest directors of all time, and Woody is right up there. This site is a treasure and it has lot of information, reviews, used to be my favorite pass time during weekends.
http://www.filmsite.org/directors.html
SS
Plot based-a venumna i would recommend you to start with Match Point, Cassandra's Dream, Nerd sonna MMM, Crimes and Misdemeanors
[let me know your preference between MP and CAM]
Deconstructing Harry enakku remba pidikkin. Hilarious and very high repeat value. Annie Hall irukkave irukku.
Idhellam mudichittu matra "relationship" films/comedies ku vaanga
Blade/can't get through - Alice, Everyone Says I Love You, Stardust Memories (pala thadava try panni full-a paakka pidikkala)
SS, I say start from beginning. When he was making pure comedy/spoofs, and slowly transforming into serious filmaker (not without those obvious European influence).
I found this scene very grating. Although I sort of get what he has to say about shrinks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bala (Karthik)
But it got me thinking. Around this time, he had to go through domestic-turmoil indicted slander, every tabloid press made him out to be a vile, disgusting person. That Woody pulled his hand out of his ___ & stretched himself..
a) R*ted expletives
b) Black people in prominent roles (but then casting the black woman as sexual worker wouldn't get Spike Lee excited.)
Also, try reading this. Sorry if its a repost, but Queenan became my fav writer also for "my sentiments exactly" reason.
I don't really take Queenan seriously in terms of film criticism, but he really earns his dough when he slams an easy target like Woody.
Trivia for Mann enthusiasts. The actress who plays the hooker in DH also appears (very briefly) as mother of the black hooker no.98456779543 in Hollywood(who gets killed by the murderous redneck), in "Heat".