Living Out Loud + The Departed
Mar. 24th, 2007 12:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zalenaFor some reason I've been haunted these past few weeks by a Holly Hunter film, Living Out Loud. I can't remember where I first saw it, but I haven't been able to get it out of my head, so I checked it out from the video store and watched it again.
I remember thinking the film was really sad when I first saw it; but upon a second viewing (with a little more experience) I have to say I find it really empowering. It's not so much that it's a enjoyable film to watch than it is a film that actually explores a woman's experience without adding a bunch of cutesy movie stuff, or insisting on a socially normative ending.
Basic plot centers around a woman whose wealthy husband leaves her for a younger woman. What's left of her life? Where does she go from here? She gets involved with the doorman in her building, but not in the way one might expect. She explores what its like to be a single woman in her 40s, experiencing the nightlife of the city alone.
So few movies are made about the experience of women. Either they are secondary characters or they are in ridiculous circumstances. I can't say what it is about this movie, but it felt so real. It's not particularly entertaining, but I really feel it captures what it feels like to be a woman who is moving on in life without the partner she expected.
There are some fabulous observations as she grapples with her situation, one of the most powerful being, "What was I so afraid of that you were a better alternative?"
The overall suggestion of the film is that when someone experiences this kind of loss the real problem isn't always the lack of options, it's having to choose again from so many options. One is no longer safely defined and decided anymore, one is almost returned to an adolescent state of uncertainty. Who am I? What is my place in the world?
We're having a rainy day today. The sound of the rain splattering on the sidewalk and roof, a constant hush. Added to the cigarettes I unearthed from the back of the freezer and all my old jazz tapes I decided to pull out the closet.... I'm having one of those deliciously introverted, hot cup of tea and warm sweater kind of days.
Yesterday was the last time I'll see my intern. She brought me some Japanese candy and a very sweet card (with a horoscope! something of an inside joke) thanking me for being such a great boss. I'm really going to miss her. I gave her my card and told her not to hesitate to contact me as a reference.
I also hosted beer:30 yesterday afternoon and the turnout was amazing.
Then I came home and watched The Departed which is absolutley the amazing film everyone is saying it is. I simultaneously agree with Jim Emerson (contributing editor to Ebert) who said, "Everybody's saying "The Departed" is Martin Scorsese's best picture since "Casino" -- or even "GoodFellas." And some of the (over-)praise has struck me as pretty condescending to Scorsese: "Good boy. You stick to your mobsters now, won't you?" The critic goes one to say he'll go out on a limb and say it's Scorsese's best film since The Aviator, which I hated, even as I respect what I believe is Scorsese's quest to codify American mythology. (Which means he will probably take on the gold rush sometime soon.)
(I also hated that 19C gang warfare movie with Daniel Day Lewis, even if it also had some great acting and fine filmmaking moments. My brother and I have this joke about movies that have this kind of "You can take our land, you can take our homes, you can take our women, but you can't take our freedom!" as the justification for noble death/violence. Brother argues that without those things they don't actually have freedom, so why the hell don't they fight for something concrete rather than an abstract concept.)
There is a moment in The Departed where The Rat sets up this fubar encounter between the mob and the cops that I thought, "This is like Julius Caeser," even if the ending is more MacB and the correlation to either is kind of loose. Still there was definitely something Shakespearean about the film, particularly since it's about the ways in which men relate to each other in search of power.
I really enjoyed the film and heartily recommend the film to anyone who hasn't seen it. I was also completely blown away by Leonardo di Caprio's performance. I've seen his work before, and it's good, but he really won me over in this role. (Even if the love-interest left me cold. Why are movie psychiatrists always so young? I could definitely see a troubled man going for an older woman.)
I've been on a real movie kick this year. For some reason I'm taking delight in all kinds of films. I also checked out The Fast Runner and North by Northwest at the library this week. I'm looking forward to both. (I haven't seen N by NW in a very long time and remember it being an incredibly sexy film.)
I remember thinking the film was really sad when I first saw it; but upon a second viewing (with a little more experience) I have to say I find it really empowering. It's not so much that it's a enjoyable film to watch than it is a film that actually explores a woman's experience without adding a bunch of cutesy movie stuff, or insisting on a socially normative ending.
Basic plot centers around a woman whose wealthy husband leaves her for a younger woman. What's left of her life? Where does she go from here? She gets involved with the doorman in her building, but not in the way one might expect. She explores what its like to be a single woman in her 40s, experiencing the nightlife of the city alone.
So few movies are made about the experience of women. Either they are secondary characters or they are in ridiculous circumstances. I can't say what it is about this movie, but it felt so real. It's not particularly entertaining, but I really feel it captures what it feels like to be a woman who is moving on in life without the partner she expected.
There are some fabulous observations as she grapples with her situation, one of the most powerful being, "What was I so afraid of that you were a better alternative?"
The overall suggestion of the film is that when someone experiences this kind of loss the real problem isn't always the lack of options, it's having to choose again from so many options. One is no longer safely defined and decided anymore, one is almost returned to an adolescent state of uncertainty. Who am I? What is my place in the world?
We're having a rainy day today. The sound of the rain splattering on the sidewalk and roof, a constant hush. Added to the cigarettes I unearthed from the back of the freezer and all my old jazz tapes I decided to pull out the closet.... I'm having one of those deliciously introverted, hot cup of tea and warm sweater kind of days.
Yesterday was the last time I'll see my intern. She brought me some Japanese candy and a very sweet card (with a horoscope! something of an inside joke) thanking me for being such a great boss. I'm really going to miss her. I gave her my card and told her not to hesitate to contact me as a reference.
I also hosted beer:30 yesterday afternoon and the turnout was amazing.
Then I came home and watched The Departed which is absolutley the amazing film everyone is saying it is. I simultaneously agree with Jim Emerson (contributing editor to Ebert) who said, "Everybody's saying "The Departed" is Martin Scorsese's best picture since "Casino" -- or even "GoodFellas." And some of the (over-)praise has struck me as pretty condescending to Scorsese: "Good boy. You stick to your mobsters now, won't you?" The critic goes one to say he'll go out on a limb and say it's Scorsese's best film since The Aviator, which I hated, even as I respect what I believe is Scorsese's quest to codify American mythology. (Which means he will probably take on the gold rush sometime soon.)
(I also hated that 19C gang warfare movie with Daniel Day Lewis, even if it also had some great acting and fine filmmaking moments. My brother and I have this joke about movies that have this kind of "You can take our land, you can take our homes, you can take our women, but you can't take our freedom!" as the justification for noble death/violence. Brother argues that without those things they don't actually have freedom, so why the hell don't they fight for something concrete rather than an abstract concept.)
There is a moment in The Departed where The Rat sets up this fubar encounter between the mob and the cops that I thought, "This is like Julius Caeser," even if the ending is more MacB and the correlation to either is kind of loose. Still there was definitely something Shakespearean about the film, particularly since it's about the ways in which men relate to each other in search of power.
I really enjoyed the film and heartily recommend the film to anyone who hasn't seen it. I was also completely blown away by Leonardo di Caprio's performance. I've seen his work before, and it's good, but he really won me over in this role. (Even if the love-interest left me cold. Why are movie psychiatrists always so young? I could definitely see a troubled man going for an older woman.)
I've been on a real movie kick this year. For some reason I'm taking delight in all kinds of films. I also checked out The Fast Runner and North by Northwest at the library this week. I'm looking forward to both. (I haven't seen N by NW in a very long time and remember it being an incredibly sexy film.)
