Hopeless Emptiness

Ok ... the kitchen sink drama par excellence!!

I've just seen "Revolutionary Road"

 

 

I'm seeing D and CC tomorrow night and I'm hoping they've both seen it as I'm dying to chat to someone about it. Needless to say M fell asleep, but I don't think he could cope with it. Its pretty tough going and touched waaayy too many chords I'm afraid. Thank god this was bolstered by a pretty good saturday as saturdays go, and a slap bang meal ... or I don't think I could have coped either.

 

There's an element of melo-drama in this, but somehow you accept it on the basis of its historical context, it being the 50s and all .. similar sort of sitch with Mad Men ... but thats early 60s .. still. However, I sometimes think alot of the repression is imagined. I certainly have no first hand experience of the 50s, but I have had first hand experience of repression ... and you know what ... you cope!! You find ways around it. You get out there and express!! Because if you let it all get on top of you ... you may never ever leave your home!!

 

(ok ... I'm kinda of working my way through this ... so I'm just typing as I think .. bear with me)

 

But this movie is all about perceptions, obligations, emotions, "truth" and deep deep dissapointment!!! It opens with dissapointment bam! in your face. And then the story slowly unravels, handled by such exquisite direction ... there's just so much to praise here - the shot of the sofa with pillow and doona denoting marital strife, the flashback of the hapless couple being shown round the neighbourhood by their realtor, talking about that sort of folk in their working class houses, and then being shown the slightly bigger house in the street and in her opinion better suited to their social status, only to cut back to the present with Kate Winslet looking towards a house even bigger from the end of their driveway ... the performances and the emotion just yank you away from all these finer details .. and I wish I could say that it was a fantastic ride ... but if you can in anyway empathise with these characters ... your heart will be broken at the end of it ... as mine is a little ... at least a little bruised ... because here are my frustrations and dissapointments laid bare in splendid celluloid.

 

 

 

On the flip side, I also saw Slumdog Millionaire.

 

 

You've read the hype and probably know more about this movie despite not having seen it then movies that you have actually watched. It does deserve most of the accolades. Everyone loves a good rags to riches story ... and I think it achieves what it set out to do ... a bollywood movie, but one that does not shirk from displaying the abject poverty that the vast majority of indians live in ... I know people like to say its a feel good movie, but this is the uncomfortable part for me ... because really, these conditions are just not right ... not when there's also so much money floating round ... shouldn't we be jumping up and down and being angry and galvanised!!! Shouldn't my heart be breaking a little ... instead of rolling eyes at another bollywood routine .. I mean did we really need it?? Is this meant to soften the blow?? Are we meant to go away with the notion that really things aren't so bad after all?

 

Is it the movie ... or is it me?