Friday, February 3, 2012

For the World's More Full of Weeping Than You Can Understand

11 comments:

Greg F. said...

A beautiful, wonderful film. Spielberg's best, in my opinion. Don't give a shit what some uninformed dumbass making a list says, this movie's brilliant.

bill r. said...

I don't care either, but it's just so completely baffling to me. What movie are some of these people watching? Questions of quality aside (and I agree, it's amazing) how can anyone walk away from AI saying "Pfff! More Spielberg sap! Bosh! Flimshaw!"? This movie is goddamn sad!

Ed Howard said...

I need to rewatch this one soon. I remember liking a lot of it but thinking that, in typical late Spielberg fashion, the movie ended at least three times and the ending just went on forever. Then again, I've come to appreciate Spielberg a lot more than I did back when this came out, so I may feel differently about it now.

highwayknees said...

I love it too. H.J. Osmet's performance is quite brilliant. The only part that doesn't quite mesh to me is the torturous and cheesy looking "Carnival of Destruction" mid-section. It's like Mad Max and Burning Man's Thunderdome rolled in to one!

But whoee that ending! Sad is not the word for it . More than tragic I'd say.

bill r. said...

Jeez, Ed, I just naturally assumed you were a huge fan of AI. It sort of strikes me as right up your alley. The ending is long, but I only wanted it to end last night because I wanted to get to work on this post. The film is actually really, I guess, zippy, which I didn't remember being the case, and which really surprised me last night.

bill r. said...

highwayknees - Yeah, I agree. The TRON motorcycle guys don't work, though I'd say the Flesh Fair itself is hit and miss. I like Gleeson, and I like the French nanny robot, and everything Spielberg does with her. That aspect is actually quite chilling.

ptatleriv said...

More is said here about Spielberg's aesthetics, themes and, yes, ideas than that pile of hot Wyman garbage.

bill r. said...

Wyman and Kois are fast becoming my nemeses.

ptatleriv said...

Their self-congratulatory circle jer- I mean "round table" that followed up the piece is even worse. In the comments, Wyman suggests he would be up for a similar look at Renoir's oeuvre. Can't wait.

bill r. said...

That will be great. I suggest Jan Svankmajer as a follow up.

Brian Doan said...

MAN, those images are SO axiomatic!

*ducks Bill's shoe*

Seriously, this is a beautiful post-- thank you so much for posting these. I like this film a lot, but haven't watched it in several years. This makes me want to break it out again.

And yes, by all means, I can't wait for Wyman's post on Jean Renoir, where he'll talk about how "RULES OF THE GAME's romantic chases and door-slammings are just a rip-off of FRAISER."

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