It's been at least five years. Of old it was stiff competition for first or second place all-time. There was something unfamiliar this time... a distance from the characters. Why did I find such a grotesque population beautiful? Yet I understand it -- with some distance. No one in this movie feels like part of my life the way Caden, Hazel, Joel and Clementine do. No one is worth even a moment's foolish envy. Yet I understand it.
There are still lessons here -- mainly cut through the shit and seek gold. Like Claudia at dinner, like Earl's regrets, Donnie losing inhibition, and the priest from Synecdoche. More than anything these movies challenged me to seek gold and scorn the rest. Even this time I quaked at Earl's soliloquy.
Would that they'd chosen another musical engine than Aimee Mann! These songs' real estate in the film is precious, and squandered by angsty melodrama. The songs are not that bad but fall tragically short of the building grandeur their backdrop suggests. It's amazing I loved this movie so much, with these songs in such crucial positions.
But the piece is still phenomenal. I believe I wrote before it's a powerhouse. There's so much to love amidst so much to hate, and through it all so much to wonder. It's hideous with enough redemption, and each rough character has a moment of perfection. The filmmaking is brilliant. The world is achingly beautiful. I love the great movie -- it is a part of me.
No comments:
Post a Comment