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ironymaidenMonday, Monday. the big topic of discussion around me today is the SAM re-opening. at least the sound of background jazz here is clearing out the chorus sounds from my head, cleaning the mental palate. (i hate the sound of my own voice on recordings. makes me cringe.)
today's film is The Art of Crying. it's Danish - my first foreign language film of the festival. i love the Danes. one of the Fools saw it elsewhere and was favorable. we'll see.
* * *
i'm still parsing it. little Allan, our POV character, visually reminds me of Ralphie from A Christmas Story. he's obsessed with keeping his father happy. the boy is written like a real child - a sort of mild sociopath who is not yet able to consider the consequences of his actions.
the film veers back and forth between black comedy and family drama. i wish that it had driven further toward black comedy, because the character development is too slight to support the drama. (there's a deal of arguing about this in the comments of online reviews - they're full of spoilers, so no linkage.) the action gets more horrifically absurd, but i stopped being able to laugh anymore. (i was reminded of The Green Butchers and Adam's Apples, a pair of Danish films that were more successful in walking that razor edge of laughing to keep from crying.)
i think it's worth seeing, but the lengths involved in satisfying Dad (although not graphically depicted) are not for many viewers. (IMDB keywords: dysfunctional family, suicide, child abuse.) i don't know that i would watch it again.
today's film is The Art of Crying. it's Danish - my first foreign language film of the festival. i love the Danes. one of the Fools saw it elsewhere and was favorable. we'll see.
* * *
i'm still parsing it. little Allan, our POV character, visually reminds me of Ralphie from A Christmas Story. he's obsessed with keeping his father happy. the boy is written like a real child - a sort of mild sociopath who is not yet able to consider the consequences of his actions.
the film veers back and forth between black comedy and family drama. i wish that it had driven further toward black comedy, because the character development is too slight to support the drama. (there's a deal of arguing about this in the comments of online reviews - they're full of spoilers, so no linkage.) the action gets more horrifically absurd, but i stopped being able to laugh anymore. (i was reminded of The Green Butchers and Adam's Apples, a pair of Danish films that were more successful in walking that razor edge of laughing to keep from crying.)
i think it's worth seeing, but the lengths involved in satisfying Dad (although not graphically depicted) are not for many viewers. (IMDB keywords: dysfunctional family, suicide, child abuse.) i don't know that i would watch it again.
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Date: 2007-05-08 01:49 pm (UTC)The worst film I've seen ever was Danish, unless I've blocked something really awful out of my memory.
I saw the two within less than a month of each other.