I recently went to see The Favourite and Bohemian Rhapsody in one weekend. Rhapsody should have been depressing, but was far from it, possibly because of the music and the sympathetic portrayal of most of the characters. It was engaging and uplifting.
The Favourite, was billed as a dramatic comedy. It was beautiful, weird, stylised, hypnotic but depressing. The acting was very good (I always wonder if the actors who play horrible people are genuinely horrible people, well hidden by the best PRs), and there were moments I forgot I was watching Rachel, Emma and Olivia. Although it was about women #metoo and all that, the women being the strong courageous ones - all the men being portrayed as shallow, childish, selfish, greedy, ruthless, angry little boys who secretly like to dress up as women (hmm), the focus was on the womens’ sexuality and emotional brutality and one upmanship towards each other. The appropriation of skills and talents, the usurping of those who try to help and support as well as the sexual dynamic was a constant theme. Everyone was left emotionally abused and battered. The good suffered and the baddies won and I as a viewer, was left thinking although they still felt empty and bored at the end, they would turn their attention to someone else to destroy just because. Everyone was left empty handed, except the men, who by doing very little, got everything. Perhaps reflecting women do not work together in one cohesive unit even when they try. Intriguingly, the only group of characters in the film who spotted the ‘baddie’ from the onset were the ones who stay away from politics, money, and the greed that goes with it. Those in the scullery in the case of the film. Alas they are rarely listened to, are told to shut up and do as they are told.
And on the theme of being told to shut up...
I’ve been told about a film called Birdbox which is a dystopian film (I am told as haven't seen it yet) about going round blindfolded so you don’t get seduced by the light – I think it’s a sort of Poltergeist meets Zombieland - but any screen will do. People are now doing the same in 'real life' in the US and in the UK and walking across roads blindfolded, jumping off buildings blindfolded, and getting injured as a result. (does remind me of our politicians at the moment with the mess they are making of Brexit). In another film, A Quiet Place, a family has to remain silent, or die. Instantly killed by monsters. It follows a theme of denial. Of hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil. Or rather walk about with your eyes closed and keep your mouth shut. Hollywood has always had a wonderful way of telling it like it is in the world, under the guise of fiction. Something journalists are rarely able to achieve.
And then there is the film Vice. A cinema-full of 50 plus somethings in Richmond, the worst money can buy, watched engrossed in a film which told more about the truth of what happens in American politics (or any politics) than anything we read in journalism. The film intimated Dick Cheney (Satan on Earth allegedly - although there are far more than one), orchestrated 9/11 so that the company he was CEO of could make money. He was portrayed as a good family man, who loved his children, his wife a Lady Macbeth, and his children merely pawns to be played out and put out on show when and if needed. Like every (male) politician then. I hope Christian Bale gets the Oscar. He plays descended, comic madness so well. Darkness under a veneer of charisma and in this case, quietness, always whispering, observing, projecting. And the bad guy won again. Perhaps he has always won, just portrayed himself as the good guy as Vice suggested. The bad guy has always won, they just have the funds to tell and sell a good story. And at least now we are seeing those at the top of their game for who they really are. Shit rather than cream. I admit even when I watched Emily Blunt's Mary Poppins, although I thought she had a brilliant singing voice, I felt this nanny didn't just have an edge. She was a real bitch.
And then there is the film Vice. A cinema-full of 50 plus somethings in Richmond, the worst money can buy, watched engrossed in a film which told more about the truth of what happens in American politics (or any politics) than anything we read in journalism. The film intimated Dick Cheney (Satan on Earth allegedly - although there are far more than one), orchestrated 9/11 so that the company he was CEO of could make money. He was portrayed as a good family man, who loved his children, his wife a Lady Macbeth, and his children merely pawns to be played out and put out on show when and if needed. Like every (male) politician then. I hope Christian Bale gets the Oscar. He plays descended, comic madness so well. Darkness under a veneer of charisma and in this case, quietness, always whispering, observing, projecting. And the bad guy won again. Perhaps he has always won, just portrayed himself as the good guy as Vice suggested. The bad guy has always won, they just have the funds to tell and sell a good story. And at least now we are seeing those at the top of their game for who they really are. Shit rather than cream. I admit even when I watched Emily Blunt's Mary Poppins, although I thought she had a brilliant singing voice, I felt this nanny didn't just have an edge. She was a real bitch.
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