M's Musings on THE GRADUATE

The Graduate.  Dir. Mike Nichols.  Screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry.  Based on the novel by Charles Webb.  Ft.  Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft and Katharine Ross.  MGM, 1967.

T, this movie isn't funny.  In fact, it is nothing short of disturbing.  It is uncanny to watch a young Dustin Hoffman pontificating and bemoaning the "next steps" after graduation that parallels a constant struggle in my own life.  While I have chosen to keep moving forward instead of stagnating in limbo, graduate school doesn't always feel like as a big a step forward as I would like.

Watching this movie brought up a lot of bad emotions about what happens to people who thrive in school, but have no life skills.  How does being a track star translate into becoming a successful, banker, butcher, baker or candlestick maker?  It doesn't.  The sad reality of this movie is that it reminds viewers that you can be good at some things and still fail at life.

That said, I think that the example of this particular kid is not at all the same as many who struggle with the beginnings of life after college.  Self-definition is hard in this new, liminal phase, where you go from the top to the bottom.  All bets are off, and there are no more rules and restrictions that limit you.  You are free to do as you please, and the worst part is, no one is really judging or, really cares (except your parents and your ex-mistress).

First of all...  If I ever found out T., or anyone else I dated... or was friends with... or had some kind of important personal relationship with... had some kind of strange sexual relationship with my mother, I wouldn't try to get with them.  That is disturbing and didn't make any sense.  Besides, what is the appeal of this guy anyway?  He is a depressed lazy but who doesn't rise to the challenge of life at all.  Instead of making hard decisions and progressing forward, he just stagnates in la-la land while his family and their friends shake their head in disgust.  We thought you were so much better than this.

The girlfriend is perhaps the worst character.  With her glassy eyes and her inability to stand up for herself, she lets the world tell her what to do and who to be.  If a man shows her attention, even if that man has already slept with her mother, that is enough.  And, after she runs away, after being married to another man, her new boyfriend won't even look at her?  Why?  Because she is a disgrace like him.  There is no love or chemistry lost between them.

Benjamin had nothing else to do, so he decided to become a stalker instead of volunteering, looking for a job or picking a graduate school.  Get it together, you strange freak show.

This whole film was absurd and frustrating.  I hated it.  I hated Benjamin, his mother-lover, and his girlfriend.  It was all too much.  Yucko.

M's Musings on THE APARTMENT

The Apartment.  Dir. Billy Wilder.  Screenplay by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond.  Ft. Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray.  MGM, 1960.

I know that going in, I really wasn't sure what to expect.  Given the title, I first thought it was going to be some kind of psycho thriller.  Then, Trev told me it was supposedly a comedy about a guy who had a super sweet apartment that he uses to move up the corporate ladder.  Then, I discovered that it was the follow up movie to Some Like it Hot.  So, I figured, ha ha!  It will be a funny comedy.  Then there was Jack Lemmon and I said, alright, let's do this thing!

During the first hour or so, I couldn't help but make connections between this film and Babyface.  I kept thinking about how men and women must manipulate the same structures to try to succeed in the corporate world.  Sad but true, poor Baxter loses autonomy over his place of residence in exchange for a small boost up the corporate ladder.  But, as he moves up, the game stays the same, and he continues to lose more and more.

Enter Fran, the lovely elevator operator.  Baxter's innocent love interest.  Also, unbeknownst to poor Bax,  mistress to Baxter's boss.  This is the moment when we know all will be right in the world, as Bax can save the day, get the girl, and get his apartment back.

But this is not exactly how the story unfolds.  Having a depressed Baxter bring home a woman on Christmas Eve only to find Fran having attempted suicide and dying is not exactly a fun romp through the corporate ladder.

This movie was dark.  And long!  I mean, this girl's suicide is blamed on Baxter, is literally cast off by the superior, and is left for Baxter to deal with.  And, Fran is still alive, so he has to deal with nursing her while everyone thinks he is the scum of the earth who drove her to do this.

Seriously depressing.  I'm not sure if I was in too sombre a mood to appreciate the humour of this movie, because I took it seriously, and thought it was a really bleak take on society.  Its not surprising to see how the attitudes propagated there helped create a generation of people like us, looking around, wondering why the economy, etc, is crumbling at our feet.

As much as I liked Fran in the first few scenes, her devotion to her lover seemed unusual after the suicide attempt.  I mean seriously...  what does this guy possibly having going for him?  He has some money, sure, but you returned his "payment", and now are just stuck with his less than stellar personality.

Watching Baxter act as a bachelor was the highlight for me.  When he strains his spaghetti with a tennis racket, it made my day.  Here is a guy who is just trying to do things right, and is just beaten to shit for it over and over.  I wonder if he even got to enjoy his dinner?

The ending of the movie seemed forced given all the horrible stuff that transpired throughout.  Though in some respects I got what I wanted, I left this film feeling very unsatisfied.  I think this film didn't fit comfortably into a genre, and that's ultimately what got me.  It wasn't a comedy or a tragedy.  It was just a drama that leaned in both directions at different times.

I think I would have been happier with one or the other.

M's Musings on PSYCHO

Psycho.  Dir. Alfred Hitchcock.  Screenplay by Joseph Stefano.  Based on the novel by Robert Bloch.  Ft. Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh.  Paramount, 1960.

I watched this movie with a bit of trepidation.  I can imagine generations of first year film majors watching this and being filled with emotional response and a desire to write...  I can imagine academics building their careers through careful interpretation and dissection of this wonderful piece of cinematic history.  Books have been written.  People have nodded and bowed to this film time and time again.

So, what do I say without fearing judgment?  Whatever I want.  Such is the awesome power of a review blog that really doesn't try to be written by a critic.  All I aim to do is record first impressions of a woman who has had next-to-no exposure to the wide world of film.  Here it goes...  

It was wonderful that the film built up a relationship with Marion Crane at the beginning of the film.  It reduces our ability to anticipate the action, as we like to expect that the characters that are best developed are the characters we see through to the end.  The characters that don't appear until well into the film, like  Norman Bates, aren't on our radar as a serial killer in the same way, thanks to this introduction.

I found that the black and white cinematography really added to the film.  It reminds the viewer they are watching a narrative, and I think that the film can get away with more when being "realistic" doesn't require as much colour matching, but instead more texture producing.  

In the infamous "shower scene", I though the choice of many quick shots was really helpful to indicate movement and action without actually showing us anything.  These contrasted well with the stagnant, at first bizarre seeming shots of the showerhead or Marion getting her hair wet.  By focusing so closely on the eye, and then pulling out to the full face, it forced the viewer to connect with the dead person.  It confirmed for us that the star was killed off, with an hour or more to go! Expectations need to be adjusted, or, best case scenario, left at the door entirely.

I thought Norman Bates was well cast.  He was a sufficient mix of creepy and sympathetic that we got to keep guessing for awhile.  By the time he cleans up the body, we are both beginning to give him sympathy, and beginning to dislike him.  His status as an accomplice through clean up and disposal makes him ethically questionable, without being totally without values.

The use of voice over in the film was really interesting.  It served to connect the first criminal, Marion, to the mother at the end.  We see a more or less healthy imagining of what people would say or do based on past experience, and then we see the extremes of the same behaviour.  Marion has to work through, alone, how she should judge herself as a thief.  In the same way, Norman went through this type of internal negotiation, except for years with little other human interaction.  

From a thriller perspective, this movie, obviously, is the cream of the crop.  It doesn't intend to gross out (most of the time), but instead seeks to build anticipation, provide misdirection, and ultimately, leave room for a bit of a twist at the end.

And finally, this film confirmed for me that you can't have a hobby like taxidermy without being somewhat psychologically off... or a serial killer.   Don't stuff dead stuff.