| Subject: Re: I saw the CCoBB (major spoilers) |
Author:
Mystie
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Date Posted: 21:30:14 01/05/09 Mon
In reply to:
Gina
's message, "I saw the CCoBB (major spoilers)" on 09:06:09 01/05/09 Mon
Hey buddy,
Glad you finally saw it. Am glad you posted feedback with spoilers, i was waiting to discuss it in detail, just didnt want to be the first one to see it and then give anything away :)
It's interesting some of your reaction to it, i dont think the movie is completely flawless, of course but it certainly didnt strike me as overbearing. I honestly didnt even mind the length of it, i found that for the first time with a movie that length i wasn't looking at my watch
But that's just me, i guess...
I have to disagree with your on your first point,primarily because my first reaction after seeing the movie the first time was EXACTLY the same as yours- like, why did he leave when he did, when he could've still spent just a little longer with her. But watching it a second time, i picked up on a lot of more nuanced things, one of which was the answer to this question. In his note when he leaves he says that he is purposely leaving before his daughter is old enough to remember him, so as to spare her the pain of knowing her dad abandoned her. It makes sense, for her having grown up in a stable environment, with a wonderful father figure. In doing that Benjamin is showing his true wisdom gathered over the years, it would've been easy for him to be selfish and stay but he did what he thought would be best for his daughter....And he DID give her the best years of his life (those sequences of them sailing around and settling in their house to the Beatles tunes are some of my favorite moments in the entire movie)
I do agree with you that Daisy telling her daughter who her real father is on her deathbed like that was not the best thing to do but she was probably scared to tell her earlier, probably wanted to protect her from the truth, and besides, Benjamin wrote that diary for his daughter more than anyone else, i think so when she first received that diary, she was already old and her daughter was grown so what's a few more years? It's not exactly the easiest thing to explain to someone ("your real father aged backswards so he left you to spare you from seeing him turn into a child" LOL that sounds pretty ridiculous if one doesn't read the whole story)so i sort of sympathize with Daisy's character for doing it when she did...
I also loved the lighting guy, every time his "I've been struck by lightning 7 times" bit would come on, the audience would be in stitches both tims i saw the movie heehee
I also have to say i really liked those little Russian cultural references in the movie, when he stayed in the harbor, the vodka and the caviar with Tilda Swinton's character. Made me feel all cozy inside :)
Overall, i just really love films filled with metaphors and this was certainly one of them. Maybe i am overly sentimental or naive but i guess i ate it all up, including Hurricane Katrina, i thought that was really powerful how they tied it to a movie that deals with love and loss in such a profound way. When the camera lingers on that clock as the water comes rushing in, it just brought the whole story and the meaning behind it full circle for me. My bf was all cynical about it too, he didnt get what Hurricane Katrina had to do with anything but to me, it was a beautiful way to end that movie, a movie that is in some ways a love song to the city of New Orleans (in Fitzerald's short story it doesn't take place in New Orleans at all, by the way) This is the same exact reason why i'm the sad sap that maintain that Titanic was a great movie too (as i already said i feel the parallels between the two are very strong, down to the stories being told by the female lead character when she's old right before she passes away....also, hmmm Daisy and Rose are both flower names, ooooh spooky,okay now i'm just playing around but seriously though, there are quite a few similarities in the epic scope of both movies)
Anyhoo, i can go on and on about this movie so i guess i should wrap up. I will say though that it really helped me to see it a second time, a lot of little things become clearer, like for example the second time around i noticed how when that woman that teaches Benjamin how to play the piano first comes in with this dog, she tells Queenie the dog is old and about to die, and years later, the dog keeps on popping up in scenes, especially evident when Daisy first comes back to New Orleans after being in NYC, the dog runs out to greet her when she comes to the front porch. Kind of made me think that dog and Benjamin were kindred spirits of sorts, both aging backwards :)
So those kind of little things i definitely did not pick up on the first time around so i am beyond glad i saw this movie a second time. This is without a doubt one of my favorite movies (of Brad's or otherwise) and i'd be pulling for it this Sun at Golden Globes and the rest of the awards season
Myst
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