MovieChat Forums > The Sterile Cuckoo (1969) Discussion > Please explain this

Please explain this

posted 13 years ago by tmaj48
6 replies | jump to latest

This was praised by Leonard Maltin and others as a charming romance. I watched this last night and I just found it unsettling. Pookie just seemed
like a somewhat disturbed woman who loathed everyone else around her (nearly
everyone she met she labeled as a "weirdo") and her latching herself on to
poor Jerry and trying to manipulate him with emotional blackmail was far more
creepy than romantic.
What am I missing here?

I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!

Hewwo.

[–] stellamortimer 13 years ago

Leonard Maltin was wrong to describe this as a charming romance. It is a tragedy of two ill-matched lovers who ultimately cannot fulfil each other's needs. "Unsettling" is a good adjective to describe it - I saw it in 1969 and have been haunted by it ever since. The slow pace and the beautiful design of the film, leave plenty of time for thinking about the story and appreciating Liza Minelli's faultless acting ability in this role. Her facial expression ( well just her eyes actually) when he is telling her he needs some "space", is heart-breaking. And once again, her facial expression when the bus arrives in the last moments, is perfect. I found this movie unforgettable - you're not missing something at all - you got it in one. "Unsettling " is just the right description for it.

[–] mckavitt 13 years ago

agree with the first response to the question, wishing to add only that for me, it is Pookie's partner who is really "the sterile cuckoo", and i thought that from the very first in 1969. no one has mentioned this, to my knowledge, so i think it is supposed that Pookie is that. disagree.

[–] blackhawkswincup2010 12 years ago

She didn't love Jerry so much as need him to soothe her fear of being alone and feelings of worthlessness. He saw her as a way to get laid, when no one else would do that for him. They used each other, and of course, it ended badly for both. Goes back to the eternal struggle: women want intimacy and security, men want sex.

At least, men and women who are fairly self-absorbed, as these two are.

I saw this movie once when I was a kid, over 40 years ago, and even then I knew it was a relationship done for all the wrong reasons.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hodie 10 years ago

You're not missing anything, OP.

[–] goldenagefilmstv (178) 2 years ago

I got the impression that Pookie herself had been labeled a "weirdo" and ostracized as such at some point in the past. That's why she tends to be aloof and stuck on the concept of "weirdness" in people.