Just caught this one yesterday on Turner.......(ho hum) The story really doesn't resolve itself or really take us any where.....AND....the pacing of the scenes is PAINFULLY SLOW! (Good idea for a film ....poorly done)
shareYou're entitled to your opinion, but some of us like The Sterile Cuckoo for its slow pacing and thoughtful, slowly developed character studies. I disagree with you when you say "The story really doesn't...take us any where." I think it does take us very perceptively into the lives of two awkward youths who have growing pains and yearn for love and for general human connection. ***SPOILER*** And yes, the ending is ambiguous, but to me it packs a major punch in that way, and there's no law that requires works of art to be nicely tied up in the end. If you use your imagination about how things might turn out with Pookie and with Jerry, it can be very effective.
shareI have to disagree. I think it's a fine film. And the fact that it is not "resolved" is ok by me because like real life, not everything is resovled. Some things are left open ended and I like that. Will they get back together who knows? People are used to "Disney" endings where everybody is happy and all is well. But in real life things don't always happen that way -- some things are never resolved.
shareI just saw this film again and I don't think Pookie and Jerry ever got together again. I think Jerry realized that they were really too different and she'd never fit into his world. Also I think at the end, Jerry felt nothing but pity and compassion for her.
And I have to wonder how Pookie would have turned out. I mean it was obvious that she had severe emotional problems probably stemming from the fact that her father was distant and she had no mother.
Generally speaking, I'm pleased when this movie receives negative comment of the "too-slowly-paced" and "unresolved-ending" variety. It's a win-win situation: on that account, TSC would seem all the more precious and unique to me and others of my ilk on the one hand, while on the other, those who complain on these bases should no doubt be very gratified that Hollywood consistently, endlessly, and relentlessly caters to their taste for predictable, formulaic, crowd-pleasing plotlines, for quarter-inch-deep characterization, for scripts filled with glib cookie-cutter dialogue, and for lots of fast-paced car chases, stunts and pyrotechnics. They must be thrilled with the general run of movies these days. I'm happy for them.
If I had a substantive, nontrivial complaint about TSC, though, it would be that there is a doctrinaire aspect to the way Pookie's tragic background is played out onscreen. Pakula had once intended to become a psychiatrist, see. I'm afraid that, in collaborating on the screenplay with Sargent, he couldn't resist putting Pookie on the couch and asking all about her mother and father, then running the movie as a sort of case history of her neurosis. The result can seem deliberately contrived, heavyhanded and obvious after repeated viewings...
I BEG TO DIFFER......Unresolved endings are fine if they project SOME type of direction for your imagination to wander.This film just ENDS when Pookie climbs on the bus. And slow pacing is fine when the film direction is more finely tuned. This film just DRAGS.......Many scenes are WAY too slow......Again, great idea for a movie....( could have been better with better direction!) ALSO.....I never got the feeling Pookie was just a very insecure girl......( she seemed to have a much more SERIOUS mental problem....but what was it??)
shareI too recorded and watched this film the other evening. I haven't seen it since back when I was in my mid twenties; I'm now at the half century mark. After watching it, I wondered, as I did way back then; what became of Pookie? I never wondered about Jerry; I figured he got his undergrad degree and then went on for his masters, then, what constitutes as a regular life. Pookie, on the other hand... I'll take a stab: She went back home to her dad. Maybe, after a time, went to a junior college and got a job in town. She might have, after a time, insinuated herself on another quiet type; with perhaps, the course continuing. Or, I don't want to appear heartless; she committed suicide a few years later.
shareOr, I don't want to appear heartless; she committed suicide a few years later.
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sounds like you've read the novel. If so, can you please tell me how closely the ending of the book matches the final moments of the film?
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TSC is a very slow and deliberate reflection on a formative experience: a misbegotten first love affair. John Nichols, the author of the novel, handled it his own way-- indeed, the OP would have probably enjoyed a more literal adaptation of the book, and the dynamic interactions with the rapid-fire, macabrely zany and downright dangerous Pookie described therein. Ironically, the actual Sargent movie script is just like that. But Pakula decided to handle it differently. This movie, I'm convinced, is a very personal one for its director. These are his most cherished reflections up on that screen. Does anyone rush through a memory of their most intimate experiences? Some of my favorite scenes are the slowest, such as Jerry silently crossing the street to that Hopperesque rooming house in the middle of the night, not to miss a footstep or a heartbeat. Was this a directorial error? I think not. At the end, Jerry is left standing there, small, staring after the bus taking Pookie away forever, and forever wondering what the hell happened. That's as honest as it gets in Hollywood, and I think that's why I, and many others, really love this movie.
The movie ends as it began, at a bus station. That's closure. The character of Pookie is resolved for Jerry. Notice the clouds reflected in her window: she's been consigned to the heavens. Literature isn't always about action and plot. Good literature is also about characters and subliminal motivations; good readers respond to these things. If a piece doesn't resonate with the reader that's not always the fault of the text, and responsible critics leave room for this possibility even when they can't appreciate it.
It's a character study; a small, effective film.
shareThis is a character study and I like these types of films. This was during a time where cinema was actually interested in these type of films, character studies. Now to this generation films have to be big, have gimmicky plot twists, contrived plots, action scenes, superheroes to be considered interesting. If it's a film about real people and issues, it's dismissed by many as "boring films with no plot that go nowhere", or "made for tv films". You're missing the point.
"zing zing zing went my heartstrings, from the moment I saw him I fell"
I sort of felt the same as the OP - the influence of THE GRADUATE was all over this one - long takes, long walks, though only one song on the soundtrack instead of several...I enjoyed most of it (particularly Liza), but when it ended I thought "Oh really?"
"Stone-cold sober I find myself absolutely fascinating!"---Katharine Hepburn
In my opinion it was a suitable ending. Like "real life" not all issues are tied up with a "Disney" ending where everybody is happy. Life can be and is downbeat at times with no simple resolutions to relationships.
share** SOME SMALL SPOILERS INCLUDED **
This is a beautiful, moving film.
'Painfully slow?' It's not supposed to be an 'action' movie. I like another poster's comment about it being how life IS. Life is not wrapped up like a gift, perfect corners with a nice bow on top. Most people learn that as they get older. As one matures, one realizes that life has more ambiguity than certainty, and that we can't control other people to be who we want them to be –or to force them to stay with us, as *SPOILER* Pookie found out at the end of the film.
I thought Pookie as portrayed was a very authentic character, except for her **SPOILER** little ploy at faux-pregnancy, which can be forgivenly dismissed, given her young age, what appeared to be her first love experience, her desperation stemming from an unloving childhood, and her imagination. On the other hand, I thought she saw through the phoniness of others in a way more mature than most can at her age, and knew that *SPOILER* Jerry was going to flick her in, as he eventually did, before HE knew it for sure. She knew that he would turn into a 'weirdo' before he did. She knew that she had truly screwed things up at the school party, and Jerry's trying to tell her that he 'wasn't mad' at her for her drunken behavior did not convince her. She knew, as she was getting ready to leave from their school break time together, what he REALLY meant in that little speech that he pathetically waited until the last minute to deliver -- after she already was in the car and almost down the road.
She was also a very forceful character. She cleverly contrived situations to her advantage and made the majority of all the 'moves' in their relationship, bringing Jerry along with her, desiring a truly exclusive type of relationship ahead of its time while Jerry's character seemed to be just exploring his social options, somewhat typical of someone his age and particularly during those times. She was ahead of the game in this way, in that she was already moving to the type of relationship one might expect after young folks have sown their wild oats and are on to more closely personal relationships, whereas Jerry just wasn't there yet. She was very colorful and Jerry was -- well, a bit 'vanilla'. I think Jerry's character would have been happy with a steady, orderly and non-eventful type of life, while Pookie clearly liked adventure.
*SPOILER* If they HAD stayed together, married and such, Pookie may have very well been the one to eventually flick HIM in.
To another poster's comment about the director bringing in her past maybe a bit too much: I tend to agree. We don't have to be told more than once in the film that she was first physically abandoned by her mother and then emotionally abandoned by her father (who obviously never got on with it and may have blamed Pookie for the death of the love of his life), to understand where her well of desperate neediness probably originated. Also, I didn't notice until after I had seen this movie a few times, that Pookie seemed to have a mini-obsession with death -- probably due to her mother's death, I imagine.
Anyway, it's a good film if you appreciate this kind of character study, done during a time that is long gone -- an innocence that preceded today's times of people trying to 'get and keep in touch' through texting and IM's and such -- and before the 'in-your-face' type of cinema so prevalent today. There's more than enough of that available, so if you prefer that, then just don't watch this film. It's not meant to be that type of film, so judging it on those merits is somewhat unfair. Despite the 1960's culture that retrospectively seemed so frenzied, in other ways life was NOT as 'fast' as today.
"I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than..a rude remark or a vulgar action" Blanche DuBois
I think you're being a little too easy on Pookie. All young men should watch this movie to look for things to run from. I get the whole "weirdo" thing and finding most people shallow, something that can lead two sensitive people together. However, Pookie's behavior is just way too manipulative and demanding. I was really mad that Jerry decided to let her come to his dorm when he needed to study during spring break. He should've said NO. It looks like he was able to get some studying done, but still had to deal with her childish antics including sitting on the roof outside in the rain staring at him as he tries to write a paper! She was selfish and clingy and someone needed to get her some help.
I was afraid at the ending that he would never get rid of her and it would turn into some kind of Fatal Attraction or something. Until she found another person to imprint her obsession, I don't think she could just go away.
It may sound like I'm some kind of sexist pig, but I'm actually a woman. I understand young love and obsession, and have been overly clingy myself in my younger days. The best thing for her is to find a group of quirky friends or something so she can learn to trust without obsessing. And nice, quiet young men need to stay away from her!
As for the slowness, it was a little slow for me. I've read through the posts and I can understand the arguments, but it just seemed like poor storytelling to me. I'm not a big action movie buff, so I can handle slowness, but scenes should at least move the film forward. Here, I just felt like they were filling time. I get it, they spent a lot of time just walking around and hanging out like young people do (or at least used to do before the technological re(de)volution), just please, don't make me hear that sappy song again!
I love this movie- one of the best on yearning and loneliness and the pain of falling in love ever made in my opinion.
I'm sorry so many people miss the point, and fail to appreciate the quiet, haunting beauty of this work of art.
I just watched it again today for the third time on FLIX, and it actually improves upon each viewing. Minelli's performance more achingly touching than I had remembered; the ambiguous resolution at the end; it is defintely not a film for every tastes - but for those who can appreciate its artistic achievement, it can be a quite fulfilling film experience.
8 stars.
"the best that you can do is fall in love"
@Moon and New York City: I SO agree!!! :)
"I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than..a rude remark or a vulgar action" Blanche DuBois
Well, 6 starts if it weren't for that annoying song being repeated endlessly.
shareWow, what a boring movie this would have been if someone had taken 'your advice' on how the male character of the story 'should have reacted'. How things could be, should be, how you want them to be are two different things. I prefer the film as it is, with people learning and growing up, growing apart. If we did everything right the first time, we wouldn't be human would we? The whole point of the film was for you to see she didn't have any quirky friends and saw herself as normal and everyone else as 'weirdos'. I think you missed the point of this film entirely.
I think she's the saddest girl ever to hold a martini.
It most certainly does take us somewhere. But the soundtrack, repeating that annoying song endlessly, is enough to drive one to give up films.
shareI like this film. To me it shows that not all first time serious relationships are meant to last. It is bittersweet to watch. They do separate but you are left with the feeling that they will move on with their lives.
shareVery well put, Lovetvshows. This is a very free-spirited, independently minded film about the innocence and foibles of first love. It's not intended to "go somewhere" – it's all about the journey, and it's very well acted and directed. 8/10 stars from me.
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