Am I correct in assuming Altman meant to portray Brewster as a Christ-like figure? Shelley Duvall was a sort of Mary Magdalene, and Sally Kellerman's character is clearly meant to be angelic. Then there's the odd way in which Brewster dies at the end (and the circus surrounds him) that reminds me of the crucifixion. Any other takes on this?
shareI don't agree with any of that. Brewster was a typical, chill boy of the 60's. Sally Kellerman was angelic in a way but the song, "Last of the Unnatural Acts," as she exits seems to imply that her way (celebacy) wasn't right either. I don't see Shelley Duvall as any sort of Mary Magdalene. She was a pretty conventional little girl posing as a free spirit. She was free to the point of being pretty irresponsible until she decided she wanted to be rich and live on some fancy street. And then did that tacky thing to get her ex-boyfriend to propose.
The ending seemed to exist to remind us that it was only a movie, after all. No tragedy took place. They do the same thing in the beginning when they start to roll the credits until that obnoxious woman made the band start the music over and they started rolling the credits over again too. Very clever and witty. Also, the MGM lion forgets his lines. LOL! There is a lot of this to keep the viewer from becoming really emotionally involved with the characters and the story. I guess to keep us in thought mode.
Terry
Your soul and your body are your own, and yours to do with as you wish.
Yeah, Brewster's no Christ....
That's a bit far fetched, don't you think?