Julian's past too vague?
I myself would have liked to know where he was from and what led him to being a prostitute.
Y'know, I could eat a peach for hours
Its not vague, its non existent in the film
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MovieChat Forums > American Gigolo (1980) Discussion > Julian's past too vague?
Dr. Standley, thats my thoughts exactly. I dont know if i personally needed that info though because i dont remember a background on why Roberts was a prostitute in Pretty Woman and that was an ok movie.
shareI myself would have liked to know where he was from and what led him to being a prostitute.
I wouldn't. It would take away his mystique, at least for me.
The assumption seems to be that he is a flunky with no past or achievements worth mentioning, just a worthless man whore. That's exactly what Senator Stratton called him. "I know a whore when I see one".
So Julian is just a whore in this movie, a secretive whore, and a fascinating one. share
I think Paul Schrader does the same thing with Travis Bickle, Robert deNiro's character in Taxi Driver. There are some subtle lines drawn about his past -- he wears an old combat jacket, he has a scar that is not explained...but Bickle's present moods are evident from the first scene where he gets a job as a cabbie. The manager chews him out for something, and Bickle puts on a forced fake smile to get through the interview, glowering at the manager with a hidden message: if I didn't need this job, I'd take you outside and crush your goddamn head in... (Scorsese emphasizes this by panning upwards slightly in a kind of crane shot — just enough to show that DeNiro has some rage issues...)
We don't get much info about either of their pasts (Bickle's or Julian Kay's).