MovieChat Forums > Stardust Memories (1980) Discussion > Film with one flaw

Film with one flaw

posted 17 years ago by Strathistle
4 replies | jump to latest

First I have to say this is one of my favourite films. There’s so much happening you see something new every time. There is one part (seemingly filmed in the desert) where Dorrie gives the younger Sandy Bates character a present. He walks off screen and the older Sandy Bates returns. What’s that all about? Dorrie said her Mum went mad where Sandy says his was very sane. Is madness something you give your children? Is Dorrie the mother Sandy never had? Who knows? The only problem in the film is the Daisy character. Sandy says she reminds her of Dorrie. He is absolutely wrong. Watch the bit where Dorrie and Sandy argue while making a nun/priest scene. Her eyes, her face are a million miles away. Charlotte Rampling had this great knack for portraying characters that are erotic, insane, suicidal, intelligent and charming and she can do this all with one look. Jessica Harper may be a very capable actress but she is not in Charlotte’s league. The Daisy character says she has problems and that she’s trouble but really she seems quite normal and mostly boring. Look at the scene where Dorrie is reading the newspaper. There is no way that Daisy could have pulled that off. Then there is the Isobel character. Another lady that is charm personified. How could Sandy even think of Daisy with Isobel around I don’t know. So, sorry the Daisy character just doesn’t work.

[–] ddark13 17 years ago

Strathistle,

It's also one of my favorite films.
Perhaps I can shed some light on your objections...

1. Dorrie giving the young Sandy Bates a present: I looked at this scene in a much simpler context. Sandy is obviously looking back to this moment as a time of great happiness. It made him feel like the kid who thought he could fly: a moment of happiness. It's like the expression "I felt like a kid again".

2. Daisy vs. Dorrie: I agree with you that in terms of acting skills the two actresses are way apart. However, the scene where Sandy first notices the similarity between the two characters is when he overhears Daisy saying "I'm hungry, let's get something to eat" amid the chaos of fans overwhelming him. He later goes on to tell her that she has an offbeat quality and that it reminds him of someone he used to know (Dorrie). The commonality between them is that they're both outsiders and that they're both troubled. Sandy didn't think they were identical, just that she reminded him of her, and, at the time when he first felt this, she was the one person in the room who bared any resemblance to Dorrie. Also, we can't presume to completely understand or know Dorrie more than Sandy himself. Perhaps Sandy saw other off-screen similarities between them.

3. Sandy preferring Daisy to Isobel: Well, this is really just a matter of opinion. But, I think, there's sound reasoning to Sandy's actions. He's tired of trying to belong and wants to escape everything and Daisy represents this in that she both represents his past as an escape and that she's an outsider. In the end though, Sandy gets your point and ends up with Daisy, releasing the false dream of returning to a changed past.

Personally, the only part I didn't like was how at the absolute end of the film they show every actor leaving the theater and they turn out to be exactly as they're portrayed on screen. This was just Woody pressing his point a bit too obviously... that his movies are closely based on off-screen events. Regardless, it's still a great movie and terrifically underrated.

[–] piperian396 17 years ago

You mean he winds up with Isobel right?

Typical Woody to make the movie say one thing, then say something different in person. My interpretation of the ending was that it was based on real life too.

"The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced."-FZ

[–] stephan-128 16 years ago

i would have gone with daisy, of the three. isobel did not appeal to me. but that's just me. had more to do with the actress than the character. likewise the actress playing daisy -very appealing to me.

[–] ProfessorFate 13 years ago

Actually Daisy says, "I'm starving", but that's nit-picking.

Isobel nails it late in the film when she points out that Sandy likes "dark women with all these problems". That's the appeal of Daisy - dark hair, sort of mysterious, artistic, slightly neurotic (remember the phone conversation Sandy over hears).

It's a matter of opinion, but I'd agree that both Dorrie and Isobel are more beautiful than Daisy, but Sandy's attraction to her is about more than just beauty.

I see some similarities between Isobel and Mia Farrow - both are blonde and motherly. Though Allen denies it, I think SM is a reflection of where Allen was at that point in his life, both creatively and romantically. Even if that's not the case, it is a great film.

"Push the button, Max!"