I don't mean to be rude but my family and my grandmother all watched this movie and we saw absolutely no point and we did not feel that it was even entertaining. My father went to film school and he did not see any theme or point to this movie.
SO can you help me to understand?
McKitty ROCKS!!
Addisexer # 13
I think why point would be lacking with this film is that unlike many others, it doesn't use the narrative to convey any concrete story, but rather to explore different themes and ideas, several of which are central to the film. Some of the themes presented are:
-- Like the artists that Madeleine represents, Madeleine is an outsider to George's family and their American South culture.
-- Huckleberry Finn. The inclusion of Huckleberry Finn is very important because it presents the themes of, as Madeleine says, escape and caring love. Ashley constantly wants to escape and is looking constantly toward her imminent motherhood as a way to do so, and to get Johnny to get out of his "phase" and be able to move on with her life. And like the two characters in the novel, Madeleine and Ashley quickly form a feeling for each other that, while not sexual, is certainly extremely caring and is definitely love.
-- Illusory superiority. I think this theme applies mostly only to George. I think when you watch the film the first time you might think only of how much a incompetent layabout Johnny is. He's too lazy to even get his GED. But while he hasn't graduated high school, I think many people miss the fact that he proudly goes to work every day, does his job diligently, and has many good friends there. This is in contrast to George, who although seems very successful at his career (which I assume is also dealing art), is only seen sleeping on the couch when he's at the home.
-- Back to caring love. In addition, Johnny seems to deeply care for Ashley more than he shows on the surface, which is evidenced by the events in which he tried to tape the meerkat program for her and do something "important" when she went into labor. Again this is in contrast to George. While he certainly loves Madeleine for her body, they are almost always seen independent of each other in the film, except for when they are having sex.
So while the film certainly is different in that it does not use the narrative to form and open and shut plot like many other films, the film is a the perfect use of itself by an artist to convey themes and ideas that may only be shown by exaggerated characters that transcend the qualities of real-life people.
Love your analysis.
I'm a rare combination of French film buff and thug.
I think why point would be lacking with this film is that unlike many others, it doesn't use the narrative to convey any concrete story, but rather to explore different themes and ideas, several of which are central to the film. Some of the themes presented are:
-- Like the artists that Madeleine represents, Madeleine is an outsider to George's family and their American South culture.
-- Huckleberry Finn. The inclusion of Huckleberry Finn is very important because it presents the themes of, as Madeleine says, escape and caring love. Ashley constantly wants to escape and is looking constantly toward her imminent motherhood as a way to do so, and to get Johnny to get out of his "phase" and be able to move on with her life. And like the two characters in the novel, Madeleine and Ashley quickly form a feeling for each other that, while not sexual, is certainly extremely caring and is definitely love.
-- Illusory superiority. I think this theme applies mostly only to George. I think when you watch the film the first time you might think only of how much a incompetent layabout Johnny is. He's too lazy to even get his GED. But while he hasn't graduated high school, I think many people miss the fact that he proudly goes to work every day, does his job diligently, and has many good friends there. This is in contrast to George, who although seems very successful at his career (which I assume is also dealing art), is only seen sleeping on the couch when he's at the home.
-- Back to caring love. In addition, Johnny seems to deeply care for Ashley more than he shows on the surface, which is evidenced by the events in which he tried to tape the meerkat program for her and do something "important" when she went into labor. Again this is in contrast to George. While he certainly loves Madeleine for her body, they are almost always seen independent of each other in the film, except for when they are having sex.
So while the film certainly is different in that it does not use the narrative to form and open and shut plot like many other films, the film is a the perfect use of itself by an artist to convey themes and ideas that may only be shown by exaggerated characters that transcend the qualities of real-life people.
zacharydwalzerer wrote:
-- Like the artists that Madeleine represents, Madeleine is an outsider to George's family and their American South culture.Madeleine grew up in a variety of cultures and deals with outsider artists. She is very used to dealing with different cultures and is quite comfortable doing so.
Ashley constantly wants to escape and is looking constantly toward her imminent motherhood as a way to do so,Johnny is the one who wants to escape from his mother, and if they cannot afford a home of their own before they have a baby, it is going to be even harder to do so after. Ashley, who basically never had a family, does not seem to mind living there and may actually enjoy it. It is possible that she does not understand why or how much Johnny hates it.
I think when you watch the film the first time you might think only of how much a incompetent layabout Johnny is. He's too lazy to even get his GED. But while he hasn't graduated high school, I think many people miss the fact that he proudly goes to work every day, does his job diligently, and has many good friends there.I agree. Johnny is just miserable at home and always has been. Get him away from his mother, and he is remarkably good-natured and happy. I think the reasons are obvious.
This is in contrast to George, who although seems very successful at his career (which I assume is also dealing art)I assume that it is not art dealing. It could be anything, but at a guess, finance.
is only seen sleeping on the couch when he's at the home.Neither Johnny nor George wants to be in their family home, and they are quite different outside it. The father hides in the basement, and Peg, at one point, has to turn the light off to get him out of it.
Again this is in contrast to George. While he certainly loves Madeleine for her body, they are almost always seen independent of each other in the film, except for when they are having sex.Again, he does not want to be around Madeline and Peg because he knows what Peg's attitude is going to be. Madeleine does not need a defender and defending her would just cause problems.
I can't possibly imagine your Father didn't recognizer a them or point to the movie if he went to film school, because that's just absurd.
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I love this movie. It's one of my favorite films of the 21st century so far. I think it's because I identify with some of the characters. For some people, if they can't connect with a character, the movie falls flat for them. I can understand why this contemplative study of family dynamics doesn't appeal to everyone. But I'm obsessed with families so I loved its slow pace and unveiling of the character's true personalities.
shareUnfortunately I think that there are a lot of people out there who become confused or frustrated when the lines aren't clearly drawn. There were no "bad guys" in this movie-just well meaning people who occasionally *beep* up and do insensitive things.
For example there's nothing to indicate that Madeleine isn't a good person in essence-she just allows for her ambition to get the best of her at a time when
she should be more invested in what's going on in her husband's family. The real indication of her true nature is when she passes up the opportunity to play the anti-semitism card with the artist (her mentioning Mark Lane's Jewish heritage is more of a slip of the tongue that she immediately plays down).
The thing that I liked the most about this movie was that it didn't provide a slick, sitcom like approach. It's the film's real strength. It's just a shame that so many people need to have everything spoon fed to them.
skohl632001 wrote:
For example there's nothing to indicate that Madeleine isn't a good person in essence-she just allows for her ambition to get the best of her at a time when she should be more invested in what's going on in her husband's family.I strongly agree with your post, but I would like to quibble with one thing.Madeleine tries to go to the hospital but is rejected by Peg. Peg does not want her there; Johnny does not want her there; there is nothing that she can do to help Ashley.George has shown a striking lack of interest in his own family, both before and after they got there. It is only at that point that he seems to care about his family. (Actually, he does not care about his biological family; he cares about Ashley, but that would be a long and probably impossible explanation.)Why should Madeleine give up something that is very important to her under those circumstances?For easy markup in Firefox & Opera, see http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/42255 share
The point of this movie is that Amy Adams is a really great actress and needed a breakout in a festival type indie role, so she could become A List.
Just kidding (kind of). Everyone else did a good job describing themes.
I guess it's for people who think they're so smart to enjoy a movie that just shows everyday life. they could go hand out with a family in real life rather than watch a movie about it. And all of these characters were unlikeable. Especially that moron who went around being a jerk to everyone and we're supposed to care enough about him to hope he changes and to like that all the characters tiptoe around him like he's oh so special.
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