michael caine's character keeps going on about levity. at one point in the movie, the monk levitates. and rachel weiz is sort of mid air with her mountain climbing lover. could anyone please explain how levity is related the the lives of the characters? is there some sort of philosophical meaning attached to all this? could someone explain?
shareDon't forget the parachutist landing in the meadow as Ballinger watches...
...and Mick Boyle dropping like a rock out the window earlier.
Boyle's insistent on creating his final "testament", while Ballinger's elected to abstain from further creative work.
In general, gravity is associated with Boyle and levity associated with Ballinger throughout the film.
*Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance*
People talk at each other, not to each other. When Jimmy sees that Fred is irritated, denying the Queen's emissary a concert, he mistakenly assumes that Fred and he (Jimmy) have the same problem. But this isn't true. Jimmy misperceives Fred entirely and says (something like) "we have the same problem" and then goes on to talk about how the public identifies Jimmy with Mr. Cue, the robot.
(As we learn later, while the public identifies Fred with his Simple Songs - and Fred's does get irritated with that identification - this actually reflects completely different from Jimmy's dilemma).
Fred, in his wisdom, actually hears what Jimmy is saying - that his diversion into levity, i.e., playing Mr. Cue - cost Jimmy's career big time. Fred mentions that a diversion into levity can be a perversion--meaning, it's abnormal, it isn't reflective of one's true heart. Fred's remarks are responsive to Jimmy and his dilemma. Moreover, he sees that Jimmy mistakenly assumes the two have the same problem-but doesn't let on. In his own life, Fred didn't divert into the perversion of levity but rather, stayed true to his heart.