Christopher Nolan is not a misanthrope
Neither is Solondz
hey it’s just like that scene from the tree of life where the dinosaur doesn’t kill the other dinosaur except with less CGI lolz
But seriously, who knows. Maybe nobody on the boat was a game theorist. Maybe they all were. There’s some interesting reading here.
^From that link: “The civilians act rationally as long as they, individually, are not too involved in carrying out a potentially morally reprehensible act.”
It seems like in Solondz’s world he argues that this is a pretty big human flaw. That it’s silly for us to not act rationally when it comes to moral dilemmas.
And yes, Risselada, Solondz is not a misanthrope. The people that label him a misanthrope are the real misanthropes.
Is there any filmmaker who we can honestly say is a misanthrope..?
^
Von Trier
The thing about moral decisions is, we can intellectualize them all we want, but in reality unless we’ve had some routine beaten into us by army training or something we react viscerally in the moment.
Unless you’re a sociopath it’s a lot easier to say, in the abstract, that you would kill other people in a second to save yourself, than it is to pull the trigger in the moment.
Now, I agree the exception are children, any parent with children aboard would have a much easier time pushing the button. But if your own kin aren’t in the equation, I think a majority of people wouldn’t be able to push it.
And keep in mind, both boats decided to press the button. And on the criminal boat it was only one guy who threw it out the window, everybody else wanted to press it.
Solondz isn´t a misanthrope. In his own way he is quite empathetic. Especially when it comes to underdogs of all ilks
As far as misanthropic directors go, well, there have been plenty throughout history. If we are looking for contemporary examples I´d love nothing more than to mention Neil LaBute but his contempt only seems to extend to half the species.
There are lots of misanthrope directors, or at least ones that had a very cold vision of humanity…
Godard, Clouzot, Kubrick, and Lang come to mind.
Lang? I don’t see his vision of humanity as that cold. He has a cold vision of the current state of culture, but he always leaves in a whole lot of hope for reform, and he justifies that hope with the moral initiative of humans. In Metropolis he preaches it in third grade terms.
Even with Kubrick I usually get the feeling he’s targeting cultural institutions rather than humanity as a whole.
The problem with that scene in The Dark Knight is that nobody (if I recall correctly) stops to think about whether the Joker was telling the truth. At least, nobody comes out and actually says that. But if you’ve got a crazy sociopath threatening you with this situation, wouldn’t you at least consider that the Joker lied? Maybe he rigged the detonator to blow up your own boat when you press the trigger. I’d be a lot more hesitant to press the trigger if I had reason to doubt the Joker’s truthfulness. (And why would anyone believe the Joker necessarily?)
Again, no characters even mention this possibility, which does make the scene a bit too heavy-handed for my liking. Christopher Nolan should’ve consulted a game theorist though.
The real opposite of Christopher Nolan is Jean-Marie Straub
David, you are engaging in a battle of wits with unarmed men here.
Solondz is certainly the opposite of Christopher Nolan, in that Solondz made at least one film that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Yeah Nolan has no idea how people react, fuck him
I thought the opposite of Nolan was Benigni.
@D Sparky
I don’t think Joker would reward selflessness with survival. If anything both buttons probably made both boats explode.
I’ve only seen one film from Gaspar Noe, I Stand Alone, but it sounds like he might have one of the bleakest visions between this film and what I’ve heard about his other films. What do you think?
Noe’s content is bleak but his stylish formal concerns indicate a conceptual playfulness that makes it hard to imagine he’s really all that unhappy of a guy. Besides, there’s no way he hired out all the work of animating a CG penis in the setting of INT — VAGINA — MID-COITUS complete with composited money shot without having some sense of humor about people.
I think that’s more his personality than anything he has to say about drug abuse in Tokyo or how concerned he may be about it.
—PolarisDiB
The opposite of Nolan is Benny Hill. Observe:
Mogambo
Christopher Nolan is not a misanthrope.
I recently rewatched TDK. That ship scene. Yea…I call bullshit on that. People are fucked up selfish creatures. No way both parties just sit on their hands waiting to get blown up. I enjoyed the film BUT found that incredulous. oooo look at the unselfish felon, he is willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of the women and children. lol no. And the ‘good’ boat? Man I know for a fact some shrill shrieking soccer mom would have pulled that trigger in a heartbeat.
So in closing, people are selfish creatures prone to making rash/stupid decisions without thinking the consequences through. And C Nolan thinks too highly of humanity.
I have not seen TDKR yet. But it has been spoiled for me.