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Elston

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Mike Leigh

Abagail's Party was marvellous.

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71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance

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Paddy Chayefsky wrote three screenplays that won Oscars: "Marty", "The Hospital" and "Network". Even though it's relatively obscure these days, "The Hospital" is an amazing film about the dehumanisation of hospital patients and the general incompetence of the medical system. George C. Scott stars and is wonderful.

MARK IS SUSPENDED IN GAFFA

23Oct10

Glad to see you enjoyed Paddy Chayefsky's "Marty" so much. However, I wouldn't call Betsy Blair (lead actress) unattractive. She's perhaps somewhat gawky looking, but she is certainly not hideous. She'd be called a dog by lots of men, and I guess Marty goes along with it, probably because he doesn't think much of himself, so he likes to think the girl he fancies isn't that gorgeous (and perhaps make her think that, too) and therefore in his league. But that's because a lot of men have ridiculous standards for women--not high, just ridiculous ("her nose is too big, her jaw is too prominent", et cetera)--and they tend to be vocal about it. Men like ragging on their friends' girlfriends because it's too often about competition. Women are less likely to complain about a man's look but search for other things like money and material possessions to worry about. "Marty" is indeed a time capsule and your review reminds me of how my parents met, at a town hall dance. They don't have those anymore. Now we're left with terrible nightclubs that play dreadful music. And instead of getting more films like "Marty", we get rubbish like "Sex and the City" where rich beautiful people struggle to form meaningful relationships--the irony being these people can't even form meaningful lives for themselves, so they relate to equally shallow persons. People are becoming less self-aware, less kind to others and it's reflected in both our society and the movies that are being made.

MARK IS SUSPENDED IN GAFFA

23Oct10

"The Graduate" is a wonderful film, Elston. The Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack might seem very 1960s, but it has a timeless quality--I could imagine these songs being written either just yesterday or played on a lute in Medieval England. It's wonderful to experience a film with somewhat understated songs. I don't bother with many "youthful angst" films from the past couple decades, with their blaring grunge soundtracks, so I skip them all together. Back to "The Graduate", I didn't find the ending unrealistic at all. Fanciful, perhaps, but not unrealstic. I love the symbolism of the crucifix through the door handles, trapping the wedding guests inside the church (i.e. held prisoner by their own tradition, as represented by the cross), as the chapel becomes a tomb for their moribund conservatism. Just as Benjamin Braddock drifts along the conveyer belt at the beginning of the film--appearing to have no control over his aimless direction--he finishes the film in very much the same way--inside a vehicle driven by someone else. And of course, now he has someone with him on his journey into an "uncertain future". I felt this film when I was around twenty years of age and even in my early thirties I can still relate to it. Yes, it has clever camera tricks and canny editing. Also, the second half has no shortage of tense exchanges, e.g. the meeting between Benjamin and Mr. Robinson was quite good. This is quite simply a magnificent film.