Am I the only one who finds that all his movies have a pedantic and pretentious touch? Maybe it's me, but there's always that something that makes me not fully enjoy González's works. I'm always sort of pushed back in a way.
shareIs pretentious bad thing?
I love pretentious movies.
Pretentious? Yeah, a little, but I don't mind it much. Still enjoy most of his films.
shareI'm putting off watching Birdman--although I like the actors--because I disliked 21 Grams and Babel so much. Gonzalez Inarritu seems to fit into the Hollywood ethos far too well for my liking. International yet parochial, that seems to fit him.
shareI have thought the same thing, as far back as Amores Perros. I applaud his efforts, and I think he aims high, but I feel he continues to just miss the mark. The trend continued with Babel and now, Birdman. I want to like his films but they always seem to end up just kind of tedious.
Yes, pretentious is nowadays per definition a derogatory term, insincere and trying too hard. Having watched Birdman ... yeah, I would agree personally. Pretentious.
shareNo, I think 'pretentious' is just a stupid and lazy term that people invented so they can just label things that seem to be out of their league. Calling a movie 'pretentious' is by no means a serious film criticism. What it comes down to, is whether the viewer can find something essential conveyed.
And what does 'trying too hard' even mean? Each artist has their own way of expressing and making a point. Then the audience can judge their work. Some people relate to it and some people don't. It's how it works. Art does not "pretend". It's just a means of expression and it's naturally not perceived the same way by everyone.
The viewer can just say "it didn't mean much to me" instead of calling it "pretentious", as if it is the artist's fault that the film didn't touch them, personally.
I Sympathize with Lars Von Trier.
He seems to think his messages are profound. But they're not. That's pretentious.
shareNo, that is entirely subjective. That's what I mean. Some people relate to some artists, others don't. That's why there's no "pretentious". It's just about the way art is perceived. I think Inarritu is very deep and profound, and one of the most important artists working today. And I'm really glad he is widely recognised.
I Sympathize with Lars Von Trier.