Is this movie suppose to be timeless?
It kind of has that timeless mood to it... a similar mood to Se7en.
shareI guess it kinda does. I mean, when I first saw it I kept saying "When's this supposed to take place?" But if you look at the scene where Ernie and Lars are walking and talking after they meet in the resturaunt and Lars complains about his grilled cheese, there's modern cars in the background. I guess that doesn't explain much, but worth the note.
shareI think the entire movie is made to be timeless. Some of the scenes are fairly modern such as Ernie's restaraunt and the news and such, but some of the scenes look like they took place in the 50's or 60's based on the clothes and cars in the shots. Also if the movie took place in the middle of the century the house would not be that old, it would be less than 100 years. And there are clearly more modern (at least the 70's or 80's) cars in the final scene after the house has collapsed and all the investors leave.
I also think the nature of the film is supposed to be timeless, there is a lot of slapstick, like stuff Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton would do (I'm thinking of the scene where they light the chimney on fire as a good example of this). These scenes feel very old fashioned to me, but some scenes are very modern with sexual innuendos and stuff (the implied sex scene in the office of the string factory).
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Super Mario Brothers is the worst movie EVER MADE!!!!!
This movie was definately made to be timeless. Personally when I watched this for the first time I thought it took place during the 1940's or 50's. It had a very timeless look and feel about it. The comedy definately reminescent of Charlie Chaplin, Three Stooges and others. The Smuntz mansion probably not inhabited since the early 1900's given the various everyday household items shown left behind when Ernie and Lars first move in.(Tin food cans, furniture, newspaper shreds, medicine bottles ect.)
The Smuntz string factory definately looked it belonged back in the turn of the century, also its workers all being elderly men and women. The Zeppco salesmen are an obvious reference to the 1930/20's mafioso roles as well as most of the character's clothing in the film.
In the begining when the mayor dies the reporters are using large flash bulb camreas, 1920's clothing ect. which initially lead me to belive the film was set many years ago, especially later on when Ernie is hit by a bus from the 1940's. Then finally at the end the potential bidders drive away in modern cars.