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Johnny Depp.... unnecessary pointless addition

posted 2 years ago by esshor (119)
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Did anyone else feel that johnny depp's character was just stupid? Just pointlessly written in with so little backstory, substance and depth, in order to give the primary character a love interest. Which I didn't at all feel the storyline needed whatsoever. It held itself up quite sufficiently purely on the strength, complexity and forthrightness of Vianne, and her specialised experience, progression and growth within the film.
He just seriously irritated me. Put barely any effort into the role. Perhaps not much was written in the first place. Thus further confirming my original point and perspective on the character in general.

[–] cellursoul (5) a year ago

I think Roux works as a minor character, which he really is. The problem is that the hype, the posters & DVD packaging, not to mention Depp's name upstaging the show, lead us to expect Roux to be a major player and hence we're expecting a sweeping lovestory. It's not. Roux's presence is mostly symbolic. If you count his appearances scene-for-scene, he's rightfully in the background. That's why I think the movie has to be watched at least twice, once to get the expectations out of your system, and the 2nd time to enjoy the real story and themes.

The character Roux is essential because he provides a counterbalance. If Vianne is the dynamic protagonist at the center, then she needs to be presented with a conflict of 2 opposing sides: the townsfolk are on one side, conservative & rooted, while Roux blows in reminding her of her capricious, nomadic nature on the other side. Vianne's conflict and ultimate character arc comes down to her choosing between the two.

The plot also needed a love interest to draw a parallel with her mother's story. The plot is set up as a sort of question of fate: will Vianne follow in her mother's footsteps, her ancestral fate? To set up this dilemma, Vianne needs a lovestory like her mother's that embodies her choice to stay or drift on. If Vianne didn't have a love interest then her mother's story wouldn't be as relevant.

So I think Johnny Depp's character is absolutely necessary to complete the structure of the plot. He's a minor character, but necessary nonetheless.

(SPOILER...) I really like the way the movie ends by strongly implying that Vianne & Roux get together without being so saccharine as to show it outright. Vianne chooses the town as her lasting home, effectively defying fate, and for that defiance to be complete it should include her also choosing a lasting love. The movie doesn't show it happening which would've been too Hollywood-ending-ish, but instead it allows us to interpolate that Vianne broke the "curse" and learned to settle down in 1 town and, symbolically, with 1 lover.