MovieChat Forums > Leaves of Grass (2010) Discussion > CLASSIC PHILOSOPHICAL MASTERPIECE

CLASSIC PHILOSOPHICAL MASTERPIECE

posted 14 years ago by tllewis-writer
11 replies | jump to latest

Few movies inspire me enough to take the time to comment ... This was one. I missed any advertising or the theater release, and found it by a "happy accident" on Movies on Demand.

"Leaves of Grass" was a surprise in many ways, a film my husband and I are still discussing over a week later and are ready to watch again. We both genuinely LOVED this philosophical MASTERPIECE.

Director Tim Blake Nelson is a rare genius, truly deserving of accolades and an academy award. Having family in the South and also being a lover of the fun and futility of philosophy, I got it. Brilliant! "Leaves of Grass" crosses genres and lines, is true to life, and the main characters are brought to life by one the best actors of all time: Ed Norton.

This is a film that has it ALL--a classic-- close to perfection. May we all rise above the "nauseam of nothingness", and be content to weather the storms. May we all find meaning and connection somewhere between the parallel lines. (No one paid me to write this.:) T.L. Lewis

[–] omfgitsrohit 14 years ago

I felt exactly the same way about it.

[–] drtorgo 14 years ago

I couldn't have said it better. I tossed this movie into my Netflix queue on a whim because I am a Norton fan, and my wife and I were blown away by how well conceived it was, and how brilliant (and subtle) the execution. Sometimes the best things in life are the things you never see coming. I am so glad I went into this film knowing absolutely nothing about it beforehand.............

[–] tllewis-writer 14 years ago

Those who gave less than excellent posts just didn't get the movie.

[–] boeschdavid 14 years ago

I read your posts, guys, and i would love to echo you; I love Norton and thought O Brother Where art thou was one of the most memorable movies of all time. i also like Walt Whitman and i gotta say, i didn't get this one. I feel like there was something significant to get and really enjoyed the movie, but am wondering, what was the point? Was this about Order vs. Chaos; was it a urban-rural commentary? What does one make of the college student sex scandal? And the Manhattan orthodontist? What about the hippie mom? Loved Keri Russel and the noodling (kinda odd, but it worked well.) There were so many tasty ingredients and the whole thing cooked like a savory stew, but I just don't get the point. It seemed a bit like a scenic drive (or a paddle down a slow river.) Checking out the land marks, but not really saying much about what there was to look at.

[–] tllewis-writer 14 years ago

I also loved "Oh Brother", another classic, but "Leaves of Grass" is also a true slice of satire, a true comedic philosophical farce that made me ponder, and I swear I was totally straight when I saw it. It reminded me of our often absurd journey of life, about choices and consequences, of coming to terms with free will and fate, and dealing with mortality and hoping for more. You and I were just on a different boat ride, and that's alright. So is life; sometimes we find a different paths as we paddle back to what we are running from.

[–] Mr-afzal 11 years ago

Every single philosophical line depicts the buildup of the movie and theme in regard to the characters. Through them it speakes to all viewers. Billy's perception( except for complete direction) of life and events is based upon his phylosopghical believes. He attemtps to devote his life to self control, for attaining/maintaining grasp on reality and own senses. By this the connection between his upperlayer of self and underlying becomes blurry. Their is the irony. He overcompensates his thrive for order and within that sense he locks out those forces that justify natures intent.
The noodling scene displays the power of love. Love is everything. Love speaks truth and is the only force which can convey it in gravity of oneness. Here he finds it in Keri. It is for that matter Keri pitches two poems in reference to both. The first one by Walter white refers to Billy. The seconde one to her self, and to ''inner'' Billy.
The sex scandal is the mockery which returns, for what he has done by restraining from ''doing''. His moms stance is on the complete opposite of the line. The characters all being reflective complementary peaces realize the self through each, by those very same forces that Billy excels, and his brother and the likes contrast to.

Meet me in the middle where we both meet our self, for together we bridge the space between two lines.

[–] Krustallos 8 years ago

"Walter White"? Walt Whitman, surely?

Yes, the whole point of the film is summed up in Bill's lecture to his students at the start - the need to reconcile the Apollonian and Dionysian impulses and achieve a balanced life. Bill represents the Apollonian, Brady the Dionysian. By the end we have some kind of synthesis. A lot of thought went into the writing of this movie.

I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.

[–] ToL22 12 years ago

The philosophy wasn't well integrated in this film. They just basically threw in random positions. It was very sloppy and just badly put together. The funniest part was the scene with Kerri Russel and Norton. She just randomly brings up Walt Whitman. It was such a forced conversation that was absolutely disconnected from the natural dialogue we saw preceding the Whitman references.

[–] tllewis-writer 12 years ago

We can agree to disagree.

Hope you have an amazing NEW YEAR! :)

[–] sunezno (269) 10 months ago

The reason that she brings up Whitman in that scene (quoting from TBN in the audio commentary):
"And this is, of course, where Walt Whitman is introduced. And the presence of Whitman in the movie, and the allusions to Whitman -- other than directly what's quoted here being valuable to Bill on his journey, as well as the double entendre with Leaves of Grass being marijuana and the title to Whitman's book -- is the notion that Walt Whitman wrote in what's called free-verse, allowing each poem to find its own meter, rather than using a prescribed meter like that of a sonnet or iambic pentameter. And what Bill discovers in the movie is that he doesn't need to prescribe his own life; he can allow his life to proceed in the rythym of its own meter rather than something preordained or decided upon by him."

There's so much depth to this movie, and that's one thing that I've always loved about it.
I'm watching the commentary now, and they're mentioning and explaining so many things that might not be easily picked up on initially.

[–] 8 years ago

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