MovieChat Forums > The Zero Theorem (2014) Discussion > I will admit, I do not get these types o...

I will admit, I do not get these types of movies, they seem lazy

posted 10 years ago by junkhotshot
13 replies | jump to latest

I overall found this movie to be ok, definitely far from the worse movie ive seen this year.... But also far from the best.

That being said I am not a big fan of all the symbolism. I often do not get a lot of it until I read it online.

I also often read many interesting and different opinions that can be true (true = what we think was the indented interpretation). And this is what I hate. I feel its a way writers and directors can be slack off. They leave things open to interpretation so 'nothing is wrong'. And if I do make a conclusion, that it might not be what the message of the film was intended to be.

It's true that an individuals specific and personal conclusion might not be 'important', but I still find it lazy.

-----------
Dont be lazy, use the [quote ] [/ quote] tag.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] crookdways 10 years ago

I second that.

[–] scarletminded 10 years ago

I feel Terry Gilliam's work is completely the opposite of lazy. You should go see The Only Lovers Left Alive, then come back here!

Note: I did like both films, but Gilliam is the more ambitious director by far!

[–] little_wing 10 years ago

I've seen both Only Lovers Left Alive and The Zero Theorem. I really liked TZT but I think OLLA is one of the best films I've seen for quite some time. I do not think either is 'lazy' as the OP said about TZT. I do think TZT is a little derivative of Brazil but I haven't seen that for quite some time so I may be wrong. I'm also not sure if I would agree that Gilliam is the more ambitious director. Jarmusch is definitely more laid back in his approach to directing but I wouldn't say lazy; it's just a different style. And thank god for that. It would be pretty boring if all directors were the same. Telling the OP to watch OLLA if he thinks TZT is lazy is really doing a disservice to OLLA. It's a more languorous film in that it has slower pace, but the sets are rich and it's so beautifully filmed. I felt it to be a very relaxing film to watch but not 'lazy'.

Reaction time is a factor in this, so please pay attention.

[–] junkhotshot 10 years ago

It sure beats directors spoon-feeding answers to a lazy audience.

It does not need to be spoon feed. But I prefer spoon feed to purposely obscure.

It funny listening to the audio commentary of these directors and writers. Some will say they intentionally designed something to be ambiguous so people would interpret whatever way they like. Or how they put a scene together to have a specific meaning or role, but viewers come up with many crazy ideas that are dead wrong. It all just seems like such a waste of time to me.

I like movies like Momento, The Machinist, Twelve Monkeys, The Triangle, Shutter Island, etc. The type of movies that you can enjoy with your brain off but still spend some time thinking and/or discussing it after. Not overly abstract films.

-----------
Dont be lazy, use the [quote ] [/ quote] tag.

[–] crookdways 10 years ago

Well it's surprising you like those movies, given that you like your brain shut off while watching them.
By the way, if your brain wasn't off and you'd have thought a little, you'd see that this film is not really ambiguous. One can interpret it differently but it doesn't end on a random note. It's far from 'lazy'.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kjhuang17 10 years ago

I agree with you. I don't like the movie version of Picasso art - throw a bunch of stuff together and ask the audience to make some sense out of it. Movies need to have a clear narrative.

[–] mikko-sandt 10 years ago

I agree. I like mysterious, but "open to interpretation" is another thing. I want there to be an objective truth about something, even if we don't get to know it (entirely). But these "there are many truths" are intellectually lazy, pretentious and stupid.

[–] ciprianl 10 years ago

I disagree. I find the so-called objective truth (and even more so if it's a mysterious one) to be usually the intellectually lazier choice. And "there are many truths" seems to be a more realistic stance, for both in life and in art everything is open to interpretation. But to each his/hers own: I find the practice of interpretation to be intellectually engaging (which is the opposite of intellectually lazy).

[–] estocade 10 years ago

I agree TG is *beep* with us. What happened to the Twelve Monkeys TG? Why can't he be more like Aranofsky? Yadda-yadda-yadda.

[–] cpbvk 10 years ago

People who think it's lazy to write a story that fails to answer all of the questions it sets out should try to write such a story. I don't think they'd find that it saved them any time or effort. I think they'd find instead that by the time the story was finished that they had every one of those questions answered for themselves.

[–] chilone 10 years ago

Yep. I'm sure most writers, you know, the ones that want to be successful think "Yeah, I'm just gonna do the bare minimum and hope the movie's a blockbuster!"

I don't love her.. She kicked me in the face!!