... Was SO out of place and felt extremely scripted. Every character was so black and white and the weird theater-like back and forth dialogue with lots of choreographed moves was bizarre.
Can anyone explain why this scene was a good 20 minutes off nonsense in an otherwise reasonably good movie?
I think it was pure, unadulterated self-indulgence.
Characters became commentators without any discernible motivation other than exposing some witty zingers, many of which were non sequiturs. More like a playwriting exercise, interesting for little more than its own sake.
Amusing? Yes. Crafty? Yes. But like the Sunday NY Times crossword puzzle after it's done, you put it aside and forget about it.
...and what was up with the apple bong?
*Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance*
^ This
shareHow was it out of place? It was the culmination of everything that came before both thematically and stylistically, a major screwball set piece that brings all the characters together, gradually shattering the illusions and lies they've been holding onto until that point. It's the climax of the film and is quite explosive, brilliantly (for the most part) blocked and photographed with all of those participants coming in and out of frame. A really impressively sustained sequence and true to the movie's influences.
shareI came here to write about one specific part of that piece, the part where everyone hated the story, and hated Tracy for writing it. I thought that was kind of nutty. Either the story was a lot worse than the excerpts we heard indicated, or else not everyone would have hated Tracy for writing it.
Two things:
1) my gendered non-binary offspring is offended by frickin EVERYthing, so I probably don't know what offends young people any more. But some of the people were not so young. I never bought that everyone hated Tracy, so I couldn't buy into the idea that she had to re-ingratiate herself with the glasses guy or with Brooke.
2) I suspect this is a reworked version of a real-life Roman a clef that went horribly wrong, which WAS actually highly offensive and insulting to the person it was based on.
That being said, the thing I had the most trouble with was the rapid-fire dialogue between Tracy and Brooke. NO one is that quick on their feet, every time, for five minutes, when they're being torn down by everyone around them. However, I sort of went with it and accepted it as a movie-making device. Willing suspension of disbelief and all that. I like the descriptions here, actually (although it almost sounds like one of the movie makers defending their work). It IS a major screwball set piece - that is a GREAT description!
Personally, I didn't take it as they actually hated her for writing it, or were even offended by it, but rather that it gave them an excuse to act holier than thou. This movie is so much about people finding ways to compare themselves to other people, often so they can feel superior, and I think that's what was going on (in an exaggerated comic way, of course) with this scene. I'd really like to see the film again to study it on a more aesthetic level, because Baumbach stages it in such an interesting way, almost like a tableaux.
shareBaumbach stages it in such an interesting way, almost like a tableaux.
And all the pieces matter (The Wire)share
Glad to see someone zero in on that part--it was the only aspect of the Connecticut section I really disliked.
--------
My top 250: http://www.flickchart.com/Charts.aspx?user=SlackerInc&perpage=250
It was good. It took me back to The Iceman Cometh.
shareSomebody on one of these threads suggested that this project was a parody of an imaginary generic film school film. If I think of it that way, the humor in everything's a lot more understandable, especially the technical film cliché jokes.
*Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrance*
Yeah, it's my favorite part of the film. So, I don't know what to say here.
https://zitzelfilm.wordpress.com
If you thought it was nonsense then you either weren't paying attention or you weren't able to process what was being revealed about each character, or you didn't care. And not caring kinda makes you uninteresting.
shareI didn't like the Dylan character within the Connecticut scene. Your description of the scene pretty well sums up the his character in general. Overall a good movie though.
share[deleted]