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Owlwise's Replies
I've always liked "The Hunt" as well.
Serling said that he knew some of his episodes were bad - I mean, REALLY bad. Remember, he wasn't just writing, he was working furiously on many aspects of the series, running himself ragged. And he admitted that towards the end, he was burning out from the intense pace of the show & his workload.
But when he was in top form, he was REALLY good. And even in some of the so-so episodes, there's a good line or idea. Even some of the just plain bad episodes could be salvaged by rewriting, if there had been time for it. But there wasn't, alas.
It may be that you're taking too literal an approach to this episode, and to the series as a whole. It's fabulism, which can encompass satire & allegory while still being its own distinct sort of storytelling. You're right about real-life totalitarian governments, of course ... but this is finally a story about the inner world, the human condition, rather than the literal outer world. It's about two very different modes of experiencing life, two very different modes of meaning & purpose for human beings. It's about those famous words from Camus:
<i>In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.
And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.</i>
Romney Wordsworth dies, but he's not defeated. In fact, he dies victorious by keeping faith with his own beliefs.
For me they were a visual image of the natural world, a world that was still mythic & magical, making the Otherworldly visible at crucial moments. An inspired choice, to my mind.
I absolutely agree! A magnificent film that deserves the Criterion treatment, complete with deleted material.
This is it exactly.
That's an excellent point & I won't discount it.
Good point!
Actually, I first saw <i>The Prisoner</i> in 1968, and I lived through the explosive creativity & surreal brilliance of the 1960s quite thoroughly & joyfully.
The indoor video/outdoor film stock was the usual practice in British TY into the 70s. That's why the shows occasionally shot entirely on good film stock, like <i>The Prisoner</i>, still look so vivid & visually fresh today.
That said, I rather liked the video-for-indoor look of many British shows back then, which was almost like watching a play but shot from many angles. It gave a certain intimacy to such scenes.
Believe me, I know what you mean!
There's a brief stone skimming scene in Amelie.
That's a fair response, and thanks for the recommendation!
I'd say that it's not just a sports film, that in fact sports are finally secondary to what the film wants to explore. Yes, there's the story of two extraordinary runners, but it's much more about them as human beings in the end. It explores personal drive, honor, integrity, class, religion, bigotry with an observant eye. It invites viewers to ask themselves, "What is most important to me? How should I live my life? What sort of person am I?"
Well said! It's endlessly rewatchable & enjoyable & movingly humane.
No one says you/re <i>supposed</i> to like it. Some people like & some people don't.
I do like it, because it's a quiet, gentle comedy with something lovely to say about imagination & being a decent, harmless person.
In different ways, you might also consider:
<i>Harvey</i>
<i>Mr. Sycamore</i> - only available on YouTube as far as I know.
<i>The Projectionist</i>
<i>King of Hearts</i>
<i>Griff the Invisible</i>
Goodbye, Bob. Thank you for all the decades of brilliant humor and wit. You always made life a little brighter by your presence.
I guess it all depends on the personality of the viewer. For me, it's anything but silly—although it does have a fair amount of humor, which is all to the good—and the ending is a thing of ambiguous, lovely, thoughtful poetry.
And always will be a great film, too.