Every so often a movie comes along that one can watch and be simultaneously in awe of the deliberateness of the film making itself, and moved by the realness of it. This was such a movie. No, seriously, I’m not being ironic. The cinematography deserved the Oscar for which it was nominated, the dialogue was artful and just stylized enough to match the heightened passions of the characters. Some highlights:
* A young Uma Thurman as a woman who whores herself for her husband’s art, hoping to be repaid by becoming the exalted Sonia to his Raskolnikov; but Henry Miller is no Dostoevsky.
* The most interesting treatment of explicit sex I’ve ever seen in a movie. It’s as if it declares: “There is sex in this movie because there is sex in the world. And not all of it is pretty. If you find it ugly or upsetting, stop looking”. Much in the same way the Henry Miller would not apologize for the sex found in his books.
* All the sensibilities and charm of a French film, but without the subtitles.
Highly recommended.
6 Comments
Thanks for the thoughtful if not current cinema review. What movies were you watching in college???
Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t go to college until the MID-90s. As far as I’m concerned, Uma Thurman didn’t exist until “Pulp Fiction”. And, for the record, in college I was watching that other great “Male Name & Female Name” biopic: “Sid and Nancy”.
yeah, but “Sid and Nancy” was made in 1986, so no.
Did I say I watched it in the theatre? Do you think I didn’t imdb it before I posted that? My point was not about what “Male Name & Female Name” biopic was a new release at the time, since neither were; I was merely trying to establish my biopic cred.
And Yosef: Never…never, undermine me on my blog again.
I wasn’t saying you didn’t watch Sid and Nancy in college… I was merely pointing out your logical inconsistency. Can you find it? (hint: Henry and June was also available on videocassette)
Stop the petty bickering and you two go rent “The Piano,” another long-time favorite soft-core-yet-artistic-and-deep-with-fab-cinematography/acting movie which surely you saw in college and will hopefully review on this blog.
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