You know,I realised that - when I was talking about movies, I was directly talking about deep cuts( as in itunes deep cuts)..and its difficult to appreciate those movies because..one need to go thru the 'basics' and then 'next steps' and then 'deep cuts'.But, you have to trust me when I say that they ARE deep cuts.May be one day, I will divide all the movies I like into those three categories.For instance shawshank redemption is a basic..but 3 days of a condor is next level and Dr.strange love is deep cut.
The movie I am going to talk about - is not even a deep cut..it is beyond that...it is a personal cut. When you make a connection at some deep, personal level..then I call it a personal cut (tm). I just patented that word.Its like this diary you wrote when you were a kid..no body understands it, except you. The thing with personal movies is that - you need to have a substance with you to destroy boundaries within yourself. Make you less logical but more emotional. That substance, for me, with respect to this movie is alcohol.Just like weed for 2001: A space oddessey. (Before you put on your judging wigs on ..I am neither an alcohol nor drug addict).
That movie is Mccabe and Mrs.miller.This movie is anti of all ..anti-western, anti-hero, anti-heroine, anti-capitalism, anti-socialism, anti-idealism,anti-realism, anti-romance, anti-marriage, anti-erotica,and finally anti-movie..or may be you should replace anti with 'no'.The only thing you can say about this movie is that it is robert almanesque...that too a poetic robert altmanesque. Only, very few directors get the naming of genres in their name.
The movie is about this man who wants to setup a whore house (not my words) in a developing town in the west..most probably in the state of Washington.Everybody thinks that he is a gun fighter which he is not..everyone thinks that he is a good businessman..which he is not. Who is he? He is a nobody with no past or future...just trying to survive.
The movies starts with rain..with leonard cohen singing..and the titles floating on the screen and the hero on the horse..slowly walking..in to the town.I dont know about you, but I am always sucker for movies involving rain, snow or early sunrise.I love movies which uses nature not as an asthetic but part of the story to create emotion...an emotion which cannot be defined in words.
The first scene of the movie is the most difficult to watch for the first time viewers..because it is very disorienting.The dialogs overlap a lot and the camera focus on some seemingly unimportant things.But, if you can survive the first scene..I guess u can survive the whole movie.
Then comes julie christie. I fell in love with her character...a professional prostitute..a wise one..has seen how this world works.A complete realist...but escapes in her own world of marijuana and knowlege..despite maintaining a chaotic business.She knows that in the system she lives in, big fish eats the small fish and that resistance is futile.I like her, because I totally understand her. Its like, she has soo much knowledge about the world and about how it should be..but has to do what she has to do because the world is full of ignorants,opputunisits and exploiters. Its like she almost gave up..until she met this hero guy..but this guy too with his idealism destroyed everything. In the final scene, when her man is fighting the bad guys,she just goes to the chinese drug place and smokes marijuana and looks as if she got lost in her own fantasy world...as the camera zooms in to her dilated pupils. Ms.Miller, where ever you are, please leave a comment here.I will marry you.Serious!
There is no music in the movie ..except songs of leonard cohen. Nobody..I repeat ..nobody..used his songs in such a poetic way. Sometimes, I think this movie was made just to show case his songs. Without his songs..I cant imagine the movie. Cinematography by Vilmos Zsimond is very natural..as if the the post cards of the west have been transported directly to the screen. I just wanted to pack my bags to go to vancouver, canada where it was shot..( I actually did this with another movie 'Do the right thing'..in NYC..which must actually be new blog post)..
I was in NYC when I heard that robert altman died. I already knew that his time was near...as he was already working with a pig's heart and still made one more great movie.For any movie buff, death of a favorite director is always a hard thing to stomach.In the evening, I bought a bottle of cheap vodka, started the movie tape, and when leanard cohen started singing "sisters of mercy" ,when the girl says, " I need to go to pot"...and then the camera zooms in to warren beatty...and you would have noticed tear drops in my eyes if you were there with me. That was my closure.
One more of my infamous cuts:
3 comments:
Moment of zen
Me :writing a review of my personal fav. movie..got choked up watching it again
Josh : Deep throat?
Are you sure she smokes marijuana or is it opium? Opium dens were fairly common in Western towns during the mid to late 1800's.
I think in the last scene she smokes opium..but...do opium makes people giggle??
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