Hmmm. Very thought provoking and very interesting little movie we have here. I'd say it borders on or pretty much is a minimalistic venture that chooses to communicate its points to you more so with silence, visuals, and minimal, yet poignant dialog. The friendship between these two guys seemed very natural and unforced. I was convinced that they had been good buddies for a long time. The thing that kept nagging at me though was resentment. Resentment can be a bitch. I think Mark was feeling it big time. That little scene when he's on the phone with his wife and he says "Remember who we're dealing with here." That pretty much put it all on the table for me. I think that deep down all along Mark was envious and maybe resentful of the freedom that Kurt was able to have. How he can just travel and pick up and leave on a whim. When he mentions he never gets into something that he can't get out of. I think maybe Mark might have had a little bit of long stewing envy for Kurt.
I believe Kurt knew this too. What makes Kurt awesome though is the fact that he was completely selfless. He didn't seem to be on this trip for himself totally. He seemed as though he wanted Mark to enjoy it just as much regardless of the bit of jealousy. I'm not really going to address the massage scene fully. I think it just is what is. Just a buddy trying to get his friend to relax a little.
Everyone remembers "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" I hope, this movie has a bit of the same concept. Ferris does the same thing for Cameron that Kurt is trying to do for Mark. Get him to lighten up a bit. I think near the end though he didn't succeed fully though. Its okay, totally understandable. Facing such a large life change as bringing a child into this world would have me pretty damn stressed too. I can't even conceive it(I'm not father material, I've told many people this many times.) So you know I can kind of understand where Mark stands. Anyone who has a large life-changing event is gonna be stressed. Some could call it existential angst.
Another thing in this movie that struck a chord with me is nostalgia. Nostalgia is another thing that can be a royal pain. I get it way too often myself. Nostalgia isn't always a good thing. This movie points that out pretty well I think. It all reverts back to Kurt trying to get Mark out of the grind a little bit though. Just a little bit. Its very hard these days to get out of a grind. It almost seems as though its always forced upon us. That's what the radio talk show reminded me off. How often times many people are conditioned to be always "doing something." Because goodness forbid if they take a moment of idleness and appreciate the peace it can bring. Our minds are already often a vortex of chaos as it is most of the time.
All in all I feel that Mark needed to 2 things. 1. Change the damn radio station. Stewing over the stuff going on is not going to make it better. 2. He needed to RELAX a bit. If he knew what he was doing then raising a kid could be a fun journey for him. He should have looked at it more like that. The fact that it wouldn't be easy should just be a given. Nothing is ever truly easy.
Good movie Brian. Loved the thoughts it brought on.
I dig your point of view man, it struck a different chord with you than it did for me. But as you stated, you're coming from a different point of view also so I think that's very interesting too.
ReplyDeleteawesome, Darrel.. I'm really glad you liked it.. I know it's out of your usualy comfort zone of horror but it seemed like you really got something out of the experience and that's great..
ReplyDeletei think i see the film more closely to the way you did then my thoughts aligned with anyone else so far.. - i see Kurt's calling Mark out of the blue and getting him away from the doldrums very selfless and kind.. - he wanted Mark to relax, get out in the wilderness, forget his troubles and responsibilities for just a day or two..
i liked your point about the radio.. people being "conditioned" as you put it and "goodness forbid if they take a moment of idleness and appreciate the peace it can bring".. - i see this as an articulate observation and think you nailed it, bud.. - nice seeing some gravitas and insight coming off of this selection.. very happy about that am i (did that sound Yoda-like?)
in one of the 30+ reviews, essays, etc. i've read it talked about how Mark listens to to the talk radio but never "does anything" about the problems he constantly hears about.. - thought-provoking indeed..
here's a nice link dump of a lot of reviews on the film -- some good reading in here:
http://www.mrqe.com/movies/m100056776
Ehh. I've actually watched less and less horror these past years due to the fact that horror here in America is in such shoddy shape. I've been going back in time and revisiting older stuff. Branching out is all good.
ReplyDeleteAs far as idleness I hear about it all the time at work from people. When I tell them I just hung out and relaxed the night before or something like that. Or tell them that I don't venture out that much they get all weird about it. "Why don't you go out more Darrel, it would be good for you."
For some reason they don't seem to understand that pushing ones existence to the boundaries(living life to the fullest,I was trying to avoid the cliche)doesn't always mean you have to be going somewhere all the time.
I've always considered the saying "Idle hands are the devil's playground." If that is the case the devil and I have been having fun on the same playground for years. Woot!