ON THE WATERFRONT - a double standard
:ast week,, when I was looking for a movie to see, I realized that wather than see some half-baked new film, I would rather sit through a film I knew was good, even though I had already seen it at least 30 times. Fortunately, I had already seen most of the good films in release {THE INCREDIBLES, SIDEWAYS, HOTEL RWANDA, THE AVIATOR, HOUSE OF THE FLYING DAGGERS, KINSEY}, `and, to be honest, there wasn't much left (MEET THE FOCKERS?)
And it held up - powerful filmmaking in every senes. This, in spite of my problems with the naming names politics (my family was scarred by Joseph McCarthy_and even my familiarity with the script, it was better than any film I've seen this year. Not that it doesn't have problems. Character relationships are pushed in your face, and the last sequenc e, the time frame is all off. Togo from a government hearing to dead pigeons to going to the dock for an assignment (aren't dock workers usually picked in the morning?), and the script is manipulative.
Nevertheless, this is great filmmaking, and it is interesting that those who overlook the flaws in ON THE WATERFRONT, do not overlook similar similar flaws in two excellent American films that also deal with crime and have heavy emotional impact, THE ROAD TO PERDITION and MYSTIC RIVER
It reminds me of when I was on a panel with otherwise astute film critic Gerals Peary. He was trashing groundbreaking filmmaker Lars von Trier for his treatment of women, yet has no problems with the classic racist film BIRTH OF A NATION. Both BREAKING THE WAVES andBIRTH OF A NATION are great films. So too, should the admirers of ON THE WATERFRONT excuse its flaws while condeming similar flaws incoparably excellent films.
And it held up - powerful filmmaking in every senes. This, in spite of my problems with the naming names politics (my family was scarred by Joseph McCarthy_and even my familiarity with the script, it was better than any film I've seen this year. Not that it doesn't have problems. Character relationships are pushed in your face, and the last sequenc e, the time frame is all off. Togo from a government hearing to dead pigeons to going to the dock for an assignment (aren't dock workers usually picked in the morning?), and the script is manipulative.
Nevertheless, this is great filmmaking, and it is interesting that those who overlook the flaws in ON THE WATERFRONT, do not overlook similar similar flaws in two excellent American films that also deal with crime and have heavy emotional impact, THE ROAD TO PERDITION and MYSTIC RIVER
It reminds me of when I was on a panel with otherwise astute film critic Gerals Peary. He was trashing groundbreaking filmmaker Lars von Trier for his treatment of women, yet has no problems with the classic racist film BIRTH OF A NATION. Both BREAKING THE WAVES andBIRTH OF A NATION are great films. So too, should the admirers of ON THE WATERFRONT excuse its flaws while condeming similar flaws incoparably excellent films.
2 Comments:
I thought the treatment of women in Breaking The Waves was supposed to be ironic? Although after Dogville, I'll have to think about that some more.
I agree with your comparison of On The Waterfront to Road To Perdition and Mystic River. Do you think they comprise a genre?
Kris
I think you,re right, but did you see SANCER IN THE DARK? I'm not sure "ironic" is quite the word, but he is sympathetic to and even engry about women suffering in society, and since he is Cathlic, his women,s suffering do lead to some kind of redemption and salvation. Which makes the vonTrier work fit in with what I've said about ON THE WATERFRONT, MYSTIC RIVER and ROAD TO PERDITION. Maybe that's the Catholic in me coming out.
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