Moody

[bcholmes]

So, I saw The Reader last night. I've heard a number of my friends mention that it's quite good. And it's directed by Stephen Daldry, who directed The Hours. And one of the things that really stands out to me is that, like The Hours, a good part of the film is just pregnant with tremendous emotional weight.

I think that most films that want to evoke an emotional reaction usually hit you with a killer story moment. There's that moment in Cast Away when Wilson the basketball floats away; despite the oddness, that scene really hit me. There's the moment in I Am Legend when Neville kills Sam the dog -- it's oddly a more emotional moment than seeing his wife and daughter killed -- that moment didn't hit me quite as strongly, but it seemed to affect a number of my friends (although when, later in the film, Neville says, "It's just... I was saving that bacon", wow, is that line freighted).

Sometimes it's about contrast. I really enjoyed the film, Static, for example. The whole film has this quirky comedy feel, and then at the very end, something traumatically bad happens, and it's a complete kick in the teeth.

In The Reader, what stands out the most to me is this sense of the suppression of emotion and, more importantly, the withholding of compassion and kindness. And that emotional texture just permeated most of the second half of the film, in ways that I can't really describe by discussing the plot points.

But it's stuff like this that I most love about film.

Comments

[lcohen]

we'll see if i can hang on to all the thoughts i had about this film to talk to you about it when i see you at wiscon--there are things that simply didn't work for me that might have to do with what i bring to the subject matter. but it would be interesting to talk with you!