Lives of Old Men
Three months I've been gone. I guess i'm crawling back to you, bloody and pathetic. Need someone to talk about my stupid life with. Please.
Two movies this week!
No Country for Old Men was freaking ruthless. Nothing about this movie bugged me, which is rare. So good looking, such interesting characters, srsly great acting. It felt much shorter than it was. I skipped the book when it was released because the plot synopsis sounded so boring. I guess I forgot it was Cormac McCarthy. I wouldn't be surprised if the Sheriff's monologues are straight McCarthy. Beats out... um..., this is the only good movie I've seen from this year.
I watched The Lives of Others last night while K was sewing Roman drapes, or something. Entertaining and interesting, but I have one big complaint. It's sentimentality almost destroys its authenticity. the depiction of the Stasi very nearly made me sick, until I realized that the film depicts its characters very two dimensionally, good or bad. This takes away the heft of realism and leaves you wondering what you believe. Like propaganda. I was curious about it, so I watched some of the special features. The director is like thirty, max. He was not among the persecuted artists. Not surprising. I don't think that you have to live through something to depict it successfully, but it may take a little more skill than was displayed in this one.
Man, that sounds really negative. I didn't dislike the movie. It actually ties in well with this crazy awesome book I've been reading, The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross. A history of the 20th century through the biographies and works of its greatest composers, Noise has long sections devoted to real artists that faced the sort of oppression that Lives of Others tries to be about. Shostakovich was semi-forced into the role of composer laureate for the Soviet Union and spent most of his life in fear. Aaron Copland was blacklisted here in the states for appearing to have communist friends (and for being gay). I'm only to about 1955, so I've still got a ways to go. I'll write it up good when I'm finished.
