For the film lovers on the list

Bled Welder bledWelder at hotmail.com
Mon Mar 19 19:55:33 CDT 2012


The biggest problem was God!  Or better, the belief in god.  Not the reviewers fault.  Unless those reviewers meant specifikly Islam.

Then everything was everybodys fault exCept the patriarch of the main family.

That would be a problem of state.

-----Original Message-----

From: kelber at mindspring.com
Sent: 19 Mar 2012 16:50:32 GMT
To: pynchon-l at waste.org
Subject: Re: For the film lovers on the list

I just saw A Separation yesterday - it was playing across the street from a nursing care facility my elderly dad's in, and I needed relief.  At first, I was dismayed to learn that the story revolved around the care of an elderly man.  But then, as Mark said, the knotting into began.  It's a fantastic movie.

I've learned to read reviews after, rather than before a movie, because even the most erudite reviewers are individuals, not ubermenschen, and they often steer us wrong.  What surprised me (or maybe it shouldn't have) about many of the reviews I read is that the reviewers felt obligated to take swipes at Iran or Islam, even as they admitted that the movie was so much more.

Most reviewer saw it as a social drama about adapting to life under Islam, class, gender, etc.  Some lesser reviewers called it a melodrama or soap, nothing more. But the overwhelming message I got from the film was that, in the most complicated conflict (uh, would that currently be Israel vs. Iran?), there are solutions, but they require extreme patience, sensitivity and understanding.  Mark, have you read any reviews that take a political view of the film?

Laura


-----Original Message-----
>From: Paul Mackin <mackin.paul at verizon.net>
>Sent: Mar 19, 2012 11:53 AM
>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: Re: For the film lovers on the list
>
>On 3/19/2012 11:17 AM, Mark Kohut wrote:
>> JUMP CUT (but association from the Subject line):
>>
>> See A Separation if you have not. Were we talking about
>> a knotting into and moral centers?....The moral and character
>> subleties---and quotidian surprises---of this movie might cut to
>> your bone marrow.
>>
>> Integrity, lies--for a greater good?---moral (and pragmatic) choices
>> within an intricately knotted society......priceless............
>>
>  Sounds like a good fit for me.  Also movies with subtitles are greatly
>preferred nowadays because of annoying trouble decoding anything but
>American English spoken by people over 30.  Significant hearing loss is
>a real social handicap. Advice to young'ens--take care of your hearing.
>
>P




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