NP-Nicholas Winding Refn

[David Morris]

I don't think I have the patience, much less the appetite.

On Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 12:15 PM rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:

> it can be frustrating viewing at times but I saw it through till the end.
> at times the thought in my head while watching was a quote from the
> introduction of Hitler: A film from Germany: "who would want to make a film
> about that?"
> a doubt many will watch it. the subject matter being what it is but I
> think its worth it
>
> rich
>
> On Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 11:48 AM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Did you watch the whole thing?  Does it grow on you?
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 9:44 AM rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> amazon prime
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 10:33 AM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Where can this be found?
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 9:11 AM rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Refn has a new series (or a 13 hour movie if you like) called Too Old
>>>>> to
>>>>> Die Young. Ostensibly a simple tale of a bent LA Sheriff and a up and
>>>>> coming Mexican cartel boss it has wide and seemingly encyclopedic
>>>>> references and influences: breaking bad, twin peaks, no country for
>>>>> old men
>>>>> (I think Refn could direct a version of Blood Meridian--more on that
>>>>> later), Kill Bill/Reservoir Dogs, James Ellroy, Taxi Driver, Kubrick
>>>>> (many
>>>>> scenes are shot Barry Lyndon style--one in a Mexican whorehouse
>>>>> resembled
>>>>> scary paintings of Franz Von Stuck or Otto Dix). There are probably
>>>>> many
>>>>> others.It's Weimar on the Best Coast, the end of the world, with
>>>>> something
>>>>> coming in the night i.e. fascism
>>>>> The acting is stiff, with many long pauses. this is not a show for
>>>>> dialogue
>>>>> but of impressions, individual scenes are given their full time to
>>>>> flower
>>>>> (Refn and those he chooses to work with are masters of color, music,
>>>>> and
>>>>> sound from insects at night, to rippling waters, to the scrape of an
>>>>> axe on
>>>>> concrete. the long pauses accentuate the violence and I'll warn all
>>>>> that
>>>>> this is one of the most nihilistic shows out there--rape, incest, folks
>>>>> burned and buried alive, mass murder, torture. one character surmises
>>>>> the
>>>>> rise of eroticized violence. there's plenty
>>>>> I mentioned Blood Meridian--there is a character called the High
>>>>> Priestess
>>>>> of Death, born out of the desert, who becomes an integral part in the
>>>>> rise
>>>>> of the young cartel boss. She is the Judge-like character, the seed of
>>>>> destruction and the central pivot. everything revolves around her. she
>>>>> is
>>>>> frankly terrifying, even to those she's in with. Women sing
>>>>> narcocorrido
>>>>> type praises to her as a defender of women. It's hard to take your
>>>>> eyes off
>>>>> her.
>>>>> There are many wtf moments in this show--the denouement of a pair of
>>>>> New
>>>>> Mexican pornographer brothers, in particular. Barry Manilow plays a
>>>>> part.
>>>>> Some of these scenes with these guys are hard to watch, but there's
>>>>> many of
>>>>> them I'm afraid.
>>>>> Not many in this show is even vaguely sympathetic or honorable:The LA
>>>>> Sheriff's office are fascist keystone cops, fathers lust after
>>>>> daughters,
>>>>> brutal mothers cocktease sons, women are brutalized, men take
>>>>> advantage of
>>>>> the weak or other men, women entice men to commit murder justified or
>>>>> not,
>>>>> men's lives are forfeit for a few thousand dollars.
>>>>> In a nutshell, it all leads to the belief that only through
>>>>> catastrophic
>>>>> violence will innocence be born. and while one cringes from much of
>>>>> what is
>>>>> depicted over these 13 hours, the slow pace, the dismal circumstances,
>>>>> the
>>>>> at times half-assed buffoonery, flippancy of style and wealth, I do
>>>>> have to
>>>>> admit it makes its points well. Let's hope it isn't our future
>>>>>
>>>>> rich
>>>>> --
>>>>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>>>>
>>>>