The brothers Nolan’s compelling screenplay for The Dark Knight concludes [spoilers ahead]with two characters (with whom we're supposed to sympathize) conspiring to pin some cop killings on someone other than the guilty party. Sometimes the truth, they say, isn’t good enough for the people.*
The two quickly get their new-and-improved story straight, and before the closing credits roll, have started to spread it. The first to hear the story is the very embodiment of innocence, and someone who, moreover, knows what actually happened and recognizes the fiction for what it is. "It's okay," responds the raconteur-cum-reassuring father. "Don't worry. The guy who'll suffer for our story is stronger than we. He can take it." And the implication: "Isn't my story better?"
That depends.
Is a fiction ever better — more beneficial, more moral, more inspiring and, perhaps, even more true — than the truth? Are there stories that are more than pretty lies? Is it ever ethical to conduct thought experiments on real-world people?**
I've more to write about this, but if anyone's still reading my blog, I'd like to start the discussion with the following question:
The Dark Knight suggests that creative writing has its place in society, and that sometimes the telling of a good story is more important, for example, than upholding the law. How do you feel about that?
——————
*And everywhere, teachers of literature lick their lips and smile.
**Did Paul H. Dunn deserve his excoriation?
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
30 July 2008
14 June 2008
The Entry
Before we go any further, let me say, there appears to be a critic reviewing.
Last night The Best and I went to see M. Night’s latest offering, The Happening. I’m a fan of the PA native's films. Some are better than others, though. I give you, then, in order of bitchin’ to meh, my ranking:
Unbreakable. Bitchin’. Sparse, meticulous, gorgeous. Good story, true to its genre, still pleases after multiple viewings (perhaps because the Shyamalan twist is apparent early), all while containing one of the most convincingly, plausibly suspenseful moments I’ve ever endured in a theater (about halfway through, in the kitchen, with the gun). Plus: Robin Wright Penn. /cheesy tiger growl/
The Sixth Sense. Bitchin’. I have never been as surprised by the end of a film as I was by this one’s. (By the time I was old enough to see The Crying Game, its reveal had become a cultural touchstone.) Felt a complete heel for having judged Bruce Willis unfaithful. Points off this one for not being nearly as fun in subsequent viewings. Though: Olivia Watson /cheesy tiger growl with British accent/; Donnie Wahlberg unrecognizable and completely de-Backstreeted.
The Happening. Worth the ticket. In the trailer for this is one of the stupidest lines I’ve ever heard in a big-budget film. In solemn tones, we hear an authoritative voice announce, “There appears to be an event happening.”
Really? An event? Holy schnikes. At least it’s not… Wait. What? It’s happening!?! Noooooooo! (Pray tell, M. Period-Between-Dusk-and-Dawn Shyamalama-dyngdong. What else might an event do?)
Though the line grates as much in the film as in the trailer, after seeing the movie I think there’s good reason for the line and for the related and equally silly title. So yes, there are stumbles here, too, though it’s a fun ride. I won’t say more until later so that nothing’s spoiled for those who haven’t seen it. Interesting commentary on community and violence, among other things. Also, the director’s trademark cameo is cute. Plus: Zooey Deschanel. Plus plus: Mark Wahlberg. /double cheesy tiger growl/ (Oh, like you wouldn’t do him? Please.)
The Village. Just worth the ticket. Slo-mo with Joaquin Phoenix and Bryce Dallas Howard gets me every time. This is where Shyamalan first stumbles: monsters. Saving graces: I really dig the idea that we bear seeds enough for a forest of violence within ourselves without need of Big Gay Satan or longclawed monsters in shadow. I also like that this is at once a history of some of the most powerful and pernicious underpinnings of U.S. American cultural history and a representation of how these manifested themselves post-9/11.
Lady in the Water. meh-kay. Feels like Shyamalan had a bunch of undeveloped but promising ideas, panicked at a deadline and decided to just throw them all into the same film. It had such potential—Paul Giamatti, Bill Irwin, Bob Balaban, Jeffrey Wright—but the mishmash of world mythologies was poorly handled. If anything, a prooftext for why J. G. Frazer and Joseph Campell are intriguing but shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Also: monsters in the woods. Seriously?
Signs. Sub-meh. Blech. His weakest film. Too heavy handed, too sentimental, too melodramatic. Don’t even get me started on the racist, anti-Semitic papist monster. (And Mel Gibson’s in it, too.)
Last night The Best and I went to see M. Night’s latest offering, The Happening. I’m a fan of the PA native's films. Some are better than others, though. I give you, then, in order of bitchin’ to meh, my ranking:
Unbreakable. Bitchin’. Sparse, meticulous, gorgeous. Good story, true to its genre, still pleases after multiple viewings (perhaps because the Shyamalan twist is apparent early), all while containing one of the most convincingly, plausibly suspenseful moments I’ve ever endured in a theater (about halfway through, in the kitchen, with the gun). Plus: Robin Wright Penn. /cheesy tiger growl/
The Sixth Sense. Bitchin’. I have never been as surprised by the end of a film as I was by this one’s. (By the time I was old enough to see The Crying Game, its reveal had become a cultural touchstone.) Felt a complete heel for having judged Bruce Willis unfaithful. Points off this one for not being nearly as fun in subsequent viewings. Though: Olivia Watson /cheesy tiger growl with British accent/; Donnie Wahlberg unrecognizable and completely de-Backstreeted.
The Happening. Worth the ticket. In the trailer for this is one of the stupidest lines I’ve ever heard in a big-budget film. In solemn tones, we hear an authoritative voice announce, “There appears to be an event happening.”
Really? An event? Holy schnikes. At least it’s not… Wait. What? It’s happening!?! Noooooooo! (Pray tell, M. Period-Between-Dusk-and-Dawn Shyamalama-dyngdong. What else might an event do?)
Though the line grates as much in the film as in the trailer, after seeing the movie I think there’s good reason for the line and for the related and equally silly title. So yes, there are stumbles here, too, though it’s a fun ride. I won’t say more until later so that nothing’s spoiled for those who haven’t seen it. Interesting commentary on community and violence, among other things. Also, the director’s trademark cameo is cute. Plus: Zooey Deschanel. Plus plus: Mark Wahlberg. /double cheesy tiger growl/ (Oh, like you wouldn’t do him? Please.)
The Village. Just worth the ticket. Slo-mo with Joaquin Phoenix and Bryce Dallas Howard gets me every time. This is where Shyamalan first stumbles: monsters. Saving graces: I really dig the idea that we bear seeds enough for a forest of violence within ourselves without need of Big Gay Satan or longclawed monsters in shadow. I also like that this is at once a history of some of the most powerful and pernicious underpinnings of U.S. American cultural history and a representation of how these manifested themselves post-9/11.
Lady in the Water. meh-kay. Feels like Shyamalan had a bunch of undeveloped but promising ideas, panicked at a deadline and decided to just throw them all into the same film. It had such potential—Paul Giamatti, Bill Irwin, Bob Balaban, Jeffrey Wright—but the mishmash of world mythologies was poorly handled. If anything, a prooftext for why J. G. Frazer and Joseph Campell are intriguing but shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Also: monsters in the woods. Seriously?
Signs. Sub-meh. Blech. His weakest film. Too heavy handed, too sentimental, too melodramatic. Don’t even get me started on the racist, anti-Semitic papist monster. (And Mel Gibson’s in it, too.)
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