Herein lies the core of my sermon: back in the day, it was shocking and revolutionary to put sex, gore, and other nastiness in a film. Now, it's shocking and revolutionary if you don't.
Does anyone else see something wrong here?
I'm referring specifically to What Dreams May Come, which I just put up in my review section. This film followed all my rules of decent filmmaking. Other people are calling the film shmaltzy. Not enough blood and sex for ye, luv? Here's my point-by-point:
1. No sex. Oh, it was insinuated, you bet. If Annie whispering, "Let's make love" or straddling Chris' legs isn't indication enough, these two do have it off. Offscreen. I kept worrying about the flashback scenes, wondering if we were going to see a lovely bedroom/back-of-the-car scene. Never. Never once. But, we know it happened. We didn't need to be shown. And if we had been, how much respect would we have for their love?
2. No violence. The same: offscreen. Yeah, people getting crushed by cars is kinda bad. But do we see it? Nope. A very cynical review from Girls on Film stated (paraphrased): "And then they drove off in slow motion. Gee, do you think that's the last time they're gunna be alive?" Apparently, death isn't believable onscreen unless we see torn and bleeding human bodies twisted in masses of metal and glass. In Brazil, it's enough to see Michael Palin walk into his office with his lab coat smeared with blood. We don't have to see how he tortured people. Same concept. It's more powerful, leaves more to the imagination, and doesn't make the audience hurl up their Jujubes.
3. Very little cursing. Okay. So there's a little. By my count, six words. Six. Most movies have about twenty ... at the very least. It seems like PG movies have more bad language than Dreams does. When used in moderation, cursing can actually be good; they can be used for shock value, characterization, or to accentuate a joke. When used as normal vocabulary, no one even notices it.
4. An actual plot. And you hafta think. Keep notes, even. Wow, you mean not everything is handed to me on a silver platter? You better believe it, kumquat. You hafta have your head screwed around the right way ... and maybe have a tune-'n-lube ... to follow this movie. For someone used to sort of lolling back and drooling a bit at movies, this will come out like a mass of spaghetti. ('Nother reference to the esteemed Girls On Film.)
The only thing that makes me sick about this movie is that everyone pegs it as bad. That's what has happened to us, luvs. We have become so accustomed to extreme and ugly movies that, when a beautiful, intelligent film is offered to us, we shove it away. It's like being so full of Little Debbies that you can't imagine eating blancmange. And that to me is more depressing than anything.
Beam me up, Scotty.
