I always mean to update sooner than I end up doing it ....
Anyway, what follows contains spoilers.
As I mentioned, over the weekend, my wife and I went to see Match Point. It's really great stuff, in my humble opinion. The movie has a great naturalism to it. People do things like mispronounce words or talk over each other - it feels a bit like real life, and not quite so staged. Later, when there are some very strange speeches, their effect becomes much more pronounced. On top of that, the movie just looks beautiful (and not just because of Scarlett..). The camera is very patient, and moves quietly, and insistently, throuse scenes - showing us what we *need* to see and ignoring action and dialogue in favor of important little moments.
The actual plot of the movie revolves around a former tennis pro ("Chris") trying to climb the social ladder. Some of the reviews see the main character as inherently slimy - suggesting that from the get-go his goal was to insert himself into the life of this upper-crust family. But that's not really the case I think. Rather, as with the broader theme of the movie, it was *luck.* Opportunity was there - and Chris took it (sometimes even reluctantly). In fact, Chris seems to genuienly care for the woman he marries; her family is presented as flawed but decent. Every character in the movie is complex - with good and bad qualities. It's too easy, and just incorrect, to nail Chris as any mere weasel.
In fact, Chris finds himself often the victim of forces larger than himself. Chris is a big believer that *luck* shapes our lives - and in a lot of ways this might be true. A right turn here saves you from a traffic accident; pausing too long at work means you get mugged that night - and so on. More than just luck, Chris finds himself at the bequest of larger emotions - notably lust for his brother-in-law's former flame, the smoking Nola. Chris prefers to go with the flow of emotion and passion, while dismissing ideas of absolute control. Chris both *benefits from* and is *endangered by* his willigness to let it ride.
The problem with relying on luck in this manner, of course, is that luck does not have any direction. The same luck that benefits you (you get away with murder and go free), is bad luck for someone else (as in, you're a murderer that goes free). Luck is not *moral* or *normative* - and for every winner, that is a corresponding loser.
Chris makes this point that the world is not orderly; that going to the quantum level, it seems that everything really is all chance. That's possible. But just because there is randomness and chance *in* the world, does not necessarily mean we need to live out lives by that same principle. Luck does not create fairness or justice. And, while we may not always agree on the specifics, there is a very real sense that we *owe* other people a degree of respect and decency. In other words, that notions like law or justice matter. Thus, relying on luck and chance as organizing principles is just somehow unsatisfactory.
Things like law and morality might be socially constructed and artificial. Reason may not solve all of our problems. Chris points this out, or at least *implies* it. But, that doesn't mean they're not *good.* We live in a position to improve upon the world we live in, rather than just accepting its terms. In Match Point, Woody Allen does a brillilant job of remiding us of this. It's fantastic stuff.
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Anyway, what follows contains spoilers.
As I mentioned, over the weekend, my wife and I went to see Match Point. It's really great stuff, in my humble opinion. The movie has a great naturalism to it. People do things like mispronounce words or talk over each other - it feels a bit like real life, and not quite so staged. Later, when there are some very strange speeches, their effect becomes much more pronounced. On top of that, the movie just looks beautiful (and not just because of Scarlett..). The camera is very patient, and moves quietly, and insistently, throuse scenes - showing us what we *need* to see and ignoring action and dialogue in favor of important little moments.
The actual plot of the movie revolves around a former tennis pro ("Chris") trying to climb the social ladder. Some of the reviews see the main character as inherently slimy - suggesting that from the get-go his goal was to insert himself into the life of this upper-crust family. But that's not really the case I think. Rather, as with the broader theme of the movie, it was *luck.* Opportunity was there - and Chris took it (sometimes even reluctantly). In fact, Chris seems to genuienly care for the woman he marries; her family is presented as flawed but decent. Every character in the movie is complex - with good and bad qualities. It's too easy, and just incorrect, to nail Chris as any mere weasel.
In fact, Chris finds himself often the victim of forces larger than himself. Chris is a big believer that *luck* shapes our lives - and in a lot of ways this might be true. A right turn here saves you from a traffic accident; pausing too long at work means you get mugged that night - and so on. More than just luck, Chris finds himself at the bequest of larger emotions - notably lust for his brother-in-law's former flame, the smoking Nola. Chris prefers to go with the flow of emotion and passion, while dismissing ideas of absolute control. Chris both *benefits from* and is *endangered by* his willigness to let it ride.
The problem with relying on luck in this manner, of course, is that luck does not have any direction. The same luck that benefits you (you get away with murder and go free), is bad luck for someone else (as in, you're a murderer that goes free). Luck is not *moral* or *normative* - and for every winner, that is a corresponding loser.
Chris makes this point that the world is not orderly; that going to the quantum level, it seems that everything really is all chance. That's possible. But just because there is randomness and chance *in* the world, does not necessarily mean we need to live out lives by that same principle. Luck does not create fairness or justice. And, while we may not always agree on the specifics, there is a very real sense that we *owe* other people a degree of respect and decency. In other words, that notions like law or justice matter. Thus, relying on luck and chance as organizing principles is just somehow unsatisfactory.
Things like law and morality might be socially constructed and artificial. Reason may not solve all of our problems. Chris points this out, or at least *implies* it. But, that doesn't mean they're not *good.* We live in a position to improve upon the world we live in, rather than just accepting its terms. In Match Point, Woody Allen does a brillilant job of remiding us of this. It's fantastic stuff.
********************************************************************************************************************
My Weekly Artist Chart
My Weekly Track Chart
My Overall Artist Chart
My Overall Track Chart
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
_biblia_:
i know what you mean. i have a grass plant. yes, grass. it makes me feel good that i can take care of it.
doctashock:
so what's the happenings man?