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violiner2000
Reviews
Infinity (1996)
85% of the time captures Feynman
Infinity is not a masterpiece nor even great cinema (but do we hold it on account of that?), but it does have something that I really loved about it. I adore Richard Feynman, he being my favourite scientist and one of my two heroes (the other being Itzhak Perlman) to really try to aspire to be everything I can be. I think everyone should read his books (even his Physics lectures, even if you hate Physics. He makes everything worthwhile). Onto the film... The film starts out with the sweet, gentle relationship between father and son, taking direct quotes from Feynman's own novels (he actually didn't write them; they are accounted stories) Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman! and What Do YOU Care What Other People Think? and letters and such. It progresses through Richard's days in high school, to meeting Arline (that is the correct spelling) onto MIT and Princeton (pre Los Alamos). During this, my biggest complaint would be that the film moved way too fast. There were some lines ("Look I'm gorgeous") that were just beginning to show Feynman's character and his way with humour, but it plowed right through them onto the next scene. I think Broderick was so intent on keeping everything to the book, he forgot some very vital elements of what made "Richard Feynman" Richard Feynman. What really grasped Feynman's character was when the film steered into the direction of Feynman's days at Los Alamos (working on "the bomb") and Arline was at the sanatorium. The film showed just how much fun Arline had with Feynman and vice versa (I loved that the film included Feynman's birthday present from Arline!). It also showed the tenderness, yet sometimes almost "absent" love of Feynman. In Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Tack: the letters of Richard Feynman, he writes a letter to Arline before she dies telling her how he wished he would have been there for her more, loved her more, etc. I think the film really captures that, even before the book was published, Broderick had a sense of what Feynman was going through. He didn't really know how to handle his wife dying. Lastly, I loved how they implement Feynman's love of "drumming". It really didn't become an obsession until much later (when he went to Brazil after Arline's death), but the film shows the beginnings of a love that Feynman would love until his death (a number of his friends joked that he was going to spend his Nobel earnings on a new bongo drum). There were flashes of the Feynman people know and love, but it didn't really hold true at the beginning. One thing that seemed confusing was a brief snipet involving Broderick as Feynman hearing about a "baby". This is most likely in reference to a pregnancy scare that took place when Arline was in the sanatorium. They thought they'd have to abort the baby, but it turned out she was pregnant and that she was just malnourished because of her illness. They didn't explain that very well though. Next they need to make a film about his marriage to Gweneth and his later years winning the Nobel and working on the Challenger. Even though I don't act, I could play Gweneth! hahaha, yeah right.
A Mighty Wind (2003)
True love lasts forever...
By now if a person has visited this page they probably have already seen the film and know the plot or already read the twenty-millions reviews of the film (hehehe, a bit excessive there). What I mean is I think I will leave my explanation of the plot to: folk singers come back to perform a tribute to the man who started their bands out. There. Said and done.
Being a character actress who denies that she is a character actress I was pleased to discover the genre of "improvised mockumentary." I figured if they were willing to let actors go out and make up lines they must be pretty talented and I am sick of watching films with no talent. Even if you hate this film you cannot negate the talent. Just ask yourself: can you make up bizarre things (that are accurate like the Yiddish speal) off the top of your head for hours on end? Probably not. But Christopher Guest's films are not for everyone. I would state that there is a subtle thread of dark humour mixed in a blender with drama, The Far Side and insanity. Do I love these films especially A Mighty Wind? Yes. Oh yes. To know and love this humour is an acquired taste. Even if you are a fan of folk music, it might not be funny to you. You can appreciate it though as I can being a fan of folk music myself. Why I think it is funny is because I have a sick sense of humour. Why say true love lasts forever? Although all of Chris Guest's films have circled around a number of people, A Mighty Wind takes a different turn and that is what makes it different from his other films. Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show all took funny situations and made them funny, even idiotic at times but in a great way. They showed how serious people can be about something not very serious. One reason why I think they're funny is because I know people who are obsessed about their pets and also I've been in a number of community plays and they are that serious about it.
They think they're the best, negating that there are billions of people in the world. But A Mighty Wind neglects what Christopher Guest has done before: it creates a real drama. Yes, there are the funny Folksmen and zany New Mainstreet Singers, but Mitch and Mickey aren't really funny: they're poignant. Mitch's formerly overdosed brain is hilarious, yes and the way he is out of touch with the world sends a person into a state of giggles (plus that hair) but when he and Mickey begin to feel the pangs of lost love. Instead of going for the gusto and ending up in bed (as many films do) their love is underlying and questionable: should they get back together or should they stay apart? Mickey has gone on with her life, has a husband now whom she is devoted to and has given up on that life before but Mitch maybe still holds onto that dream. They don't jump the gun, they skirt around it, questioning it, wondering about it and finally deciding that maybe it would be best if they didn't relive those former passionate days. Of course if other actors would have played the parts and if their had been a script I don't think it would be as passionate, real and truly bittersweet as Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy made it. When Catherine looks at Eugene as they sing one wonders what they must have felt during their SCTV days, maybe not love, but a bond that true friendship forms, a friend love affair. It exudes itself so well on screen that when they do have a brief kiss tears will flow. In that sense the whole film was pulled off so well. Even if they would have not have gotten back together, but had more than the stage kiss I think the film would have dropped in its true to life telling and certainly its tragic love story. The film as a whole is wonderful with brilliantly odd ideas and characters, but the fact that Christopher Guest let Catherine and Eugene create Mitch and Mickey and give them the path they lead in the film started a new road for the cast. If they had not had the humour of Mitch or really of any characters, the heart break of M&M would have been too great. The whole atmosphere of the film works and I hope that Christopher Guest will do the next with the next Chris Guest and Co. film. True talent does not have to lie in the background music or in an explosive setting where a ship sinks and tragedy lies overhead. It lies in the actors and their ability to rely on another and this team makes it work effortlessly (and their ability to learn instruments, sing and compose). And kudos to Jim Piddock and Ed Begley, jr. for adding just a touch of authenticity and sheer insanity to their characters. I will never look at catheters or my Swedish family in the same way. If I had to rate it, of course I would give it **** out of ****.