The Goods: Film Reviews
The screenplay is unfortunately quite a bit prosaic. None of the characterization is strong enough for us to really buy into the romance or Hepburn’s self-discovery.
But the footage of Venice in over-saturated Technicolor? Holy moley. I fell in love with the city all over again. Lean captures it with an intoxicating, almost delirious, beauty. *nostalgic sigh*
Perhaps a bit too generous towards its characters and indulgent in its runtime, but goddamn what a movie. The acting, the extended flowing shots, the use of sound (firecrackers!), the sprawling ensemble… this is cinema at its most robust and vibrant, and I’m here for it.
“There’s something so crass about a movie constructed entirely around selling toys”
From the podcast recording: “I wanted to be fond of it, because there are lots of things on the surface level I want to root for, and maybe kind of like, but none of it actually pulls through. “
Still a biopic with too many biopic-y moments. But it’s David Lynch so there’s plenty of weirdness, dual-sided themes, and moral grayness. (Though it is the most conventional Lynch I’ve seen.) Looks amazing, sounds brilliant (Lynch was the sound engineer, too!).
The makeup/prosthesis is masterpiece-level, and John Hurt is phenomenal underneath it, too. Observing a person gradually emerge from something that looks so viscerally grotesque is the film’s greatest strength.
What a delight. Chaplin in fine form, with one sketch after another that plays to the setting well. (A high-wire monkey attack is, in particular, chaotic perfection.) There’s also a strong undercurrent of reflection on the life of performer and authenticity in entertainment, and an ending unusually bittersweet for early/mid-Chaplin.
“It’s fire, it’s freedom, it’s flooding open”
There should be more big budget original non-animated musicals
Reviewed on The Goods: A Film Podcast during Circus Month
Reviewed on The Goods here.
