Quote:
Originally Posted by Ro
I've seen this one three times. The first time because I heard it was a must-see classic, but was not yet as learned in the art of cinema as I am today. Verdict --> bleh. The second time I watched for a film class in Kelowna while we were studying film noir, and learned to appreciate it a little more. But I was still underwhelmed. I had it arrive via Zip a few months and gave it another shot, and was once again sorta bored.
It's not that it hasn't aged well, and the acting/directing are top notch. I think maybe the subject matter/surprise revelation was perhaps more shocking back in the 70's than it would be today, and that it didn't affect me as much as it would have if I had seen it as a young man growing up back then? I dunno. Noir is a great genre, but this one was sorta like Miller's Crossing to me, a film from a brilliant director that is well respected and admired, but that I just didn't find all that engaging, and therefore didn't enjoy all that much. I dunno. Sorry for slagging your pick Octo.  For the record, The Royal Tenenbaums is also one of my favorite movies.  |
Yeah, for me the twist isn't really shocking, there's definitely other more recent movies that use the same twist and probably use it to better effect (I won't say what movies, as that would give the twist away). But for me, this movie is mostly about the script: the dialogue just pops, and what could be a very convoluted story is delivered at a quick pace; and the scope of it is great: most noir films focus on fairly small-time crime plots or maybe at most, police force corruption. But in telling the story of the creation of LA's water-system, there's a fascinating slice of history in this movie, as well, with characters loosely based on actual LA historical figures like Mulholland. I'm not really a fan of Nicholson or Dunaway overall, and there's one or two other Polanski films that I enjoy, but I wouldn't count him among my favorite directors. Yet this film just sticks in my head. And I don't mind you slagging my pick, I'm happy to defend it.