So here’s something unusual: it seems I have writer’s block. That is why there has been a bit of a lag in my usual regular posting. Every time I sit down to write I end up averting my eyes from Word and lamely clicking around on the internet. To be fair, there has been some hugely amusing stuff out there lately, but nothing so interesting as to justify me becoming unable to casually barf out some snark about film and post it without actually editing, as I usually do.
Maybe this aversion to writing is a result of the movie I have been trying to write about, which was so odd I’m not even sure there’s any point in trying to describe it. I watched The Tin Drum, as far as I can gather is pretty much an essay in uncomfortable situations. The story is about a three year old boy in WWI-WWII era Germany who decides not to grow up. However, not growing up doesn’t stop him from having sex with people, being hell bent on destroying various precious objects, and being generally depraved no matter what the situation.
I actually really admired The Tin Drum for its sheer audacity in presenting these explicit situations of violence, abjection, and sexuality candidly. I also was extremely impressed by Angela Winkler’s performance as the mother of the weird-o perpetual toddler. I think the scenes when she goes blank and shoves preserved fish in her mouth are brilliant.
The main issue that I take with the film is that I couldn’t really figure out what the whole thing was supposed to mean. A lot of the time when you have an unusual or fantasy-ish storyline and it’s historically located in a really specific iconic period it means that the storytellers behind it are trying to construct some sort of metaphor that relates to an overarching moral or theme. For the life of me I could not figure out what the hell this bizarro tale was supposed to be saying.
Despite my own intellectual failings I still enjoyed the movie overall. A definite recommendation for anyone who likes to indulge in the darker side of cinema, with the added bonus of getting to watch the forest fairy named Gump from Legend (1985) get busy with his sixteen year old nanny.
Up Next:
Up in the Air
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Staying 3 years old but partaking in the pleasures and depravities of adulthood? He's just trying to avoid the draft, duh.
ReplyDeleteOr, Hitler was an overgrown child.
And I'm excited to see what you thought of Up In the Air, since if you hated it I'll feel like I owe you 8-11 dollars (if you paid more than $11 that's your own fault).