POSSIBLE SPOILERS - BEWARE
I will not bother repeating what others have said so well about this movie. The two things that struck me in particular about this movie were (1) the surprisingly graphic references (for its time) and (2) the amazing similarity of a 39 year old movie to things that went on in my late nineties life. I was surprised that the movie makers were allowed to be as candid as they were back in 1962. For example, Kirstin holding her breasts and telling her husband she can't drink because she is nursing. But the most astonishing scene was when in a drunken stupor she slips into her father's bed and tries to seduce him! Nobody talks much about that scene when discussing this movie. Maybe because it is too painful to fathom, the fact that one could lose that much control on alcohol. Are there any other movies about alcoholism that feature such a scene? I was in a marriage that had basically the same trajectory as the Clay marriage (no kids fortunately) except that alcohol was not the only partner (ahem). Seeing this movie made me see very clearly that alcohol and people never really change, regardless of any advances on behalf of the human race we make on the way. One last thing: I believe this was one of the first movies to make use of one of my favorite cinematic devices, that in which cartoons are playing on a television in the background of a scene in order to convey the insanity of the situation. It is put to good use particularly the second time when Joe finds his wife in a seedy motel room and the picture is completely distorted. "12 Monkeys," "The Twilight Zone," and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" used this trick but, pray tell, are there any early, early movies
I will not bother repeating what others have said so well about this movie. The two things that struck me in particular about this movie were (1) the surprisingly graphic references (for its time) and (2) the amazing similarity of a 39 year old movie to things that went on in my late nineties life. I was surprised that the movie makers were allowed to be as candid as they were back in 1962. For example, Kirstin holding her breasts and telling her husband she can't drink because she is nursing. But the most astonishing scene was when in a drunken stupor she slips into her father's bed and tries to seduce him! Nobody talks much about that scene when discussing this movie. Maybe because it is too painful to fathom, the fact that one could lose that much control on alcohol. Are there any other movies about alcoholism that feature such a scene? I was in a marriage that had basically the same trajectory as the Clay marriage (no kids fortunately) except that alcohol was not the only partner (ahem). Seeing this movie made me see very clearly that alcohol and people never really change, regardless of any advances on behalf of the human race we make on the way. One last thing: I believe this was one of the first movies to make use of one of my favorite cinematic devices, that in which cartoons are playing on a television in the background of a scene in order to convey the insanity of the situation. It is put to good use particularly the second time when Joe finds his wife in a seedy motel room and the picture is completely distorted. "12 Monkeys," "The Twilight Zone," and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" used this trick but, pray tell, are there any early, early movies