I try not to compare apples and oranges, but occasionally am driven to it. Last night I watched Martin Scorcese's Shutter Island, an overlong cinematic puzzle jammed with references, a jumbled encyclopedia drawn up from it's director's lifelong adoration of the movies, a film that doubles back upon itself, a film at odds with it's comic asides and serious overtones (i.e. Nazi Death Camps). I found much of it admirable, more of it a chore to experience.
Three On A Weekend, also known as Bank Holiday is a remarkable document to come out of an England preparing for war with Germany in the not too distant future, an early lark from master director Carol Reed (The Third Man), a film that begins in a hospital with a melodramatic event, then churned into the lives of several groups of people who are jammed into holiday trains ending up at the seaside.
I found the one film so sincere in intent, so clear in execution, and felt with such fondness for the peculiarities of the human condition, that after a long, long night of immersion in the twisted labyrinth of Shutter Island and into the frenzied mind of Leonardo DiCaprio as he copes with his own sanity, that this simple trip to the beach (in black and white) and dealing with the romantic and social dilemmas faced by the average man was an entertaining relief; it was so clear that there would be changes, and not all of them simple- minded.
And that, I suppose is my point. Occasionally I weary of repeatedly bludgeoned with gore, visually assaulted with violent behavior, and mystified by unclear motivations; such an approach may be modern, but now and then I miss the spell of simple entertainment in a story of people I can care about. That's what Three On A Weekend delivered in spades, and that's why I recommended it.
Three On A Weekend, also known as Bank Holiday is a remarkable document to come out of an England preparing for war with Germany in the not too distant future, an early lark from master director Carol Reed (The Third Man), a film that begins in a hospital with a melodramatic event, then churned into the lives of several groups of people who are jammed into holiday trains ending up at the seaside.
I found the one film so sincere in intent, so clear in execution, and felt with such fondness for the peculiarities of the human condition, that after a long, long night of immersion in the twisted labyrinth of Shutter Island and into the frenzied mind of Leonardo DiCaprio as he copes with his own sanity, that this simple trip to the beach (in black and white) and dealing with the romantic and social dilemmas faced by the average man was an entertaining relief; it was so clear that there would be changes, and not all of them simple- minded.
And that, I suppose is my point. Occasionally I weary of repeatedly bludgeoned with gore, visually assaulted with violent behavior, and mystified by unclear motivations; such an approach may be modern, but now and then I miss the spell of simple entertainment in a story of people I can care about. That's what Three On A Weekend delivered in spades, and that's why I recommended it.