Subject
Re: American Beauty (fwd)
Date
Body
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I don't know. Comparisons with Lolita seem a little
forced, except perhaps in the details. The decency of Lester's response
when the object of his desire is finally within reach suggests -- to me at
least -- that he has little resemblance to the predatory HH, whose initial
diffidence seems to have more to do with fear than decency, and whose
remorse comes a little late in the novel for all concerned.
A little off topic, perhaps, but did any of you read the piece Michael
Wood wrote in a recent NYR about Kubrick? I have a high regard for Wood,
as a rule, but could not find any merit in his remarks this time. What
*can* it mean to be a "master of the obvious"? And why does he find
problematic scenes such as the tracking shot along the trench in "Paths of
Glory", scenes which cause the viewer no difficulty at all? Is the added
scene in _Lolita_, in which HH confronts Quilty as a cigarette-smoking
psychiatrist sitting in the dark, either obvious or problematic? I'd
settle for "bloody marvellous" myself.
Cheers,
Wayne Daniels
I don't know. Comparisons with Lolita seem a little
forced, except perhaps in the details. The decency of Lester's response
when the object of his desire is finally within reach suggests -- to me at
least -- that he has little resemblance to the predatory HH, whose initial
diffidence seems to have more to do with fear than decency, and whose
remorse comes a little late in the novel for all concerned.
A little off topic, perhaps, but did any of you read the piece Michael
Wood wrote in a recent NYR about Kubrick? I have a high regard for Wood,
as a rule, but could not find any merit in his remarks this time. What
*can* it mean to be a "master of the obvious"? And why does he find
problematic scenes such as the tracking shot along the trench in "Paths of
Glory", scenes which cause the viewer no difficulty at all? Is the added
scene in _Lolita_, in which HH confronts Quilty as a cigarette-smoking
psychiatrist sitting in the dark, either obvious or problematic? I'd
settle for "bloody marvellous" myself.
Cheers,
Wayne Daniels