mystic river

[lapietra]

Anyone else see it? Brilliant. So many different levels...

What do *you* think it was about?

[NimbleMarmoset]

i dunno. . . mating season?

[bealeblues]

i don't know about mystic river, but i know what 'whiskey river' is all about

[rmr]

^^ i now about that one to

did i tell you i saw merle haggard in concert

[bealeblues]

GET OUT!

i bet that kicked all kinds of ass. probably some decent smoke going 'round too....

[lapietra]

My last acting teacher saw it loooong before I did, and said it made her think of Greek tragedy. So I was kind of prepped to see symbolism, people as metaphors for roles... I was thinking, the scary guy in the beginning, he was Fate, or Chaos, or maybe both. I was trying to see into the car, and couldn't see anything... I think maybe the three boys and the three men were symbols for things too... The Tim Robbins character, he was Victim. He evaded his role for awhile, but in the end, he couldn't escape it. The other two, Cop and Criminal. That's who they grew up to be. Fate made it so. I wonder who the priest guy was supposed to be.
The real world doesn't have such cut-and-dried roles...

[lapietra]

^^ i now about that one to

did i tell you i saw merle haggard in concert

Get the **** out of my thread if you're not going to discuss Mystic River.

[lapietra]

I thought at first, maybe, I dunno, God... sitting there watching, not really doing anything... I don't think those men were really cops. They weren't wearing uniforms, and they weren't in a police car - they were just two men in a black car with something obscure in the back seat, something that filled the young boys with dread. I felt a real shock of fear go through me when I looked into that dark back seat. Damn good directing.

[lapietra]

Ooo! and the end! the tattoo... and Laura Linney's character's reaction to what happened... it put everything in this Shakespearean context, but in a really twisted and wrong way...

[lapietra]

The perpetuation of ugliness... maybe trying to explain why there is ugliness in the world?

[dinzdale]

I enjoyed (if that is the right word) the film. Very well deserved awards.
But Sean Penn was even better in 21 Grams.

[lapietra]

I still haven't seen that! He's been working a lot lately :)
Hi Dinz :D

So what do you think it was about? Did you see any symbolism?

[dinzdale]

Sybolism....I'm not sure I get your drift.

It was very dark, and the evil we think we know (the obvious child molestation) and the "evil men" was mixed in with all the other "really bad" things.

I didnt understand any real hope in the film, and Kevin Bacon's pregnant wife flew over my head with a clunk....but I still was fascinated by the portrayal of the secrets and lies holding everyone together.

[lapietra]

I agree. I think one of the weirdest things was that it seems to be a happy ending for so many people *in the movie*, although some lives are destroyed in the process. There are few movies that I feel compelled to see again to try to figure them out - this is one of them :)

[dinzdale]

Clint really knows how to make them though.

[lapietra]

I agree... Wow - so are you saying you liked "Bridges of Madison County"? :D :p

[dinzdale]

Didnt see it.

I loved the Unforgiven.

[lapietra]

Perfect movie for its genre... yeah, he really keeps getting better and better :) Wonder what he's got in the works...

[dinzdale]

Half a burrito and a glass of chianti....Oh! I'm sorry, you meant in films..

I think he's making the story of a jewsih guy in WWII who is only 1 foot tall and plays the piano.....tentative title "The 12 inch Pianist" :)

[lapietra]

Half a burrito and a glass of chianti....Oh! I'm sorry, you meant in films..

I think he's making the story of a jewsih guy in WWII who is only 1 foot tall and plays the piano.....tentative title "The 12 inch Pianist" :)

:p

[Klynne]

I think it was a brilliant movie (it closely followed the book) It has been a long time since I have seen a movie that had me emotionally involved.

[sparticle]

I liked it. The characters had sufficient complexity to be empathetic and believable, and the time and locale were authentically portrayed. Not a feelgood movie, not meant to be, but well-crafted. I haven't read the book, and usually I like to before I see any "based on" movie.

[smellyrayzin]

I enjoyed (if that is the right word) the film. Very well deserved awards.
But Sean Penn was even better in 21 Grams.

i totally agree
mystic river was great, but 21 grams is one of my all time favorite movies.

[Zaftig]

I haven't seen it yet. I have seen Mystic Pizza, filmed in my home state. . . but that's not the topic. :D I put Bjorn through watching "The Notebook" and "Shall We Dance" so I've been giving him a break. . . I actually had no clue what Mystic River was about until I just watched the trailer. I'll put it on my list of movies.

I did jump in here to just add that I love "Bridges of Madison County."

[Hyakujo's Fox]

I was left wondering over the meaning of that last little gesture made from one side of the parade to the other.

[Brynn]

I seem to remember a kind of tacit agreement between Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn - was that the gesture you're referring to?
I thought the ending was amazing - it was if they both decided to drop it. They understood that the Tim Robbins character was the sacrifice needed to bring closure for them themselves. All three boys were victims of the men in the car - the boys who didn't get in the car paid for it anyway in years of guilt, which was intensified by Robbins' presence in their lives.

I took that whole parade thing at the end as a kind of relief for them. Killing the tormented Tim Robbins character was, in the larger picture, ultimately an act of mercy - and the Kevin Bacon character recognized that - if not on a conscious level, then on a cosmic level. Eastwood went on the explore this theme of mercy killing in "Million Dollar Baby."
I was most intrigued by the Lady Macbeth-type figure in Laura Linney's character. She was the ultimate survivor. She knew that she had to keep the sole provider and father of her children from falling apart. It would have been almost admirable except for the cold, brilliant twist she gave her performance. There was such victory in her face - she's rid of a stepdaughter who had been competing for resources and love.
That they made love on his dead daughter's bed was absolutely chilling - and yes, highly symbolic! They were cementing a kind of new covenant of secrecy and intimacy together.

[lapietra]

I seem to remember a kind of tacit agreement between Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn - was that the gesture you're referring to?
I thought the ending was amazing - it was if they both decided to drop it. They understood that the Tim Robbins character was the sacrifice needed to bring closure for them themselves. All three boys were victims of the men in the car - the boys who didn't get in the car paid for it anyway in years of guilt, which was intensified by Robbins' presence in their lives.

I took that whole parade thing at the end as a kind of relief for them. Killing the tormented Tim Robbins character was, in the larger picture, ultimately an act of mercy - and the Kevin Bacon character recognized that - if not on a conscious level, then on a cosmic level. Eastwood went on the explore this theme of mercy killing in "Million Dollar Baby."
I was most intrigued by the Lady Macbeth-type figure in Laura Linney's character. She was the ultimate survivor. She knew that she had to keep the sole provider and father of her children from falling apart. It would have been almost admirable except for the cold, brilliant twist she gave her performance. There was such victory in her face - she's rid of a stepdaughter who had been competing for resources and love.
That they made love on his dead daughter's bed was absolutely chilling - and yes, highly symbolic! They were cementing a kind of new covenant of secrecy and intimacy together.

Thanks for this! You noticed a lot of things I hadn't - I'll be sure to remember when I watch it again. And I had forgotten that he just made "Million Dollar Baby" - I need to see that.

[Gatsby]

I really like Laura Linney. She was good in "The Mothman Prophesies," and OMG, "The Life of David Gale."

But speaking of being emotionally involved in a movie, I was exhausted by the end of "Cold Mountain." Jaysus.

[lapietra]

I really like Laura Linney. She was good in "The Mothman Prophesies," and OMG, "The Life of David Gale."

But speaking of being emotionally involved in a movie, I was exhausted by the end of "Cold Mountain." Jaysus.

I enjoyed "Cold Mountain" very much, until the end, when they finally see each other, and they get it on, and even though they've been through hell apart, they're all, you know, clean and pretty and smooth. Hollywood is so perverse... I kept thinking of the scene in "The Crucible" when Joan Allen's character meets up with Daniel Day Lewis's character in prison, and his teeth are all grody because he hasn't been given an opportunity to clean himself (thanks to D. D. L.'s attention to detail) and Joan Allen kisses him passionately (well, pilgrim-passionately) and at first I felt kind of disgusted - and then I thought, "She *LOVES* him!!!* It really underlined the love they had for each other. Pretty unforgettable.