When making small talk, most of what people say should fall by the wayside after all, we are just making small talk. Someone may recommend a book or movie which, months later, will come to me when I'm sitting in front of a computer, so I go ahead and order it even though I don't remember the context of the conversation.
I watched Michael Collins, a film I sure to recommended by someone but I can't for the life of me remember who; if it was you, thanks! I find random recommendations often work out and this is no exception.
It's essentially about the first peace treaty between the British Empire and Ireland. How the Irish fought for a republic but got a 'free state' which some say was the start of all the troubles with the fighters breaking into the Irish free state army and what will go on to become the IRA. Like all movies that take a historical figure as the central character, the role is somewhat romanticised. Certain aspects and actions are omitted and artistic license is take over other aspects. This is all well and good so long as people realise that this is what they do in the movies, they make the heroes guys good and the villains bad, there's very little gray when it comes to public mass consumption.
This line between screen and reality isn't always respected, the bird man of Alcatraz was a classic example of this. People were rallying for his release after reading the book or watching the film, whereas anyone who had actually met the guy would outright say he should never be released, he was a drug addict and a dangerous man.
Elliot Ness may have been incorruptible but there was no mention in De Palma's movie about his drinking habits or his constant cheating on his wife. 'Henry Hill' was a gangster who sold out everyone around him, not for justice, but to save his own skin but in Wiseguys the book or Goodfellas the movie, he can do no wrong.
People (even great people in history) are flawed, that's what makes them human but in art, literature and film this is rarely ever seen; I'm not saying this is a bad thing, perfection in art is fine, so long as you appreciate that what you are seeing is not real....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I have never heard of the movie you mentioned, but I do agree with your expressed sentiment.
I watched this Spike Lee promotional interview for his new WWII movie, 'Miracle at St. Anna'. In the interview, he mentioned, unlike the majority of the movies where the SS (or any historical "bad guys"), in this film, the Nazi soldiers are actually shown to have positive traits. As Spike Lee pointed out, not all Nazis were pure evil, and history is not all black or white.
Thanks for that, I do like Spike Lee.
I would recommend watching it, there are some great performances...
It definitely wasn't me, because that's the Mixster's real name!
Oh, the Mixster. Ahem.
What are the odds? I've never linked the name Mick to Micheal, it seems quite obvious that one is a shorted nickname or the other but it still surprises me when I find out a Mick's name is Micheal or that Andy is short for Andrew, I know, it's a bit dim of me...
Post a Comment