Well, the film fest at my apartment has not yet ended. Yesterday, I saw SCOTLAND, PA. This movie is a "modernization" of Shakespeare's MacBeth. I used the " " marks around the movie title because it seems like everything nowadays is either a remake or a modernization.
I have read MacBeth once in my life. I had to recite some lines for it in front of my class: "Out out, brief candle...life is a stage...poor players strut upon." That's all I recall. I also remember Lady MacBeth being OBSESSED with the "blood" on her hands. that's IT- it is amazing how you could put so much time into reading a book and then, later on, only remember a few details. Another book I recall: A Separate Peace. All I recall from that book is that a teenaged boy falls from a tree.
Back to Scotland, PA. The movie is set in rural PA in the 1970s... Joe and Pat "Mc"Beth work as underpaid employees at a fast food joint. This is the early 70s so it isn't like there is a Mcdonald's, Wendys, and Taco Bell on every corner- fast food was still kind of new and hip. Joe has all of these great ideas for the fast food joint [a free fry truck where people can sample the fries and get "hooked]. His boss doesn't really care... Pat and Joe kill their boss [a clever death scene involving fries and grease] and then somehow, by a twist of fate, inherit the fast food joint. They name it McBeth's. An investigation ensues. Pat is obsessed with a burn on her hand. There is a Tony "Banquo" Banconi in the movie too. The parallels to Shakespeare's McBeth are awesome! Awesome is not a spectacular adjective but it works for this movie...
I think that students would enjoy seeing clips of this movie, paired beside the Shakespeare text. Every teen [well, except for the spoiled ones] can relate to working a crummy job and feeling like you're not going to get ahead. And everything else in the movie- let's hope they don't "connect" to it.
Modernizations are so fun. The modernization of Hamlet from a few years ago was pretty good too...(with Kyle MacLachlan and Ethan Hawke)... Hawke, as Hamlet, gives the "To be or not to be" speech amidst the aisles of a Blockbuster video store!
I obviously respect the original texts and think that Shakespeare [and "others"?] was an amazing playwright--- the writers who can take that text and modernize it are just as amazing.
I was checking out reviews on RottenTomatoes.com -whatever I like, most people dislike and whatever most people I like...you can fill in the blank. I ran across this ridiculous quotation:
"I enjoyed the movie in a superficial way, while never sure what its purpose was."
[Roger Ebert, Chicago-Sun Times].
I'll end this post with this question: Do movies have to have a point?
1 comment:
Great question, Michelle! ... When you think of all the resources that go into making a movie, and the cost to the viewer to see it, I think there's an unwritten social covenant that it has to be "worth it." I guess that would be the "point" I would want every film to make. To justify its cost. (I guess I keep going back to Coles' sense of moral responsibility. Maybe especially with how blamed films have been for sparking violence, I think there's a moral imperative for filmmakers, not just teachers and authors.)
Personally, I like to pay money to see something that has a positive point... If not deeply uplifting or thought-provoking, at least entertaining--mindlessly, simply, humorously entertaining. In the crazy world we live in, escaping into a carefree world for a time can be point enough, don't you think?
You'll laugh at this. As undergrad engaged couple at MSU saving every meagre cent we made for our wedding, my husband & I couldn't afford the price of a movie ticket. So, we took as an English elective a "Film in Society" course! Got to see "free" movies every week--even if they were the greatest, not the latest! What an eye-opening experience. Truly, I have never looked at a film in the same way.
When I was doing the adolescent case study research, I read that there is a danger in bringing into the classroom and "academicizing"(my word) what kids enjoy for pure recreation. Kids don't want to have to "think" about things that they see as pure enjoyment. Fortunately, the film course ADDED to my enjoyment of watching films.
From the speech & theatre dept. of MSU, I think there is a degree or certificate program in film. Sounds from your blogs as if film is something you'd enjoy plunging into more deeply. KEEP ENJOYING THOSE MOVIES!!! You are such a beautiful writer, as well as sensitive thinker, maybe it is writing film scripts that you're destined to do! :) I'll be looking for your screen credits!
Post a Comment