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Passion
Jul 8, 2013 19:38:38 GMT -5
Post by kinglear on Jul 8, 2013 19:38:38 GMT -5
I've only seen "Passion" once, but I remember when Christine was walking out of her house, she wouldn't step on the cracks, as if she were superstitious. She also wore that crucifix in another scene, which she seems to wear to keep her own demons away. I definitely think Christine might have mild OCD; she lives to control.
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Passion
Jul 4, 2013 23:53:55 GMT -5
Post by kinglear on Jul 4, 2013 23:53:55 GMT -5
The "wants to become her" part is the essence of it to me. The persona of Christine makes people want to be her. There's something very attractive about leading a staff while dressed impeccably, then when she goes home, she has lavish dinner parties. It's being in control of one's life.
Christine and Isabelle are very much like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford: Christine is Bette and Isabelle is Joan Crawford. It's a case of the peasant trying to replace the queen. And like Bette Davis, Christine exudes male energy; from the strap-ons in her sex toy drawer to the phallic jewelry she wears and other symbols (liquor bottle).
The Joan Crawford connection to Isabelle is at its most visual when Isabelle laughs like a face-saving Joan, her face so tight it looks like someone pulling her face, as if she was a puppet.
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Passion
Jul 3, 2013 21:12:48 GMT -5
Post by kinglear on Jul 3, 2013 21:12:48 GMT -5
I watched "Passion" on YouTube the other night and the one thing that stood out the most to me was the film continues De Palma's tradition of having persona spread like a disease. The persona of Christine drives the film and changes the lives of the characters around her. Her persona is a brand she sells excellently. She treats everything and everyone like objects, even her own face which she immortalizes in the form of a mask for sex.
The scene of Christine and Isabelle staring at a computer screen brings to mind a scene in "Dressed to Kill": Peter Miller (Keith Gordon) and Liz Blake (Nancy Allen) looking at the TV screen that shows the camera footage Peter captured on the gadget he created. Isabelle is very much the inventive nerd like Peter and Christine is very much like Liz the beautiful prostitute; both couples are an unlikely pair.
This scene of two women watching a computer screen is repeated in the film, as is the act of laughing: Isabelle laughs genuinely at the beginning, but then tries to replicate the laugh later, but it's a clenched, forced version of its former self. De Palma shows one thing and then comments on that thing by reenacting it to reveal something new about it.
Oh yes, and those shadows, even during the "daytime" had me off balance. I kept thinking "I know this is supposed to be during the day, but it's soooo dark." LOL
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Post by kinglear on Jun 23, 2013 11:29:26 GMT -5
I saw "Casualties of War" twice recently within a week, and I had an even stronger reaction to it the second viewing. I got teary-eyed both times I saw the film. I reacted so strongly because of the nightmare environment of the film. Of course, I know the film can't even touch what the real Vietnam was like, but all I know is the film had a nightmarish atmosphere. I think "Casualties of War" has what most De Palma films share: a protagonist who follows the rules and eventually finds out that sometimes the rules must be broken in order to survive the world.
"Casualties of War" also informs "Dressed to Kill" because the protagonist Peter Miller's father was killed in Vietnam; seeing "Casualties" makes me imagine Peter's father in the nightmarish environment of "Casualties." "Dressed to Kill" shows that there's another war going on on U.S. soil in the 1980s New York City, where disease derived from sex and the death that those things lead to.
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Post by kinglear on Apr 5, 2013 19:58:54 GMT -5
My feelings have pretty much mirrored yours, although I'm not sure it has huge hit potential because of the child abuse theme.. And I don't know if Pacino is a box office guarantee anymore. But the more I've read about the project, the more excited I get.. But for it to be a big hit it has to focus more on the football etc., and De Palma is known for not pulling any punches, and doing exactly the film he wants to do ( Snake Eyes, Passion, etc.) even when a more commercial route seemed probable. But I'm definitely excited about it; not to mention the unnamed autobiocraphical on-set picture - how about that one? ;D Yeah, audiences love sports movies. What fascinates me the most is De Palma's quote about how he always wanted to use the iconic terror-in-the-shower scene from "Psycho" and use it as a symbol of a private, safe place violated; that image is already in seared in my head. I agree that Pacino's box office appeal is questionable but I'm curious of who his co-stars will be.
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Post by kinglear on Apr 5, 2013 14:37:44 GMT -5
Jenny in "Raising Cain" with her daughter Amy. I've watched the film 3 times and it never gets old, mainly because De Palma invites the audience to play his game. I remember David Denby wrote in his 1992 review of "Raising Cain" that the film will give the audience a high that Hollywood movies featuring traditional narrative structure won't; that's exactly why watching the film never gets old because I feel like an active participant in the film. One thing I noticed in "Raising Cain" as well as many De Palma films, the female fantasy is often interrupted by a male or a phallus. I also get off on the fact that De Palma takes a Marion Crane-type character (from "Psycho" just in case you didn't know) Jenny and SPOILER!!! proposes what if she lived to fight for her happy ending. I've always been fascinated with second chances and getting a chance to right a wrong. Clearly, it's one of De Palma's obsessions. One more thing, it doesn't matter if some of the second chances are logically questionable, because the simple act of seeing something makes it work on a visceral level. If you see it, in a sense you can believe it. At least that's how it is with De Palma.
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Post by kinglear on Nov 27, 2012 22:34:31 GMT -5
The second half gets really interesting but I think the film loses of a bit of focus. Again, I need to re-see it to clarify where dreams start and end... and start up again. I won't give away the ending except to say that it was so similar to Dressed to Kill that it made me slightly uncomfortable. Was it a parody? There's certainly a twist. But even the Pino Donaggio score (which I loved overall) employed the same music cues from Dressed to Kill. I think the film owes a lot not just to Love Crime, on which it was based, but also to Robert Altman's 3 Women. If you haven't seen that film, check in out! In this clip www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P66qd-Z4YQ&feature=player_embedded the ending credits score sounds very similar to the score in "Dressed to Kill." Towards the very end of this clip I even hear identical notes from the "Dressed to Kill" soundtrack, right at the 3:07 mark in this video clip. It's one of those self-reflexive "wink wink" moments. I saw "3 Women" a few years ago and it was horror and comedy at the same time. I haven't seen "Passion," but I think 3 Women is signifcant in the sense of people trying on each other's identities and the ever-present thing called possession. It's funny, I wonder if the movie "Christine" based on the Stephen King novel and starring Keith Gordon ever entered De Palma's mind in relation to the character Christine. I know Christine was also in the original "Love Crime," but the theme of possession. The book and film "Christine" is about a hot car that takes possession of a teen. Maybe that's just me reaching too far. LOL Also, dare I say the connection to "3 Women" relates to the fact that Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace are playing against type just as Sissy Spacek's midfilm switch to a mean girl in "3 Women" is Sissy playing against type, just as Christine sees herself in Isabelle and Isabelle sees herself in Christine. Ok, yeah I'm obsessed.
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Post by kinglear on Nov 27, 2012 22:11:22 GMT -5
Hi everyone. I'll admit it, I'm obsessed with "Passion" and I haven't even seen it yet. I want to spread the word about film and so I invite you to join my Facebook page for "Passion." www.facebook.com/backstabbingbusinessIt's the only page for "Passion" on Facebook, so it's a first. lol The page is full of pics and growing and interesting descriptions that go along with the pic. Also, please press the "like" button on the page. The more "likes" the better. Thanks
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