4 Films in One Day ("Like Crazy" is One of my Favorites Now)
Film 206
"Shooter"
starring: Mark Wahlberg, Kate Mara, Danny Glover
directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Mark Wahlberg is definitely a man's man, sort of in the same vein as John Wayne (except Wahlberg has ventured into different film genres, like comedies). And in case you forgot that (or you still have fond or not so fond memories of his past re: Marky Mark days) here's a testosterone-fueled film of his that will remind you that he could kick anyone's ass. His character treats his own wounds with makeshift devices that he must have learned in the military that he has gone rogue from. He's on the run from the law, from the government which has set him up to take the fall for an attempted assassination on the President of the United States- which inside-government officials actually orchestrated themselves. They were just looking for a fall guy; and Wahlberg's character stands out as an excellent, if not the best, sharpshooter (re: sniper) who has decided to live as much off the grid as he can (re: in the woods, alone, with his dog).
"Shooter" packs in some excellent action sequences, I mean, just the beginning alone is enough to hook you into the film (unfortunately there are holes scattered throughout the film that make it seem to drag on for the 2+ hours that it runs). Wahlberg plays Bob Lee Swagger (what a redneck, yet badass name), and in that opening scene he ends up taking on a small militia army in Africa on his own after things go awry, which sets up that he will be the untouchable hero, who will stop at nothing to do the "right thing."
Justice is the "right thing" here and director Anoine Fuqua plays two hands at the same time. He has created a film that plays out like a cheap knock-off of a Tom Clancy novel, where the government is bad and there are plenty of conspiracy theories to fill the plot holes. There's double-crossing. There's an Army widow (played by Kate Mara) who takes Swagger in because she has been left with a bad taste in her mouth towards the government, who lied to her about her Army husband's death. There's a low-level FBI agent looking to prove himself to his female boss, who gets in over his head on several occasions, but is ultimately one of the good guys who also wins, in the end.
Seeing that Antoine Fuqua directed this film intrigued me, because I've always thought his 2001 film, "Training Day" is one of the best films of my lifetime. In that film, he really mastered the art of corrupt cops and gang life, as well as drug trafficking. I see that epic film as the best one in his category, which also includes: "King Arthur" (too long and too epic, but still decent), "The Replacement Killers" (his first feature film), "Brooklyn's Finest" (another cop film), and most recently, "Olympus Has Fallen." He certainly hasn't shied away from political stances in his films. But, I think here, he sort of misses the mark, so to speak, because he layers on pretty thick the political implications and conspiracy theories that it all almost because a joke, especially in the climax of the film, when Swagger becomes more of a Rambo-figure than anything else, which is too bad because his character could've stood alone. Director Fuqua usually does well with keeping the action and pace of the film going, so that you don't get bored or lost in the plot, but here he definitely loses track of himself and story because of all the nuances he has to keep up with.
What we end up with is one guy (and a couple of allies) up against an oil and profits-obsessed government that is just as corrupt as perhaps we all already think/know it to be. It's almost like this could've been a prequel to the phenomenal oil-for-profits film "Syriana." The message we receive from the film, ultimately, is one that we'v already known for years. But, as an action film, I guess it works, another than the disappointing and almost laughable ending.
Might I suggest sticking with viewing "Training Day" if you haven't already, because Denzel Washington has never impressed me more than in that film as the baddest, badass, corrupt cop I've ever seen.
.................................................................
Film 207
"Sleepwalk with Me"
starring: Mike Birbiglia and Lauren Ambrose
written and directed by: Mike Birbiglia
Mike Birbiglia seems to be the Tim Thomas (Hockey reference for you) of the comedy world, because, if his "true story recollection" here is to be believed, he has certainly paid his dues and been kicked around a bit, only to come out on top, having garnered several appearances on Comedy Central, as well as cult status with his part on the NPR show "This American Life." Hell, he's even had a one-man show off-Broadway.
What is Birbiglia's charm? Perhaps it is his "relatability." He has a warmth about him and a sardonic self-awareness and just enough self-loathing to make you feel like you could be friends with him and not be annoyed by his constant talking about himself. He is the comedy world's Everyman. He is engaging (after many stumbles and falls) onstage during his routines, which we get a glimpse into at its supposed birth in his film "Sleepwalk with Me." Oh, and jut the title of the film is inviting. He wants you to come with him as he shows us sort of how he got to where he is now, without showing us all the glory. Hmm, maybe Kanye West should watch and take some notes on how to be humble.
The film plays like an autobiography with Birbiglia engaging with the audience by way of looking and talking directly at us, in his car. He tells us a true story, about his life, which he stresses, is true. So, please believe him, because perhaps he couldn't make this stuff up, even for comedy material. Besides, some of the best and funniest stuff comes from real life, as Birbiglia discovers about halfway through this all-too-short film, when he decides to start using his relationship and sleep issues as the mainframe for his stand-up material/routine. The other stuff just wasn't working because, well, it wasn't funny. It wasn't relatable. But, everyone has relationship problems. That stuff's a goldmine, and quite individualized, as well.
Not only do we get to see Birbiglia slowly make his rounds in the stand-up comedy world, because he travels from gig to gig, which his newly acquired agent (an older woman) gets him in small doses but which continually extend his time on the road, in his old beat up car (which ends up, inevitably, breaking down at one point in the pouring rain); but, we also get a glimpse into his relationship with his college girlfriend, 8 years into it, which has really lost its romance and passion. They, along with us the audience, are left to ponder "why are they together, if they are simply going through the motions with each other, and clearly happier when not in the presence of each other." His girlfriend, Abby, is played well by Lauren Ambrose (from "Six Feet Under" and "Can't Hardly Wait"). This is a film centered around Birbiglia and he's the one who needs to come to a realization- about his relationship and also about his sleeping disorder (he suffers from intense bouts of sleepwalking throughout the film, which are based on actual experiences, one involved running out a 2nd story window of a hotel, which wakes him up to his "problem"). Abby is really wondering, after 8 years, if their future together involves getting married. Birbiglia really doesn't want to get married, and his time out on the road doing gigs is almost his way out of the relationship and the bright red-neon sign blinking in front of him, warning him about his relationship. Lauren Ambrose comes off as endearing and sweet, quite understanding and patient, while her positions and views on marriage and kids and societal conventions shifts and she no longer sees things like Birbiglia. Meanwhile, Birbiglia is fighting with the contradictions of "adult life" (re: commitment and compromise, happiness and ambition, terror and pleasure. He must confront all of these personal and professional contradictions.
Why this film works so well is that it rests solely on the shoulders of Mike Birbiglia and he carries the weight perfectly well, with just enough "aw-shucks" modesty and self-doubt, that even when he should be a bad guy (he cheats on his girlfriend while on the road), he tells us to just wait it out and still be on his side, even after that incident, and you are. You still like him through the entire film and you want to see him succeed and to be happy, finally.
This is a great film that really grabs you from the beginning and keeps you with it.
.............................................................
Film 208
"Like Crazy"
starring: Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, and Jennifer Lawrence
This is an unbelievable film, one that I really wanted to catch in the theater when it came out, but I missed it. I was so glad to find it on Netflix. I have to be honest, though, I was expecting a completely different kind of film. Perhaps an easygoing romance-type of film. While watching it, and especially at the end, I felt like I'd been punched in the heart, because it was completely gripping. I loved it, though, for its unexpected nature. I mean, with a film titled "Like Crazy" and its two main characters being young, college-age students who fall in love, you expect something lighthearted and endearing. Something nice to redeem how you feel about love. While, it's certainly not "The Notebook" it reminded me of a couple of films: "Before Sunrise" (which actually focuses mainly on one specific encounter between two people meant to be together) and "Blue Valentine" (a gut-wrenching look at a couple's relationship and its down-slide).
The two actors: Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones have bright and promising futures as film stars just after this one film. I fell in love with Felicity Jones (if not simply for her beautiful British accent, also her smile and incredible eyes) from the first moment she is on the screen. I want her to find way more work here in the States.
So, the film. Well, it's a great compressed narrative of a young couple's relationship. Anna and Jacob first catch each other's eyes in class and you can tell they are both enamored with each other even though most of the scenes depicting their budding relationship are told with time-jumped cuts and montages. There are bits of dialogue that are straight to the point and do not need to be thought about or decontextualized, by the characters or the viewer. There are plenty of moments of tenderness, which comes with love. There are moments of (what could be) awkward silences as well; silences where the characters minds are definitely thinking. Much like "Before Sunrise" seemed almost impromptu and improvised, "Like Crazy" almost comes off the same way. But who gets the credit for that feeling? The director? The writers? Or the actors? It's a trifecta of great filmmaking.
Anna is a poetry-writing, creative-type, exchange student from London, in Los Angeles on a student visa (which runs out and she violates, which sets up some difficulties the couple has later on). Jacob is a local, a native, who designs furniture and sees a promising future in it.
Instead of focusing on all the typical new love and romance highlights of relationships, the director Drake Doremus, decides to skip all those parts and focuses on the intensity of their feelings for each other and the difficulty they have with being thrust into a long-distance relationship (because of Anna's decision to overstay her visa's welcome, she's not allowed back into the country and must stay in the U.K.).
The long-distance relationship helps each character lose their sugar-rush and love-induced energy as it becomes more and more a battle within themselves to hold on to each other, to remain committed to each other. They are both strong-willed and independently-minded individuals. They pursue their passions. Jacob continues to design furniture and Anna quickly climbs the ladder at a magazine to become Junior Editor. And the bizarre aspect to the film is that they each pursue other relationship during the intervals that they are apart. And apparently these relationships are just as fruitful (I guess, more so for the other individuals than for Anna or Jacob because they are constantly in the back of the other's mind) as their own. These separate relationships seemed to be borne more out of convenience than love or desire. Jennifer Lawrence turns up for a secondary role as Jacob's love interest and she, yet again, delivers an unbelievable performance, which just solidifies my belief that she is wise beyond her (acting) years.
By the end of the film, you are left to wonder if Anna and Jacob really, truly love each other or if they are simply yet another young couple stuck in a phase of infatuation that never subsides and so they think they need to be with each other.
This film blew me away and I almost have to watch it again, very soon, to see if I truly understand it. I loved this film, like I thought I would, but for completely different reasons than I thought going into it.
................................................
Film 209
"The Notorious Bettie Page"
starring: Gretchen Mol
Here's what I knew about Bettie Page before seeing this HBO-produced film- she was an American model in the 1950s who become (in)famously known as the Queen of Pin-Ups. She had striking features which included jet black hair and trademark bangs (which according to the film were suggested to her by a photographer in order to hide her large/high forehead, which she embraced), and striking blue eyes. Most of her work included pin-ups of a variety and fetish or bondage related photo sessions. She even did a few short films related to those subjects as well. She was one of the early Playmates of the Month for the budding pornographic magazine known as Playboy. She came from Nashville, Tennessee and was just as famous as Marilyn Monroe, in regards to the modeling world. Where Marilyn Monroe took her modeling success to Hollywood stardom, Bettie Page was more famous in a specialized market of pornography.
She quit modeling, rather quietly leaving the spotlight behind her, and in 1959 she converted to become an evangelical Christian. She worked for Billy Graham. She also suffered from severe depression, violent mood swings (hmm, Noami Campbell look-out, I guess, maybe it's in the modeling blood to have fits), and she ended up spending several years in a psychiatric hospital. She died rather quietly in 2008.
The HBO-produced bio-pic, ironically titled "The Notorious Bettie Page" taught me that she was a woman who knew herself and where she came from and never lost her cheerful demeanor. When she posed for photos she was largely unaffected by the content for which she was shooting under. She was always smiling and she knew that the camera loved her. She was giving her audience exactly what they wanted, from her. She was like a ray of sunshine in a rather dark, seedy underworld of pornography. This film does not necessarily focus on the notoriety of Bettie Page (more of the underground pornography world which was under a microscope of the government, because really one of the focus points in a trial for which pornography is involved in, which Bettie Page is set to testify in). Instead, the film looks to celebrate her as a human being. The human being behind the photos. It's not really HBO-status sexy or scandal-driven, which was a slight disappointment, because honestly, the film does not live up to its title, but it's still a decent look into a girl that used the modeling industry more than she let it use her. We are left to wonder, after the film, just who exactly the real Bettie Page was. Like any good actress or model- She remains a mystery to every onlooker. What we get are pieces to the puzzle. Bettie Page, it is suggested by the film, was not naive (like many of the young girls who enter the modeling industry nowadays or even back in the day). No, instead, she was just incapable of recognizing the depravity in a dark industry. She has a good time while she visits the modeling world, because she seems just as happy when she leaves it. One of the major pieces of the puzzle though comes from an early scene where we are led to believe she was gang-raped as a teenager (perhaps that's when she was naive), which prompted her to leave Nashville. She was a hurt girl looking for refuge and also just to be liked. It seems cliche that girls that enter the porn industry have a shady past where they were abused (physically and/or sexually).
The tone of the film is a times playful (when Page is modeling), as it should be and also subdued and very much reflective on the girl and her life. I think it was a great choice to film it in black and white (for about 90% of the film), with spurts of color, during her photo shoots. It's a very nostalgic film. And kudos to Gretchen Mol, who plays the young Bettie Page, for completely transforming herself to become almost unrecognizable as herself. She embodies Bettie Page in looks and attitude. I wonder if Gretchen Mol was as comfortable in her nude scenes as Bettie Page was in real life, when being photographed, because she certainly plays the nudity off as more of a celebration than anything else.
Now, I've been a subscriber to Playboy magazine since I was 18 years old. I've always looked at those photographs as much more art than smut. It's classy, as classy as nudity can be (given everything else that is out there, especially these days). I've never seen anything wrong with nude photography and I see it more as the woman celebrating her form, especially in Playboy. I'm not so naive, though, to believe that it's all happiness and smiles and celebrations. I understand that there are many girls getting used and abused by the pornography industry and I feel sympathy for those girls, but I think those are girls that come into an industry with a different mindset to begin with (perhaps they're trying to escape something in their lives or perhaps they are looking to make the most money they can with their bodies that they are willing to do just about anything with it).
Bettie Page was an incredible woman with a great spirit and a joie de vivre. This film accentuates that idea of her and it would have been much more appropriate to title the film "The Celebration of Bettie Page."
Overall, I enjoyed Gretchen Mol's portrayal of the iconic Pin-Up model.
"Shooter"
starring: Mark Wahlberg, Kate Mara, Danny Glover
directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Mark Wahlberg is definitely a man's man, sort of in the same vein as John Wayne (except Wahlberg has ventured into different film genres, like comedies). And in case you forgot that (or you still have fond or not so fond memories of his past re: Marky Mark days) here's a testosterone-fueled film of his that will remind you that he could kick anyone's ass. His character treats his own wounds with makeshift devices that he must have learned in the military that he has gone rogue from. He's on the run from the law, from the government which has set him up to take the fall for an attempted assassination on the President of the United States- which inside-government officials actually orchestrated themselves. They were just looking for a fall guy; and Wahlberg's character stands out as an excellent, if not the best, sharpshooter (re: sniper) who has decided to live as much off the grid as he can (re: in the woods, alone, with his dog).
"Shooter" packs in some excellent action sequences, I mean, just the beginning alone is enough to hook you into the film (unfortunately there are holes scattered throughout the film that make it seem to drag on for the 2+ hours that it runs). Wahlberg plays Bob Lee Swagger (what a redneck, yet badass name), and in that opening scene he ends up taking on a small militia army in Africa on his own after things go awry, which sets up that he will be the untouchable hero, who will stop at nothing to do the "right thing."
Justice is the "right thing" here and director Anoine Fuqua plays two hands at the same time. He has created a film that plays out like a cheap knock-off of a Tom Clancy novel, where the government is bad and there are plenty of conspiracy theories to fill the plot holes. There's double-crossing. There's an Army widow (played by Kate Mara) who takes Swagger in because she has been left with a bad taste in her mouth towards the government, who lied to her about her Army husband's death. There's a low-level FBI agent looking to prove himself to his female boss, who gets in over his head on several occasions, but is ultimately one of the good guys who also wins, in the end.
Seeing that Antoine Fuqua directed this film intrigued me, because I've always thought his 2001 film, "Training Day" is one of the best films of my lifetime. In that film, he really mastered the art of corrupt cops and gang life, as well as drug trafficking. I see that epic film as the best one in his category, which also includes: "King Arthur" (too long and too epic, but still decent), "The Replacement Killers" (his first feature film), "Brooklyn's Finest" (another cop film), and most recently, "Olympus Has Fallen." He certainly hasn't shied away from political stances in his films. But, I think here, he sort of misses the mark, so to speak, because he layers on pretty thick the political implications and conspiracy theories that it all almost because a joke, especially in the climax of the film, when Swagger becomes more of a Rambo-figure than anything else, which is too bad because his character could've stood alone. Director Fuqua usually does well with keeping the action and pace of the film going, so that you don't get bored or lost in the plot, but here he definitely loses track of himself and story because of all the nuances he has to keep up with.
What we end up with is one guy (and a couple of allies) up against an oil and profits-obsessed government that is just as corrupt as perhaps we all already think/know it to be. It's almost like this could've been a prequel to the phenomenal oil-for-profits film "Syriana." The message we receive from the film, ultimately, is one that we'v already known for years. But, as an action film, I guess it works, another than the disappointing and almost laughable ending.
Might I suggest sticking with viewing "Training Day" if you haven't already, because Denzel Washington has never impressed me more than in that film as the baddest, badass, corrupt cop I've ever seen.
.................................................................
Film 207
"Sleepwalk with Me"
starring: Mike Birbiglia and Lauren Ambrose
written and directed by: Mike Birbiglia
Mike Birbiglia seems to be the Tim Thomas (Hockey reference for you) of the comedy world, because, if his "true story recollection" here is to be believed, he has certainly paid his dues and been kicked around a bit, only to come out on top, having garnered several appearances on Comedy Central, as well as cult status with his part on the NPR show "This American Life." Hell, he's even had a one-man show off-Broadway.
What is Birbiglia's charm? Perhaps it is his "relatability." He has a warmth about him and a sardonic self-awareness and just enough self-loathing to make you feel like you could be friends with him and not be annoyed by his constant talking about himself. He is the comedy world's Everyman. He is engaging (after many stumbles and falls) onstage during his routines, which we get a glimpse into at its supposed birth in his film "Sleepwalk with Me." Oh, and jut the title of the film is inviting. He wants you to come with him as he shows us sort of how he got to where he is now, without showing us all the glory. Hmm, maybe Kanye West should watch and take some notes on how to be humble.
The film plays like an autobiography with Birbiglia engaging with the audience by way of looking and talking directly at us, in his car. He tells us a true story, about his life, which he stresses, is true. So, please believe him, because perhaps he couldn't make this stuff up, even for comedy material. Besides, some of the best and funniest stuff comes from real life, as Birbiglia discovers about halfway through this all-too-short film, when he decides to start using his relationship and sleep issues as the mainframe for his stand-up material/routine. The other stuff just wasn't working because, well, it wasn't funny. It wasn't relatable. But, everyone has relationship problems. That stuff's a goldmine, and quite individualized, as well.
Not only do we get to see Birbiglia slowly make his rounds in the stand-up comedy world, because he travels from gig to gig, which his newly acquired agent (an older woman) gets him in small doses but which continually extend his time on the road, in his old beat up car (which ends up, inevitably, breaking down at one point in the pouring rain); but, we also get a glimpse into his relationship with his college girlfriend, 8 years into it, which has really lost its romance and passion. They, along with us the audience, are left to ponder "why are they together, if they are simply going through the motions with each other, and clearly happier when not in the presence of each other." His girlfriend, Abby, is played well by Lauren Ambrose (from "Six Feet Under" and "Can't Hardly Wait"). This is a film centered around Birbiglia and he's the one who needs to come to a realization- about his relationship and also about his sleeping disorder (he suffers from intense bouts of sleepwalking throughout the film, which are based on actual experiences, one involved running out a 2nd story window of a hotel, which wakes him up to his "problem"). Abby is really wondering, after 8 years, if their future together involves getting married. Birbiglia really doesn't want to get married, and his time out on the road doing gigs is almost his way out of the relationship and the bright red-neon sign blinking in front of him, warning him about his relationship. Lauren Ambrose comes off as endearing and sweet, quite understanding and patient, while her positions and views on marriage and kids and societal conventions shifts and she no longer sees things like Birbiglia. Meanwhile, Birbiglia is fighting with the contradictions of "adult life" (re: commitment and compromise, happiness and ambition, terror and pleasure. He must confront all of these personal and professional contradictions.
Why this film works so well is that it rests solely on the shoulders of Mike Birbiglia and he carries the weight perfectly well, with just enough "aw-shucks" modesty and self-doubt, that even when he should be a bad guy (he cheats on his girlfriend while on the road), he tells us to just wait it out and still be on his side, even after that incident, and you are. You still like him through the entire film and you want to see him succeed and to be happy, finally.
This is a great film that really grabs you from the beginning and keeps you with it.
.............................................................
Film 208
"Like Crazy"
starring: Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, and Jennifer Lawrence
This is an unbelievable film, one that I really wanted to catch in the theater when it came out, but I missed it. I was so glad to find it on Netflix. I have to be honest, though, I was expecting a completely different kind of film. Perhaps an easygoing romance-type of film. While watching it, and especially at the end, I felt like I'd been punched in the heart, because it was completely gripping. I loved it, though, for its unexpected nature. I mean, with a film titled "Like Crazy" and its two main characters being young, college-age students who fall in love, you expect something lighthearted and endearing. Something nice to redeem how you feel about love. While, it's certainly not "The Notebook" it reminded me of a couple of films: "Before Sunrise" (which actually focuses mainly on one specific encounter between two people meant to be together) and "Blue Valentine" (a gut-wrenching look at a couple's relationship and its down-slide).
The two actors: Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones have bright and promising futures as film stars just after this one film. I fell in love with Felicity Jones (if not simply for her beautiful British accent, also her smile and incredible eyes) from the first moment she is on the screen. I want her to find way more work here in the States.
So, the film. Well, it's a great compressed narrative of a young couple's relationship. Anna and Jacob first catch each other's eyes in class and you can tell they are both enamored with each other even though most of the scenes depicting their budding relationship are told with time-jumped cuts and montages. There are bits of dialogue that are straight to the point and do not need to be thought about or decontextualized, by the characters or the viewer. There are plenty of moments of tenderness, which comes with love. There are moments of (what could be) awkward silences as well; silences where the characters minds are definitely thinking. Much like "Before Sunrise" seemed almost impromptu and improvised, "Like Crazy" almost comes off the same way. But who gets the credit for that feeling? The director? The writers? Or the actors? It's a trifecta of great filmmaking.
Anna is a poetry-writing, creative-type, exchange student from London, in Los Angeles on a student visa (which runs out and she violates, which sets up some difficulties the couple has later on). Jacob is a local, a native, who designs furniture and sees a promising future in it.
Instead of focusing on all the typical new love and romance highlights of relationships, the director Drake Doremus, decides to skip all those parts and focuses on the intensity of their feelings for each other and the difficulty they have with being thrust into a long-distance relationship (because of Anna's decision to overstay her visa's welcome, she's not allowed back into the country and must stay in the U.K.).
The long-distance relationship helps each character lose their sugar-rush and love-induced energy as it becomes more and more a battle within themselves to hold on to each other, to remain committed to each other. They are both strong-willed and independently-minded individuals. They pursue their passions. Jacob continues to design furniture and Anna quickly climbs the ladder at a magazine to become Junior Editor. And the bizarre aspect to the film is that they each pursue other relationship during the intervals that they are apart. And apparently these relationships are just as fruitful (I guess, more so for the other individuals than for Anna or Jacob because they are constantly in the back of the other's mind) as their own. These separate relationships seemed to be borne more out of convenience than love or desire. Jennifer Lawrence turns up for a secondary role as Jacob's love interest and she, yet again, delivers an unbelievable performance, which just solidifies my belief that she is wise beyond her (acting) years.
By the end of the film, you are left to wonder if Anna and Jacob really, truly love each other or if they are simply yet another young couple stuck in a phase of infatuation that never subsides and so they think they need to be with each other.
This film blew me away and I almost have to watch it again, very soon, to see if I truly understand it. I loved this film, like I thought I would, but for completely different reasons than I thought going into it.
................................................
Film 209
"The Notorious Bettie Page"
starring: Gretchen Mol
Here's what I knew about Bettie Page before seeing this HBO-produced film- she was an American model in the 1950s who become (in)famously known as the Queen of Pin-Ups. She had striking features which included jet black hair and trademark bangs (which according to the film were suggested to her by a photographer in order to hide her large/high forehead, which she embraced), and striking blue eyes. Most of her work included pin-ups of a variety and fetish or bondage related photo sessions. She even did a few short films related to those subjects as well. She was one of the early Playmates of the Month for the budding pornographic magazine known as Playboy. She came from Nashville, Tennessee and was just as famous as Marilyn Monroe, in regards to the modeling world. Where Marilyn Monroe took her modeling success to Hollywood stardom, Bettie Page was more famous in a specialized market of pornography.
She quit modeling, rather quietly leaving the spotlight behind her, and in 1959 she converted to become an evangelical Christian. She worked for Billy Graham. She also suffered from severe depression, violent mood swings (hmm, Noami Campbell look-out, I guess, maybe it's in the modeling blood to have fits), and she ended up spending several years in a psychiatric hospital. She died rather quietly in 2008.
The HBO-produced bio-pic, ironically titled "The Notorious Bettie Page" taught me that she was a woman who knew herself and where she came from and never lost her cheerful demeanor. When she posed for photos she was largely unaffected by the content for which she was shooting under. She was always smiling and she knew that the camera loved her. She was giving her audience exactly what they wanted, from her. She was like a ray of sunshine in a rather dark, seedy underworld of pornography. This film does not necessarily focus on the notoriety of Bettie Page (more of the underground pornography world which was under a microscope of the government, because really one of the focus points in a trial for which pornography is involved in, which Bettie Page is set to testify in). Instead, the film looks to celebrate her as a human being. The human being behind the photos. It's not really HBO-status sexy or scandal-driven, which was a slight disappointment, because honestly, the film does not live up to its title, but it's still a decent look into a girl that used the modeling industry more than she let it use her. We are left to wonder, after the film, just who exactly the real Bettie Page was. Like any good actress or model- She remains a mystery to every onlooker. What we get are pieces to the puzzle. Bettie Page, it is suggested by the film, was not naive (like many of the young girls who enter the modeling industry nowadays or even back in the day). No, instead, she was just incapable of recognizing the depravity in a dark industry. She has a good time while she visits the modeling world, because she seems just as happy when she leaves it. One of the major pieces of the puzzle though comes from an early scene where we are led to believe she was gang-raped as a teenager (perhaps that's when she was naive), which prompted her to leave Nashville. She was a hurt girl looking for refuge and also just to be liked. It seems cliche that girls that enter the porn industry have a shady past where they were abused (physically and/or sexually).
The tone of the film is a times playful (when Page is modeling), as it should be and also subdued and very much reflective on the girl and her life. I think it was a great choice to film it in black and white (for about 90% of the film), with spurts of color, during her photo shoots. It's a very nostalgic film. And kudos to Gretchen Mol, who plays the young Bettie Page, for completely transforming herself to become almost unrecognizable as herself. She embodies Bettie Page in looks and attitude. I wonder if Gretchen Mol was as comfortable in her nude scenes as Bettie Page was in real life, when being photographed, because she certainly plays the nudity off as more of a celebration than anything else.
Now, I've been a subscriber to Playboy magazine since I was 18 years old. I've always looked at those photographs as much more art than smut. It's classy, as classy as nudity can be (given everything else that is out there, especially these days). I've never seen anything wrong with nude photography and I see it more as the woman celebrating her form, especially in Playboy. I'm not so naive, though, to believe that it's all happiness and smiles and celebrations. I understand that there are many girls getting used and abused by the pornography industry and I feel sympathy for those girls, but I think those are girls that come into an industry with a different mindset to begin with (perhaps they're trying to escape something in their lives or perhaps they are looking to make the most money they can with their bodies that they are willing to do just about anything with it).
Bettie Page was an incredible woman with a great spirit and a joie de vivre. This film accentuates that idea of her and it would have been much more appropriate to title the film "The Celebration of Bettie Page."
Overall, I enjoyed Gretchen Mol's portrayal of the iconic Pin-Up model.
Comments
Post a Comment