I saw it a few nights ago. it was indeed wonderful and strange and terrifying. it was affirming and devastating, cleverly structured and dizzingly layered.
I really enjoyed the "house on fire" sequence. it had a nightmarish logic and the characters treated it so matter-of-factly. that she dies of smoke inhalation was perfect -- the absurdity of the story sets you up for some other fate, but our knowledge of the "real" world prepared us for what happened.
which leads me to another point: we are watching "them" (the real characters) in a bizarre situation (buying, then living, in a house on fire) as they watch "themselves" (the actors they cast to play their lives) in a bizarre situation (playing the real characters in a recreated New York). we are certain we, the viewer, are outside of the hall of mirrors shown in the film, but it allows for the possibility that someone is watching us as we go about our brief and absurd lives, just as we observe Caden and how he navigates his own brief and absurd life.
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was it not wonderful?
was it not the perfect distillation of an acid trip?
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I really enjoyed the "house on fire" sequence. it had a nightmarish logic and the characters treated it so matter-of-factly. that she dies of smoke inhalation was perfect -- the absurdity of the story sets you up for some other fate, but our knowledge of the "real" world prepared us for what happened.
which leads me to another point: we are watching "them" (the real characters) in a bizarre situation (buying, then living, in a house on fire) as they watch "themselves" (the actors they cast to play their lives) in a bizarre situation (playing the real characters in a recreated New York). we are certain we, the viewer, are outside of the hall of mirrors shown in the film, but it allows for the possibility that someone is watching us as we go about our brief and absurd lives, just as we observe Caden and how he navigates his own brief and absurd life.
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