10:28 a.m. - 2009-11-24
Bottle Rocket, something contained under pressure waiting to be released?
Have finished Bottle Rocket (1996, Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson) recently, I find that the film feels like it came from a different age, like the 80's or The Breakfast Club. Maybe it's the film stock they used and the softer colours or the language.
Compared to present teenage films, the characters seem more polite and off-kilter, Dignan (Owen Wilson) is a enthusiastic wannabe heister and he looks much younger, whiter and chubbier, and his buddy in the film, Anthony (Luke Wilson) is a somewhat drifter just out of a voluntary mental sanctuary.
The plot of the film is about how the two of them, together with their rich buddy Bob, try to live the adventurous and exciting life of robbers, like Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid. Maybe it's their means of escaping the suburban middle-class ennui, the whole settle down & get a proper job ideal.
Teens, coming-of-age and music/subcultures
It's feels incredulous and different... i mean films about teens now generally seem much faster or risque, like I Love You, Beth Cooper, John Tucker must Die, 17 Again, The Infinite Playlist of Nick & Nora, Sorority Row, etc. There seems to be more sex involved now (in the form of sex jokes or it's more explicitly shown, kissing, tits, ass), more hedonistic (frat parties, beer) and the subcultures that divide teens into different cliques like punk, goth, indie, etc, are more established.
Bottle Rocket, even though it's made in the 90s alternative Smashing Pumpkins/Silverchair/Green Day era, doesn't even touch on music or their affliated groups. The characters seem to exist as outsiders, undefined by these groupings.
A Parallel with Catcher in the Rye?
There's a scene where Anthony visits his kid sister at school secretly and finds her terribly cynical and judgemental. This is almost like Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, where Holden meets his kid sister secretly too, except in this case, Holden pleads with his sister not to become cynical and phony (judging people by their careers or financial status) when she grows up.
Anything on social class gaps?
Anthony falls in love with the motel's Mexican housekeeper/chambermaid and their love cruises on without much serious hiccups.
Thinking about this in a local perspective, what if there was a Singaporean film about someone falling in love with his maid? How would it be received?
I can feel the hordes gathering their pitchforks in horror or the bile of moral indignation rising up like a breaking wave, but at the same time, you wish people are open-minded enough to accept it as a romantic relationship without poisoning the whole situation with class prejudice or a presumed social norm.
How will you approach this question, a maid and her employer falling in love (granted that he and she, are not married to anyone else)?
Yes, there will be reactions from their friends � discouragement, encouragement, unsolicited advice, empathy, support, jokes, obstacles by parents or law... I wonder if there's a law which states that it is illegal for a maid to marry her employer while she is on a working pass here. I think there is.
But in order not to bog the whole film down with these heavy serious concerns, i guess the film must provide a fresh and unexpected perspective on the relationship.
The film must ultimately go deeper beyond the surface clash of cultures, to be as personal as possible, to show a willingness and openness to find a connection with someone, to reveal the individual and see him or her as a human being with their own dreams, family and thoughts.
Maybe it's not the usual love story, it's a great friendship. Friends who can tell each other everything. Are we losing the edge if it's not a love relationship?
I wonder what can be done. And be entertaining to watch at the same time.
