Over the New Year's weekend we saw two relatively recent releases: The Descendants starring George Clooney and Martin Scorsese's Hugo. Both were good although the R-rating for The Descendants' language should be taken seriously.
I'll leave to interested readers to find good plot summaries but a couple of thoughts about each. The Descendants is set in Hawaii but not the tourists' Hawaii. The film's account of a near-dead marriage is reflected in the slow death of the wife of Clooney's character, Matt King. The tragedy of death, infidelity, and family dysfunction is set off by the contrasting natural beauty of Hawaii. The film's relentlessly secular perspective on the death of Liz King should be taken seriously; death is no longer the gateway to consideration of the afterlife it once may have been. But director Alexander Payne nonetheless nods toward the transcendent in several beautiful cloud shots. Matt's ultimate forgiveness of his wife's infidelity and reconciliation with his daughters is heartfelt and encouraging but perhaps a bit of a too-happy ending for some. (For the lawyers among my readers, the centrality of the Rule Against Perpetuities to the plot should not go unmentioned.)
I must admit to finding Hugo absolutely wonderful. Crystal Downing's glowing review here reveals the multiple layers of Scorsese's homage to the early history of film. But Hugo is not only an homage, it is a great story. Perhaps a bit deliberate for those relentlessly subject to cuts every five seconds but nonetheless a great story that can be enjoyed on its own terms.
Hugo's explicit teleology contrasts nicely with The Descendant's naturalism. Everyone and everything, says the eponymous Hugo, has a purpose and in fulfilling that purpose is happiness. By contrast, happiness in The Descendants is largely what we make it to be. It's great to forgive but why did Matt do it? The motivation of Matt's decision as sole trustee not to sell 25,000 acres of prime real estate is deliberately left ambiguous. Is he newly converted to serve the founding purpose of of a multi-generational trust? Or is he simply trying to get revenge on his deceased wife's realtor lover?
Two good movies to start the year. Each plumbing serious issues of the human condition and each coming up again with truths that recognize its depths.
I'll leave to interested readers to find good plot summaries but a couple of thoughts about each. The Descendants is set in Hawaii but not the tourists' Hawaii. The film's account of a near-dead marriage is reflected in the slow death of the wife of Clooney's character, Matt King. The tragedy of death, infidelity, and family dysfunction is set off by the contrasting natural beauty of Hawaii. The film's relentlessly secular perspective on the death of Liz King should be taken seriously; death is no longer the gateway to consideration of the afterlife it once may have been. But director Alexander Payne nonetheless nods toward the transcendent in several beautiful cloud shots. Matt's ultimate forgiveness of his wife's infidelity and reconciliation with his daughters is heartfelt and encouraging but perhaps a bit of a too-happy ending for some. (For the lawyers among my readers, the centrality of the Rule Against Perpetuities to the plot should not go unmentioned.)
I must admit to finding Hugo absolutely wonderful. Crystal Downing's glowing review here reveals the multiple layers of Scorsese's homage to the early history of film. But Hugo is not only an homage, it is a great story. Perhaps a bit deliberate for those relentlessly subject to cuts every five seconds but nonetheless a great story that can be enjoyed on its own terms.
Hugo's explicit teleology contrasts nicely with The Descendant's naturalism. Everyone and everything, says the eponymous Hugo, has a purpose and in fulfilling that purpose is happiness. By contrast, happiness in The Descendants is largely what we make it to be. It's great to forgive but why did Matt do it? The motivation of Matt's decision as sole trustee not to sell 25,000 acres of prime real estate is deliberately left ambiguous. Is he newly converted to serve the founding purpose of of a multi-generational trust? Or is he simply trying to get revenge on his deceased wife's realtor lover?
Two good movies to start the year. Each plumbing serious issues of the human condition and each coming up again with truths that recognize its depths.
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