Of the films he's worked on, I've only seen Being John Malkovich &
Adaptation, though I will be watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
at the Screenroom [ www.screenroom.co.uk ] in Nottingham, the world's
smallest cinema no less, or more. Interestingly it will be shown there as a
double bill with Alejandro Amenabar's Abre los ojos (1997)in a few weeks
time.
On Kaufman's motivations:
There's nothing wrong with making a lot of money out of Hollywood - it has a
lot of money to give, often to far less interesting projects. As a consumer,
I'd much rather pay to see a more unusual film emerging from Hollywood than
I would see Scooby-Doo 2.
That an idea for a film has been made before is no bad charge either,
countless films rest on age old formulas - bad guy makes good, tempestuous
couple finally fall in love, world is threatened by terrible danger, saved
by hero, etc etc... It is how these concepts are dealt with by those making
the film where it becomes interesting - no doubt you can think of examples
for each of my high concepts.
I liked Adaptation's exploration of the script writing process. Kaufman's
acknowledgment of certain codes one must obey within such films was
revealing, funny, and unusual. We're not going to a film for enlightenment,
surely? We go for entertainment, which of course can come in many different
guises. We may be informed, delighted, challenged, revolted, amused &c.&c.
but I don't expect the world to be a better place for it. I think it
important to explore new ways of seeing old things, and whilst there are
writers such as Kaufman who can do this, and bring it to a mass audience, I
believe that's positive.
I reserve judgment on Eternal Sunshine till I've seen it, though if I want
to read Nietzsche, I'd rather read Nietzche, rather than edible tid-bits in
a film (the reason I so disliked Waking Life). A film will not make of us a
philosopher, or mathematician, or artist, but it can explore the nature of
its own medium.
On that note, I'm off to finish my thesis on Stan Brakhage, which if anyone
is interested in reading, you're more that welcome to contact me off list.
Emily Wilczek
grows her own vegetables
Nottingham
UK
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