promising young woman and more
Coincidentally or not, the last three movies we watched with our teenage kids at home were all about people with mental disorders. I remember we used to call them “loonies” or “wackos” in the past but on one hand, this is quite offensive and on the other, “normalcy” has proven itself to be overrated. Personally I know many “normal” people who could put a whole soul asylum to shame.
So the first movie on our unintended weekend cinema list was “Girl, Interrupted” with Angelina Jollie and Winona Rider. Even though this amazing film is now 22 years old, it definitely grabbed the attention of the new generation. We wanted them to watch it so to exercise their spoiled brains in alternative ideas and viewpoints. Like, for example, the idea that those claimed to be sociopaths, fruitcakes, conspiracy theorists, outsiders or owls may not always be what they seem (yes, the owls from “Twin Peaks”) or the idea that the world we get advertised on TV may not be that perfect.
I am not sure if the kids understood everything in this film but I am happy that they did understand one of its most important messages: seeing the truth is a gift but telling the truth is dangerous.
The next movie we saw while gorging on buckets of ice cream and home-roasted ultrasalted nuts was “The Father” with Anthony Hopkins. What a pleasure was to finally enjoy an hour or two of impeccable artistic performance in these talentless and dry times!
Along with my natural satisfaction of being exposed to a masterpiece, I was also happy that the kids got captivated by Sir Hopkins and the incredibly credible impersonation he makes. How could he be so epic at the age of 83 is beyond me but I find it healthy for children in their teens to know that talent and success are not age-related. And that reality is so subjective that we can sometimes struggle to define which is real and which is not, even if we don’t suffer from dementia.
* With winning Best Actor for “The Father”, Antony Hopkins is now the oldest person to ever receive an acting Oscar.
* With winning Best Actor for “The Father”, Antony Hopkins is now the oldest person to ever receive an acting Oscar.
And last but not least, my favourite – “Promising Young Woman”. I had no idea this movie was also nominated for Best Film (not that the Oscars haven’t lost all relevance) and I thought “The Father” should have won this category but now I am hesitant. I haven’t seen a picture so thoughtful, amusing and beautifully made for a while, and I find it funny that it’s been advertised as a “comedy thriller”. Where could possibly the comedy be in this movie I don’t know but we all loved it. We loved the main roles, the supporting roles, the scenes, the symbolics, the colours, the music and all the unexpected turns. There certainly was a fair amount of humour but I felt it bittersweet.
I see some people on the internet are trying really hard to take this film on the feminist board but in my opinion it’s far from that. It is too intelligent to be hijacked by activism and modern-day agendas. The plot presents a solid societal problem but without unnecessary preaching, and this is what makes it so good. The vulnerability of women could and should be discussed, and “Promising Young Woman” does just that in a very subtle, unbiased and fair way. I’ve never liked the principle of empowering women by disempowering men so I can only commend the approach Margot Robbie and her team have chosen.
Yes, Margot Robbie and her company “LuckyChap Entertainment” are actually a thing in the movie production business. Founded in 2014 by Margot Robbie, her husband Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara and Sophia Kerr, the company specialises in female-focused film and television production, and has already delivered several award-winning pieces like “I,Tonya” (2017), “Terminal” (2018) and “Dreamland” (2019). I am a great fan of Margot so I’ll finish my today’s diary entry with this quote of hers:
There’s nothing I dislike more than being in a photo shoot where they say, ‘Be yourself.’ That’s not why I became an actress. That’s what I find so funny: that you become an actor, and all of a sudden, everyone wants to know about you. But I didn’t become an actor so I could show you me.
