Author Topic: What would you like Ang to comment on?  (Read 22314 times)

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: What would you like Ang to comment on?
« Reply #50 on: September 06, 2006, 01:51:59 pm »
Wouldn't it have been fun to be the props manager on this one, or the set designer?? :D

So, here's a funny story on the topic of symbolism (now I feel like Al Gore doing the macarena ::))

I was lying awake in bed the other night trying to figure out why everyone else in the movie cried from their right eye only while Lureen cried from her left eye. Then I finally asked myself how an actor could cry out of one eye only at the direction of a director. I'm going to have to practice that one!!
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline Mikaela

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Re: What would you like Ang to comment on?
« Reply #51 on: September 06, 2006, 01:53:52 pm »
Katherine, you saved me a whole lot of time, writing the response I was thinking I wanted to write. Ditto to absolutely everything in your last post, except the education bit.

All of the following describes my reaction perfectly:

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The movie goes straight to my heart, too.

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Personally, I really enjoy the intellectual challenge and reward of analyzing the symbols. I don't think you need to do it to appreciate the movie. [  ]But for me it's fun, [  ]partly because it deepens my appreciation of the movie's brilliance, partly because it's interesting to see how great writers and directors handle symbols, partly because I find it fascinating and subtle and astounding.

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Still, however fun, it's almost like a sideline thing to my appreciation of the movie's emotional impact.

....apart from all that, I can still remember (and re-live) my immediate reaction to seeing the reunion kiss for the first time. That reaction wasn't at all what I'd describe as intellectual.  :P

So all in all, BBM works its magic strongly on the heart, on the brain, and .......on other parts. All at once.  (I seriously need that blushing icon. Will go hunt for one. ETA: Here it is:           )
« Last Edit: September 06, 2006, 02:01:03 pm by Mikaela »

Offline Penthesilea

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Re: What would you like Ang to comment on?
« Reply #52 on: September 06, 2006, 01:59:42 pm »
I dunno. I still think that the symbolism is far more fluid than implied by our discussions -- that there's consistency to the imagery, and that that makes it very effective on an emotional and intuitive level, but that the movie is not a patchwork quilt of symbols stitched together to make a Meaning.

At the risk of becoming boring: I second everything Katherine has said.

This movie is full of symbolism, mirror scenes, bookends etc. But noticing, trying to understand and particulary discussing them is a tightrope walk. And the chance that sometimes we become too far-fetched is absolutely given.
But the good thing is, for all of us it is something different what s/he considers as plausible, non-important or too far-fetched.

I can see nothing wrong in contemplating what Ang Lee could have meant with his milk and water picture. Maybe it was just an incidental remark of him, maybe he doesn't remember himself. But the chances are as good that he indeed did have something particular in his mind saying it. We'll never know for sure (like thousand other things regarding BBM) and that's part of the magic and of the fun.
Doesn't hurt anybody to ramble about it, does it?




Offline Mikaela

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Re: What would you like Ang to comment on?
« Reply #53 on: September 06, 2006, 02:07:56 pm »
No, far from it.  :) I love rambling about symbolism as may have become apparent.   And Ang Lee's comment is perfect for pondering in this respect. I really liked Front-Ranger's/ Lee's interpretation.

Perhaps if we do get that wished-for cast commentary with Heath, Jake, Anne and Michelle at long last, Anne will say what *she* thought Ang Lee was telling them with the milk and water comment..... since according to Jake, she found immediate meaning in it while he had no clue.

(Oh, I do want that cast commentary! I do, I do, I do! A mix of serious and fun - discussion of the film and characters, and some (a little more light-hearted?) reminiscing about the filming. It would be perfect!)
« Last Edit: September 06, 2006, 02:09:50 pm by Mikaela »

Offline jpwagoneer1964

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Re: What would you like Ang to comment on?
« Reply #54 on: September 06, 2006, 02:16:34 pm »
Speaking of water I believe there is a stage direction wher Jack looks at Ennis as if a 1,000 rovers flowed thru him. I thinks it's when the fires meet. I have seen Jake talk of it in a interview.
Thank you Heath and Jake for showing us Ennis and Jack,  teaching us how much they loved one another.

Offline Mikaela

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Re: What would you like Ang to comment on?
« Reply #55 on: September 06, 2006, 02:24:39 pm »
Yes, Jake mentioned the screenplay direction of 1,000 rivers flowing through Jack at the sight of Ennis during the Toronto Film Festival's BBM press conference. That press conference (featuring all the four main actors) in itself is one reason why I think that the cast commentary would be a delight and work wonderfully.  :)

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: What would you like Ang to comment on?
« Reply #56 on: September 06, 2006, 02:25:25 pm »
Gee, I had to go search for that immediately, but no luck. I didn't find it in the 2003 script, jp. Was it another document that you were referring to? Gotta chase this one down!!
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline jpwagoneer1964

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Re: What would you like Ang to comment on?
« Reply #57 on: September 06, 2006, 02:31:04 pm »
Gee, I had to go search for that immediately, but no luck. I didn't find it in the 2003 script, jp. Was it another document that you were referring to? Gotta chase this one down!!
It might be on the DVD, or on one of the interview with Jake from Youtube.
Thank you Heath and Jake for showing us Ennis and Jack,  teaching us how much they loved one another.

Offline Penthesilea

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Re: What would you like Ang to comment on?
« Reply #58 on: September 06, 2006, 02:35:40 pm »
Toronto Film Festival's BBM press conference. That press conference (featuring all the four main actors)

Do you know whether it is somewhere online? Maybe youtube?

Offline Mikaela

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Re: What would you like Ang to comment on?
« Reply #59 on: September 06, 2006, 02:46:21 pm »
Sure enough, here it is.

There opening is boring because the moderator is not good  ::)  (to put it mildly) and then they fiddle a bit with talking directly on the phone with Ang Lee from Venice where he'd just received the Golden Lion award. But once they get into the thing, it's great. (It may unfortunately stop showing the visual of the four of them half-way trough, which is a pity, but the sound is still there and it's great to just listen to it, too.)