Let's
Go Out To The Lob-beeeee....!
"Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time."
- Steven Wright
 I watched a 38-year-old movie this past
weekend, Alan Arkin's "Little Murders".
Great film. A really dark comedy
the likes of which we rarely see any
longer. It had violence and sex and social
satire and
anonymous heavy breathers. It also had
one more thing you don't see in the movies
any
more...
Long takes.
Several times during this movie the camera
would lock onto an actor and he
or she would proceed to emote for minutes
at a time. It was entrancing, engaging,
almost hypnotic. This technique was much
more typical of movies from
that period
and,
except
for
the
occasional contemporary, generally indy,
film it's a lost art.
Somewhere in the intervening 40-ish years
I'm guessing that the actors decided
they couldn't be bothered to commit to
memory a three
minute oratory,
or that the producers wouldn't budget
for such long scenes that might require
several takes, or that the typical attention
span has decreased to the point where
any individual scene more than several
seconds long causes noticeable squirming
among
audience butts.
The movie is certainly worth a look,
especially Donald Sutherland's turn as
a loopy priest,
but Elliott Gould is the standout as
the apathetic fecal photojournalist.
You've been warned.
=mike=
|
