see it twice

Rating: 8/10 (8 December 2004)

You know I was pretty overwhelmed the first time I saw this movie. The crushing 'reality' that whatever your dreams are, that reality is always so much less, the disconnect between family members, etc. Plus the intense physical imagery left a permanent impression in my mind.
But seeing it again just recently left me with a very different impression. A good example is, Why does she have to have electroshock therapy for an eating disorder? If you want to do tube feeding just put her to sleep, and put it in. She was already strapped down, so injecting her wouldn't be a problem, nor would keeping the tube in. Electroshock therapy was done only for visual impact, and on a second more clear viewing, seemed excessive. The film wouldn't have had any appeal, however sadistic, without the scene.
The whole end seen just seemed tutti frutti as well; over the top crushing nihilism. Maybe I can't understand the levels to which the human spirit can fall, but the routes that all the characters took don't seem to be the only way for the characters, and again the routes they chose seemed for the sole reason of visual impact (chopping off an arm, a two way dildo, EST) After I was able to get over the shock of these images, they seemed much less interesting.
Plus the nihilism is only there at the end. From what I could tell, these people had hit a bottom. It seemed like they all had the ability to have more positive futures. They could all move in positive directions. None of them were locked in permanantly bad situations.
Still a great movie, a DVD I would actually want to have in my collection, but upon a second, and in my mind more clear, viewing the dramatic impact was reduced. Great barrage of imagery, however excessive and nihilistic.