It is supposed to be deep...uh maybe ?

Rating: Null/10 (30 June 2003)

The first time I saw the movie back in the 70's I was only a 10 year old who didn't know any better so I was justified in finding it dull and sleeping through most of it. The second time (and 25 years older) the same thing happened so I came here to read peoples comments hoping that someone smarter than me could explain the necessity of the wedding scene to me. Lots of said smarter people tried their best defending it saying that almost an hour of drama-less and plot-less mess of a Russian wedding scene is what it takes to build the characters...uh, sorry, I'm unconvinced. Did any of these people actually not fall asleep or wonder when they were going to see some drama? Anyway, I did find parts of this movie fascinating (the Russian Roulette parts especially--oh wait these guys are Russian Americans...finding something Russian in an unlikely place such as Southeast Asia...OOOOH I get it. Deep!) I also have to admit that the movie has artistic intentions if not results. So let me try to offer my theory and see if yours truly can save the movie from total condemnation. So here it is: before the war, these boys' lives were totally structureless and dull; so the pre-war section reflects that by ACTUALLY being totally structureless and dull, for example the wedding mess. Once the war begins the pace picks up abruptly: the war scene blasts in unannounced, and the war ends before we know it. The pace of that reflects the pace of war. This is called *yawn* 'the form reflecting the content'. In modern and especially post modern literature the author frequently engages the reader to participate in content by putting them in context: so for example, in order for you to experience the structureless and dull life that these boys were leading before the war, you are supposed to sit there for an hour or more, and share their boredom. *Post Modern Literature 101 student quickly jots down a few notes* There, got it? *yawn* See, the movie does try to be deeeeeep. Perhaps it would have worked better if the deeeeeepness wasn't so force on us that we had to go to sleep first. And oh, yeah, you did almost fall asleep or wonder where the wedding scene was going to go, don't lie.