tstone
04-26-2008, 10:33 AM
The ouvre of Ridley Scott is a story in ecclecticism. He likes to dabble in a whole range of stuff. Science fiction, fantasy, war, mysteries, etc, he seems to have done it all, with varying degrees of success. But no matter the merit of the story he tells, he always does it with style and skill, especially in the visual department. And with far more heart and soul then your empty technocrats like Brett Ratner and Peter Hyams.
Thelma and Louise is the story of two women in modest circumstances. They decide to get out and hit the road, to get away from it for a bit. Thelma (Geena Davis) is a goofy, ditzy, passive housewife married to a lout of a husband. Louise (Susan Sarandon) is a single woman working as a waitress who seems to have a head on her shoulders, but is quite scarred by some sort of trauma which happened sometime in her past. Well, the two head out, Thelma deciding to just ditch her houseloute instead of asking him permission. They stop at a roadside bar and Thelma begins to party a bit, and picks the wrong guy to party with. He gets way too aggressive and looks like he intends to rape Thelma. Louise intervenes before completion of the deed. The man gets quite rude and belligerent. Louise shoots him. Thus begins a series of tragedies which takes the film to it's fateful conclusion.
There are two ways I came up to view this story. Thelma, at one point in the last third of the film, reveals the world looks different to her, after everything they've been through and during their circumstances on the lam. After their lives of limitation and expectation, they've thrown off the shackles of domesticity and civilization. And seemingly, have achieved a sort of enlightenment as they race for Mexico with the hopes of completely reinventing themselves. It seems that they have at least partially trancended their circumstances. But perhaps in such a way, that they expended too much fuel in achieving their metaphysical escape velocity, fall short of the mark, and end up plummeting right back to consensual reality.
The other view I though is that they are playing their roles all along, as are their tormentors and pursuers. In their domestic lives beforehand, and their attempts at rebellion upon the after, they are acting and reacting specifically against things put against them, rather than making a clean break. So are all the male characters, who, unfortunately, with the exceptions of Harvey Keitel's police officer and Brad Pitt's charming robber, are pitifuly thinly written. Especially that truck driver, who is the biggest grunting drooler of a sexist neanderthal I've ever seen. And that's saying something. I've been to the HLBB.
Again, beautifully shot, well acted, but too thinly written to be truly satisfying. It's still pretty good for what it is, and should engender discussion.
Thelma and Louise is the story of two women in modest circumstances. They decide to get out and hit the road, to get away from it for a bit. Thelma (Geena Davis) is a goofy, ditzy, passive housewife married to a lout of a husband. Louise (Susan Sarandon) is a single woman working as a waitress who seems to have a head on her shoulders, but is quite scarred by some sort of trauma which happened sometime in her past. Well, the two head out, Thelma deciding to just ditch her houseloute instead of asking him permission. They stop at a roadside bar and Thelma begins to party a bit, and picks the wrong guy to party with. He gets way too aggressive and looks like he intends to rape Thelma. Louise intervenes before completion of the deed. The man gets quite rude and belligerent. Louise shoots him. Thus begins a series of tragedies which takes the film to it's fateful conclusion.
There are two ways I came up to view this story. Thelma, at one point in the last third of the film, reveals the world looks different to her, after everything they've been through and during their circumstances on the lam. After their lives of limitation and expectation, they've thrown off the shackles of domesticity and civilization. And seemingly, have achieved a sort of enlightenment as they race for Mexico with the hopes of completely reinventing themselves. It seems that they have at least partially trancended their circumstances. But perhaps in such a way, that they expended too much fuel in achieving their metaphysical escape velocity, fall short of the mark, and end up plummeting right back to consensual reality.
The other view I though is that they are playing their roles all along, as are their tormentors and pursuers. In their domestic lives beforehand, and their attempts at rebellion upon the after, they are acting and reacting specifically against things put against them, rather than making a clean break. So are all the male characters, who, unfortunately, with the exceptions of Harvey Keitel's police officer and Brad Pitt's charming robber, are pitifuly thinly written. Especially that truck driver, who is the biggest grunting drooler of a sexist neanderthal I've ever seen. And that's saying something. I've been to the HLBB.
Again, beautifully shot, well acted, but too thinly written to be truly satisfying. It's still pretty good for what it is, and should engender discussion.