An oil magnate (Lancaster) bowls into a small Scottish town with his flunky (Riegert) in tow, with the purpose of wresting the property out of the locals hands. To everyone's surprise almost all the locals can't wait to unload it and get rich.
An older friend recommended this movie to me in my teens. I didn't hate it but I didn't quite understand it either. Hundreds of previous typical Hollywood plots and scripts had absolutely ruined my ability to actually think while watching a movie. What was I to do with a movie that didn't just foist brainless moment-to-moment stimulation on me? ...that didn't end with a climactic duel or explosion? ...that didn't scapegoat some 2-dimensional villain? ...that asked me to pay attention and be present? ...that asked me to consider scenes that weren't designed to guide the dumbest viewer's perception to a facile, foregone conclusion? This movie started me on a lifetime of asking more from movies.
For Peter Reieger to take this role after Animal House is to his credit; it's just astonishing to go from a silly crowdpleaser to something so ambiguous. The last scene, which would usually be omitted, is refreshing in its honest bleakness. As a good company-man Riegert has to be the first to leave the party. He fies back to America, tosses his keys on the table and the films holds for a few beats. He opens a beer, goes out on his balcony and the tone strongly hints that he wants to be back there. This is the a really lovely ending, getting at the essence of travel. At the end of it, you get a few seconds of relief at being home followed by the powerful longing to be back in that different, more stimulating world.
Rushmore is the most recent iteration of this type of film. I really need to review this.
An older friend recommended this movie to me in my teens. I didn't hate it but I didn't quite understand it either. Hundreds of previous typical Hollywood plots and scripts had absolutely ruined my ability to actually think while watching a movie. What was I to do with a movie that didn't just foist brainless moment-to-moment stimulation on me? ...that didn't end with a climactic duel or explosion? ...that didn't scapegoat some 2-dimensional villain? ...that asked me to pay attention and be present? ...that asked me to consider scenes that weren't designed to guide the dumbest viewer's perception to a facile, foregone conclusion? This movie started me on a lifetime of asking more from movies.
For Peter Reieger to take this role after Animal House is to his credit; it's just astonishing to go from a silly crowdpleaser to something so ambiguous. The last scene, which would usually be omitted, is refreshing in its honest bleakness. As a good company-man Riegert has to be the first to leave the party. He fies back to America, tosses his keys on the table and the films holds for a few beats. He opens a beer, goes out on his balcony and the tone strongly hints that he wants to be back there. This is the a really lovely ending, getting at the essence of travel. At the end of it, you get a few seconds of relief at being home followed by the powerful longing to be back in that different, more stimulating world.
Rushmore is the most recent iteration of this type of film. I really need to review this.