Joan and Bootsie
- Episode aired Sep 28, 2012
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1.10 Joan & Bootsie by James Magruder: Sets up the character as too much of a caricature and then punctures her a bit too sharply for me
Where the previous film celebrated the immigrant in the US making a fresh start and leaving the past behind, with Margruder's film we seem to have a quite proper Englishwoman who is sort of the opposite. She appears to be clinging to her Englishness and in particular is quite horrified by the 'American' behavior she sees around her, such as endless snacking and the crudity of eating and drinking on the street. She comes over quite prim and proper, and one does get the feeling from the dialogue that perhaps she is overcompensating in order to hang onto her roots and not just be another American.
The specifics of her own background are not totally clear, but it is clear that she will cling to it no matter what. The final few lines of dialogue didn't totally work for me. Being honest, at first it was because I am a cat person, so the image of someone caring for a local cat that is nearing the end of its life was quite moving to me – sappy perhaps, but it distracted me from what the film was doing. I watched the film again to get another take at it and I'm still not sure it totally works. I guess the character is prim and proper, and full of talk of stiff upper lip when it is relating to her view of others, but when it relates to something she cares about, she is quick to (literally) sell off her heritage in return. The façade drops quite heavily and suddenly at the end and it feels too blunt – perhaps the character is too snotty towards others to deserve sympathy but it still felt a rather sharp blow at the end. But then, I'm a cat lover so maybe I felt for her more than I was supposed to.
Nielsen delivers her character consistently well throughout, but it is the construct of the film that bugged me. The speed of the exit is a bit sudden, and it didn't help that I already did not like the speed with which the character had her graces punctured in front of the viewer, so the speed with which the film draws to a close is a bit off putting. There is also a very weird edit in here too – one that doesn't feel like it was deliberate. At one point the actress takes a pause and then continues to speak, but the 3 or 4 words she says are silent then we go to an edit; if it was intentional then it didn't work as a piece of style, and on the contrary it actually feels like it was an error that didn't get picked up.
I think this is the first film in this series that didn't really work for me. I think there is a longer and better piece in here, one that lets the character reveal herself slower and with more subtlety. As it is though she is almost caricature and the speed with which she is revealed is too sudden, feeling a bit brutal and lacking in humanity. Or maybe I'm influenced by Bootsie – I'm still not totally sure.
The specifics of her own background are not totally clear, but it is clear that she will cling to it no matter what. The final few lines of dialogue didn't totally work for me. Being honest, at first it was because I am a cat person, so the image of someone caring for a local cat that is nearing the end of its life was quite moving to me – sappy perhaps, but it distracted me from what the film was doing. I watched the film again to get another take at it and I'm still not sure it totally works. I guess the character is prim and proper, and full of talk of stiff upper lip when it is relating to her view of others, but when it relates to something she cares about, she is quick to (literally) sell off her heritage in return. The façade drops quite heavily and suddenly at the end and it feels too blunt – perhaps the character is too snotty towards others to deserve sympathy but it still felt a rather sharp blow at the end. But then, I'm a cat lover so maybe I felt for her more than I was supposed to.
Nielsen delivers her character consistently well throughout, but it is the construct of the film that bugged me. The speed of the exit is a bit sudden, and it didn't help that I already did not like the speed with which the character had her graces punctured in front of the viewer, so the speed with which the film draws to a close is a bit off putting. There is also a very weird edit in here too – one that doesn't feel like it was deliberate. At one point the actress takes a pause and then continues to speak, but the 3 or 4 words she says are silent then we go to an edit; if it was intentional then it didn't work as a piece of style, and on the contrary it actually feels like it was an error that didn't get picked up.
I think this is the first film in this series that didn't really work for me. I think there is a longer and better piece in here, one that lets the character reveal herself slower and with more subtlety. As it is though she is almost caricature and the speed with which she is revealed is too sudden, feeling a bit brutal and lacking in humanity. Or maybe I'm influenced by Bootsie – I'm still not totally sure.
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- bob the moo
- Oct 5, 2014
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