I can’t even begin to tell you how much I get out of Pleasantville. Everything about the film — theme, plot, character development, graphic style — is stunningly original, truly a triumph in a film that draws on so many different cultural, historical and filmic archetypes. The face acting is phenomenal, and film is all about face acting. Randy Newman’s score is a let-down, if only because he brought absolutely nothing original to the task. But the pre-recorded pieces used in the soundtrack are beyond excellent, as we’ll see.
Writer/producer/director Gary Ross takes on an absolutely immense theme, essentially writing a foundational myth for modernity, just outrageously ambitious for typically-cowardly Hollywood. I’m amazed that anyone was willing to fund and release this film. It’s that good.
Linked below is a clip to show what I’m talking about. Ross uses the original Dave Brubeck recording of Take Five to bookend the scene, and the script and acting are built to respond to and complete the music. The tension at the drum solo is just perfect…
Brian Brady says:
How ya gonna keep ’em down on the farm? After they’ve read Huck Finn?
Agreed, Greg. Pleasantville was a courageous attempt at quality cinema…that worked in spite of the crap Hollywood spits out.
July 1, 2007 — 11:55 am
Greg Swann says:
> Pleasantville was a courageous attempt at quality cinema…that worked in spite of the crap Hollywood spits out.
I went into it prepared to hate it. I thought it was just going to be another moral relativist’s expectoration-fest. I’m not completely in love with the argument — individualism can be defended intellectually and not just as an axiomatic intuition — but it’s refreshing to see anything come even close to these kinds of ideas. I watch pieces of this movie several times a week — no kidding.
July 1, 2007 — 12:11 pm