Whereas saying it is all about sex would be to unnecessarily narrow the statement, acknowledging that it is all about love is perhaps an accurate description of the essence of art. Love is also the essence of good life as good life is a form of art in that good life transcends derivative and common, and accentuates innovative and universal traits of an individual's character. Being the ultimate project in life, it is important to get love right. It is unlikely that it comes out right from the first attempt and one should treasure all the signals about what is right for one and what is wrong, whichever form these signals take. Generating these signals involves taking risks and being creative, which are the subjects of this Woody Allen's picture.
Mr Allen's pictures are better when he engages European actors, who are typically better trained than American ones; this training is an asset given the minimal direction that Mr Allen gives. The film is well done. It is not polished; but its roughness cannot be mistaken for sloppiness.
30 August 2008
6 August 2008
Roman Holiday (1953)
The picture is better than one may have expected. Gregory Peck's minimalist manner is derivative of Cary Grant's manner. Nonetheless, Mr Peck's version is executed well. Audrey Hepburn is charming, but not debilitatingly so as in the Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). Her performance is more mature, less grotesque here than in some of her later pictures. Miss Hepburn's performance in the first scene after she returns home is impeccable.
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