By Kevin B. Lee
For this video essay, I’m especially pleased to have as guest commentator someone who I’ve known for almost as long as I’ve been discussing movies on the Internet. Back when I was a frequent visitor on the IMDb Classic Film board, I considered Christianne Benedict—known there as Chris-435—to be one of the most readable and down-to-earth participants around. Chris’ enthusiasm for movies really comes through in her writing, especially when it comes to horror. You can find many of Chris’ writings at krelllabs.blogspot.com
Kevin B. Lee is a filmmaker based in New York City. He has written for Cinema-Scope, The Chicago Reader, Senses of Cinema and Slant. His website is www.alsolikelife.com.
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4 comments:
Excellent video essay. Because I read "Garp" before the movie came out, I only see the film as an adaptation of the novel. I've never really considered Roberta in the context of how transsexuals are usually depicted on film.
As you alluded in your essay, many of the qualities of Roberta's character can be found in Irving's novel: she really is the soul of the book. This is not to take away from Lithgow's performance, which tackles what must have seemed on paper to be an almost unplayable part with grace and gravity.
This is an original way into a film that is -- as you said in your written accompaniment -- a problematic movie adapted from a problematic book whose time-capsule qualities have overwhelmed its considerable merits as a well-told story. I didn't know that Lithgow viewed this performance as a partial apology for his work in "Blow Out." That's fascinating and says a lot about him as a person and an artist. "Blow Out" is a great movie -- one of De Palma's best -- but to be sure, that director will never be acclaimed for his sensitivity to real-world psychology.
What an odd meeting. I started reading House because of the Mad Men blogging connection, and here I find Kevin & Chris, my old friends from IMDb. Not so small a world perhaps, all movie freaks, but still.
Dehlia, so good to find you here too! I need to catch up with those Mad Men blogs, if only to supplement my unbridled enthusiasm for that show with some critical insight.
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