| Posted by: auge_28 at February 4, 2008, 6:27 pm | | Topic: The Lost Weekend . . . Forum: JoBlo | | Quote: Originally Posted by Le_Big_Mac . . . It would have been better if the ending wasn't so uplifting. I guess we should just be grateful that back then, Hollywood even accepted such daring projects so often. Just a year before the film the novel was published and made both a big hit and a big controversy as in the book Birnam was tormented by a homosexual incident in college. The trailer for the film talked a great deal about the controversial novel as hype. I agree, the film would have been that much better had it stuck with the Noir traditional ending for this type of story . . . a more realistic ending. Folks have issues, these folks very seldom get over there issues . . . thats how real life works. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: Le_Big_Mac at February 4, 2008, 6:07 pm | | Topic: The Lost Weekend . . . Forum: JoBlo | | Overall, a good movie. Ray Milland gives a strong performance that probably deserved the Oscar. Wilder puts forth his usual great ending. And the sequence in the hospital (?) is pretty fucking scary. It would have been better if the ending wasn't so uplifting. I guess we should just be grateful that back then, Hollywood even accepted such daring projects so often. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: auge_28 at February 4, 2008, 5:03 pm | | Topic: The Lost Weekend . . . Forum: JoBlo | | Quote: Originally Posted by Derek237 Considering the movie is over 50 years old, it was a pretty daring look at alcoholism. I didn't really buy the ending though...too easy of a solution to a really serious problem. Then again I haven't seen it in 5 years so maybe if I watched it again I'd think differently. No, you are right. But remember, this is wartime (the last year actually) and Wilder was a German expatriate . . . Perhaps he wanted to pull away from the hopelessness exhibited in most of the dramas of this period . . . anybody who studied Film Noir knows what the hell I am talking about. Of course I never read about his motivation to end this film on a positive note, he certainly got over that desire when filming Sunset Boulevard. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: Derek237 at February 4, 2008, 4:32 pm | | Topic: The Lost Weekend . . . Forum: JoBlo | | Considering the movie is over 50 years old, it was a pretty daring look at alcoholism. I didn't really buy the ending though...too easy of a solution to a really serious problem. Then again I haven't seen it in 5 years so maybe if I watched it again I'd think differently. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: auge_28 at February 4, 2008, 4:03 pm | | Topic: The Lost Weekend . . . Forum: JoBlo | | Another winner from one of my favorite film makers Billy Wilder, I have yet to see a film by this guy I don't like. I have also yet to see a film noir that impressed me as much as his 1950 hit Sunset Boulevard. but we can talk about this film in another thread if we want. I watched The Lost Weekend for the first time over the weekend. You probably do not need me to tell ya that The Lost Weekend was a major award winner way back in 1945 . . . and with good reason. If you have yet to see this film I suggest you do so. This is not your typical Noir, there are no detectives or gangsters . . . nope, it's the other kind of Noir, you know the one were a man battles his personal demons and all to often loses. I am not going to tell you much more about this film here as I could never do a Wilder film justice by typing a hand full of paragraphs. Just make a list and watch as many as you can . . . don't argue, just do it. | | Static Link |
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