I just came from the movies. Our goal was to watch Alice but tickets were sold out. Some of us wanted to go see "Valentine's Day". Having just come out from a relationship, I REALLY didn't feel like sitting through it. So, we ended going to "Whatever works"!
A little background: As a kid, I enjoyed watching "Sleeper". Again, as a kid. I had no idea what was going on, especially since English isn't my mother tongue. I enjoyed it because it made me laugh and I liked seeing the futuristic ideas present in the movie.
A few years back, a friend "forced" me to watch "Anything Else". He said it was awesome, so I watched it. I didn't really relate to it, but acknowledged that it had some merit.
And that is my Woody Allen experience all summed up.
Back to tonight, I went into this movie not even caring if it was good or bad. I didn't know what it was about. I really didn't know what to expect. And was I surprised
Now, I don't know if it has anything to do with my state of mind right now, but the message really dug itself into me. Presented as a comedy, it approaches some very important issues of society, but in a healthy way.
I'm not going into details since some people may not have watched it yet, but I will talk about my favourite part of the entire movie: the constant 4th wall breaking!
The main character constantly talks directly to the camera and speaks directly to the audience, even going to the point where he attempts to convince other people that we are there, even though he's unable to (the conclusion of his wall breaking was just... delicious!). This, for me, is a constant, bucket-of-ice-water-in-the-face reminder that we aren't there to relate to a character, the movie isn't aimed at making us feel better with ourselves just because we can relate to a character. No, he's there to make sure we understand the way he sees the world and, especially, why.
And that is a big difference. For one thing is to show something through our perspective, trying to make others relate to ourselves. Another thing entirely different is to show something but making sure the observer knows that he or she is doing just that, observing a situation.
Although I don't personally agree with some of the views exposed in the movie (mainly in regards to the meaning of life itself), I'll admit that it is incredibly refreshing to see something that defies us to break the rules set out by society and grab to whatever we can in order to achieve a sense of happiness, albeit temporary as it might be.
I highly recommend people to watch it. If not anything else, it will provide you with some healthy laughter. With luck, it will poke you to reflect on a few things, as it has done to me.
I'll see you around!
Kiauze ;)
