Happy 2015 everyone! Not written a thing for far too long, in fact 2014 was rubbish for me writing and is something I'll try and rectify. I find I only write about things I have a vested interest in or thoughts on I can't summarize in a tweet - which is few and far between. In fact I've been winging it since my first two posts which were the only reason I bothered with a blog!
Anyway, getting right back into the swing of things I thought I'd do a write up of a couple of films I've seen recently that somewhat resonated with me, for good or bad - and they are by the interesting and to an extent, extreme Director Lars von Trier.
His most recent releases were the controversial Nymphomaniac, which is so long it's split into two parts. It stars well known stars such as Shia LaBeouf, Willem Dafoe, Jamie Bell, Christian Slater and Uma Thurman. As the title suggests, it is largely based on sex, and the story of a woman's life as she battles with what can be a hugely destructive situation. It's made well, and is quite direct with its messages, but it's pretty bleak, slow moving and ultimately downbeat. This should not surprise you as this is part of von Trier's 'Depression Trilogy' with the previous films, Melancholy and Antichrist.
Melancholy I also watched very recently staring Kirsten Dunst who is utterly brilliant, Keifer Sutherland and Alexander Skarsgard. And true to form whilst the story is totally different to Nymphomaniac they share many of the same themes. If you can handle films that deals with these themes of loneliness, depression, self hate, and bleakness, then I recommend the watch.
It's curious how films resonate with people, and can cause lasting impressions and what people take away from it. Superhero films can be empowering, love films influence happy endings in real life and endless optimism, whilst many of us can look back on a variety of films from our past and associate it with fond memories.
Well this trilogy did the same with me, which I'm not sure was even the intention - Lars, a known sufferer of depression, obviously found these films as a way to express his feelings and perhaps elements of his past (metaphorically I would envisage), which at the same time making films that encapsulate a wider audience and I suppose for them to ultimately, enjoy. We've all seen films that are bleak, violent, scary, or just horrible and found them to be great, it's strange - well in my mind anyway!
Going back to what I was bumbling on about, these films were interesting to an extent, I played Spider Solitaire throughout whilst watching (4 suits, get at me), which would indicate a lack of interest but I find I always do that to keep my mind moving. Which probably makes me mental. But let's save that for another time.
However what I found most interesting was that after of each of the films I was still thinking fairly intensely about them and what they meant to me. I said how things resonate with different people, I think a love film will impact a man in love with a woman, and to encourage them to keep their spark alive (not suggesting it's dying, just you know, reinvigorate it) more so than that same man who would watch it when single. I know it probably seems obvious, but what I'm trying to outline is situations impact us more than we probably realise. Well this is my 'love film' when in a non existent relationship!
I don't like fully laying it all bare, as it's a bit self pitying and attention seeking (in my eyes, it's part of my many failings), yet still surely even a blog post is in the same vein - ah the endless cycle and ends in self doubt! However some of you have read a couple of my other posts so know that depression isn't an alien concept to me, to say the least (I like to think I cope much better now). Well the same can be applied to loneliness (and let's not discount that the two are not mutually exclusive), and these films certainly made me consider that more than usual. I watch alot of films, I love films, I've seen good and bad, happy and sad, optimistic and end of the world films - yet none have triggered these considerations before. Which therefore makes me feel that these films are far more powerful than I thought whilst watching, even as I write this I'm still thinking of them and the themes, which I think is a good sign.
As usual, if you're still reading and stuck with me, then thank you, but you'll notice the chaos of this post and it's lack of actual direction - as I didn't have an agenda, except that I guess it's to say if you get a chance and feel you could handle it, watch these films. Watch more films that might impact you more than you would normally push yourself, find those films that you can relate to, try to do at least 1 that you might flick over in Netflix normally without a second thought, but go back and give it a go. Try and unsettle yourself and see what it does, you could be surprised with the results.
Will try and write something more driven and specific next time!
