Sunset Boulevard: Centennial Collection
I've waited long enough and I just can't wait anymore. I'm so excited to finally see this movie. It's iconic for reasons I really don't know or understand and I'm ready to be let in on it's secret.
After having watched the movie:
(Possible spoilers below)
At times it's really hard to put into words what I had expected a movie to be before I started watching it. The biggest surprise for me was how tragic this movie was. I never really anticipated seeing the downside of a fallen star and watching as everyone around her worked endlessly to maintain the charade that this once idolized woman has been forgotten about.
There were a couple of times in the story though when I thought, if I were Joe at what point would this all become too much for me? I don't really understand why at a certain point in the movie someone doesn't step in, do this woman a favor and check her into Promises. (Promises is one of the lush celebrity rehabilitation centers in California.) I know these are things that people didn't really talk about, it was something that you kept within the family, but people still went to these facilities. Really, the hired help is only fanning the flames by continuing to write all of the "fan letters." It's not really a good idea to continue to treat, "bouts of melancholy" by continuing to keep this illusion that everything is okay. The real tragedy isn't that we see this fallen star realize her fifteen minutes in the spot light has ended hours ago, but that no one steps in before it is too late to really offer her the kind of help she needs.
I watched and talked about the with Wil after having watched it together. I've found sometimes that it's a little more difficult when I have conversations with people about the movies to write afterwards. I'll have these great conversations with people about how I felt about the movie after watching it, and as a result I tend to leave a lot out of the article. I think perhaps because I feel like I'm just repeating what I've already said once before? On the contrary though, it does provide a different perspective on the movies.
A few of the things Wil and I kind of talked about during and after the movie, was how much easier we have started to find it to be to watch older movies now. There was a time when I would have rather put together a puzzle than watch an old movie. Of course I was younger then, and felt that because the movies were made years ago they would be lacking something. Now that I'm older and have seen more "old movies" I feel like it's the exact opposite. For example, an inappropriate relationship between a married man or woman and single member of the opposite sex are implied. It was rare to see inside a married couples bedroom, even though we all realize what goes on behind closed doors. I think leaving a lot of these things to be implied gives the movie a certain kind of charm that we see in many modern movies today. Despite the fact that it was never mentioned in the movie and we saw Joe actually had a separate bedroom in the house, I was under the impression that Joe was intimately involved with Norma.
Another rather interesting thing that came up in the conversation because this movie is regarded as a classic, was the discussion about remakes. Personally, as long as there is some element that can be better enhanced, interpreted, or we have found a new way to tell the same story I don't have a problem with remakes. One of the films I would kill to see remade is Metropolis. I think that in the right hands and with the right circumstances it could be such a powerful film today. Sunset Blvd. however is one of the movies that I don't think we could find a way to make it better than the original movie. Wil even pointed out that it would be amazing to see someone like Susan Sarandon or Glen Close play the lead, but with the exception of a few new faces I don't think a remake could better enhance or tell this story.
Final thoughts: Sunset Blvd. is an amazing tragic story of a fallen Hollywood star that was done so great the first time, it is something everyone should see and not dare try to remake.
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Next up: Sin City
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