One of those movies that no one has heard of but everyone loves. Poignant and funny and all that. But something is bothering me about it.
This will be spoilery. I can’t do invisi-text because text color alternates. So just don’t read on if you don’t want to.
Peter Reigert’s character goes to a small Scottish town. He is absolutely a parody of an American as seen by a Scott; the flattest of flat accents, the straightest of straight postures, and an acquisitions specialist to boot. Gradually, he falls in love with the life of this town, a process that is barely visible because he largely stays rigid and focused.
Burt Lancaster is Reigert’s boss; the hereditary head of a huge oil company. He is eccentric and dreamy, with a fascination for astronomy.
I don’t mind, really, that the movie ends without Reigert fulfilling his dreams, or even exercising his right to have them. The poignance of bringing nothing home but seashells and a view of the sky is the right note to play. What is bothering me is that, beneath all this sweetness is a deeply cynical core. The only people genuinely capable of having and persuing dreams can do so because of wealth. If you own an oil company, or a very valuable piece of real estate, dream of happiness. If you don’t, suck up and follow orders.
I wonder how much of this was intentional. I wonder if the filmmaker planned this statement about wealth. Otherwise, it was a terrible mistake to make the ability to find happiness dependent upon wealth.
But what about the guy on the beach? He lived in a shack and owned nothing…. but he was the happiest, most content person in the whole movie.
He owned 4-5 miles of beachfront. That’s how he managed to be happy and content, and that’s how he got Lancaster to negotiate with him, and that’s how he saved the town from the refinery.
See, if he’d just been a guy on the beach, then the message of contentment would have been meaningful, because it wouldn’t have been tied to wealth.
I missed the topic of “little movies” the first time, so let me recommend “Blood and Doughnuts” (video only, no DVD yet). It’s simply THE best vampire movie. Evah!
Must see!
Thanks. Another one I never heard of! 🙂
Wow. I really have found a kindred spirit ;o) . I came to your website because I’m SO impressed by _Elements of Ritual_, and here I find a blog statement dealing with cynicism, dreams and money. Maybe it’s an age thing. As a person who’s going to grad school later in life, I have a reputation among my classmates as being cynical. I just consider myself realistic and tell them they’ll understand when they get older. Anyway, I just wanted to say that reading your book and your blog I thought – “WOW! A person who thinks like I do! A pagan leader I can respect!” Kudos.
Thanks, Liz, that’s great to hear. I’m totally an optimist, but I’m an optimist who looks at the world realistically and describes it bluntly.
Anyway, glad you like the book. I hope you like The Way of Four as well. 🙂