looking over some of the other comments here, i was confused. how could such a sophisticated treatment of a tabloid nightmare attract such vitriol? i just did not understand the response. so i started looking at some of the other movies people who've commented on this one like and after the third time i saw DOMINO get a rave in a user comment profile i stopped reading. this is why over the years i have not been moved to put my mark on IMDb, but this just made me mad. not every movie is for everyone and people who are looking for something a little out of the ordinary end up bypassing movies like this because a person whose taste is not in sync with a movie like MRS. HARRIS trashes it on a site where everybody and anybody thinks they are critics.
all opinions are valid. i'm not saying they're not. we should stick to our opinions and not present our imperfect understanding of what goes in to making a movie as the bible truth.
that said, i'll throw my two cents into the ring. MRS HARRIS takes a great many chances with narrative style, tone, blurring the line between fact and fiction and asking us to reconsider the boundaries of things like brutality, masochism, and how movies usually present things like murder. it's for me as much a movie about how we are conditioned to watch movies about relationships and violence as anything else.
the performances are really incredible, the best i've seen from many of these actors. for people to say the direction and writing are bad is really an injustice. it's a wonderful script, sharp, intelligent, sad and so horribly funny. that's the point, i believe, that the moves from black comedy to drama are done on purpose. it's too carefully made to be anything other than that. with performances like the ones from bening, kingsley, leachman and many others, how anybody can say the direction is bad is beyond me. also the music, the choice of songs, is first rate, the photography and the costumes are, too.
is it a perfect movie? no, it's not, but it's an exciting one that pushes more than a few boundaries and for me that rates an 'excellent.' i haven't seen any perfect movies and i hope i never do because when i do i will stop watching.
all opinions are valid. i'm not saying they're not. we should stick to our opinions and not present our imperfect understanding of what goes in to making a movie as the bible truth.
that said, i'll throw my two cents into the ring. MRS HARRIS takes a great many chances with narrative style, tone, blurring the line between fact and fiction and asking us to reconsider the boundaries of things like brutality, masochism, and how movies usually present things like murder. it's for me as much a movie about how we are conditioned to watch movies about relationships and violence as anything else.
the performances are really incredible, the best i've seen from many of these actors. for people to say the direction and writing are bad is really an injustice. it's a wonderful script, sharp, intelligent, sad and so horribly funny. that's the point, i believe, that the moves from black comedy to drama are done on purpose. it's too carefully made to be anything other than that. with performances like the ones from bening, kingsley, leachman and many others, how anybody can say the direction is bad is beyond me. also the music, the choice of songs, is first rate, the photography and the costumes are, too.
is it a perfect movie? no, it's not, but it's an exciting one that pushes more than a few boundaries and for me that rates an 'excellent.' i haven't seen any perfect movies and i hope i never do because when i do i will stop watching.