but that would imply Ebert, Maltin, et al. are morons. And that's not what I intend to write about. ;-)
This film is one of my favorites because it deals with animistic archetypes as living essences of Nature- and they're all around us all the time, even in our stultified modern lives......invisible to all. It's really perfectly pagan with a dash of the ancient gods, nymphs, etc., which is what the Girl really is- like Venus born of the foam of the Sea- and hints at exactly what Powers lie sleeping within...all of us.
Our hero, Alan is a typical well-behaved English plodder, utterly predictable and boring, even a boring name- with only one passion- and it isn't love- or so he thinks. It is for his antique business and finding obscure and rare pieces.
Like Ali Baba, he does just that, and somehow unleashes a Genie that in turn will unleash the passionate, loving Man lurking, sleeping in him- which will awaken him from his walking sleep.
It's been a good 10 years since I've seen this film. I hope it is available in DVD at some point. It really is a superb piece of work.
This film is one of my favorites because it deals with animistic archetypes as living essences of Nature- and they're all around us all the time, even in our stultified modern lives......invisible to all. It's really perfectly pagan with a dash of the ancient gods, nymphs, etc., which is what the Girl really is- like Venus born of the foam of the Sea- and hints at exactly what Powers lie sleeping within...all of us.
Our hero, Alan is a typical well-behaved English plodder, utterly predictable and boring, even a boring name- with only one passion- and it isn't love- or so he thinks. It is for his antique business and finding obscure and rare pieces.
Like Ali Baba, he does just that, and somehow unleashes a Genie that in turn will unleash the passionate, loving Man lurking, sleeping in him- which will awaken him from his walking sleep.
It's been a good 10 years since I've seen this film. I hope it is available in DVD at some point. It really is a superb piece of work.