After finishing some errands, I happened to catch One Potato, Two Potato on Turner Classic Movies tonight for the first time. It is an amazing, powerful, and moving film.
Unlike many of the reviews here, seeing this movie made in 1964 now, in 2009, is a very different experience. It is almost like watching science-fiction in reverse, as if you're watching a world that couldn't possibly be real because it is so twisted, cruel, and distorted. And yet it was, and in some ways, still is.
The movie is also jarring because it runs more like a documentary than a Hollywood movie. The acting by the main characters is superb, but the production itself is simple, and that, combined with some less experienced supporting actors combines to give the movie a raw feel that actually amplifies the intensity of the emotions portrayed because they come across as genuine instead of polished. And toward the end, I kept rooting for some salve of mercy or a more typical Hollywood ending, but what we get is ever so much more powerful.
And finally, the movie is jarring because it's the first credited screen appearance of Richard Mulligan in a role completely different from his later persona. That too, adds to the alternate universe feeling to this movie.
A truly wonderful film. Hopefully, it is being archived by the American Film Institute, or the Smithsonian, because it so accurately portrays a tormented period of American life. Historically, there was far more torment to come, but movies like this provided a spark that may someday truly lead to a world in which people respect each other as people, and not for an irrelevant characteristic, however relevant that characteristic may be socially.
Unlike many of the reviews here, seeing this movie made in 1964 now, in 2009, is a very different experience. It is almost like watching science-fiction in reverse, as if you're watching a world that couldn't possibly be real because it is so twisted, cruel, and distorted. And yet it was, and in some ways, still is.
The movie is also jarring because it runs more like a documentary than a Hollywood movie. The acting by the main characters is superb, but the production itself is simple, and that, combined with some less experienced supporting actors combines to give the movie a raw feel that actually amplifies the intensity of the emotions portrayed because they come across as genuine instead of polished. And toward the end, I kept rooting for some salve of mercy or a more typical Hollywood ending, but what we get is ever so much more powerful.
And finally, the movie is jarring because it's the first credited screen appearance of Richard Mulligan in a role completely different from his later persona. That too, adds to the alternate universe feeling to this movie.
A truly wonderful film. Hopefully, it is being archived by the American Film Institute, or the Smithsonian, because it so accurately portrays a tormented period of American life. Historically, there was far more torment to come, but movies like this provided a spark that may someday truly lead to a world in which people respect each other as people, and not for an irrelevant characteristic, however relevant that characteristic may be socially.