This is a first in a project I am attempting that is to review every film I see.
1973 was a very good year for cinema. Two of cinemas greats made two of the best films every made. Martin Scorsese and Terence Malick each made their forays into cinema with ' Mean Streets ' and 'Badlands ' respectively. Also made in that year was Peter Bogdanovich's film ' Paper Moon '.
In 2010 most people might know him as the guy who appeared in an episode of the sitcom ' How I Met Your Mother ' but back in the 70's he was a director of " New Hollywood ". He belonged to a group of directors that made different kinds of movies . Like the French and German new wave.
Paper moon is a simple movie with simple dialogs. It is not full of metaphors or existential dialog or the philosophical musings that are part of Bergman's films. It is at it's simplest a road movie. It has all the delights of a road movie. Interesting characters and good relationships. It is very hard to make Paper Moon. It is very hard to make a movie with a heart. Movies like Amelie and Paper Moon can go horribly wrong and end up like some extremely melodramatic and over the top Hollywood tearjerker.
However Paper Moon succeeds. Why does it succeed ? The great chemistry in the film by the father - daughter pair. The beautiful photography but mostly because the director cares for his characters.
We could all be hating Moses. Moses is a guy who sells Bibles to widows for a living. But somehow we overlook this fact . We take delight in him along with his daughter swindling all and sundry and traversing the road of America. But good times do not last. There has to be some conflict and a final resolution.
One of the reviewers commented on how this movie never ages and that is quite true. I could see myself watching this movie twenty years from now. The freshness of this movie will never leave it. It is ironic that the director commented that this movie had aged before it had released. Maybe that is true. It retains the 1930 ' s look . It retains the depression era feel but it juxtaposes it with such beauty and warmth that in the end you have a big goofy and contented smile.
1973 was a very good year for cinema. Two of cinemas greats made two of the best films every made. Martin Scorsese and Terence Malick each made their forays into cinema with ' Mean Streets ' and 'Badlands ' respectively. Also made in that year was Peter Bogdanovich's film ' Paper Moon '.
In 2010 most people might know him as the guy who appeared in an episode of the sitcom ' How I Met Your Mother ' but back in the 70's he was a director of " New Hollywood ". He belonged to a group of directors that made different kinds of movies . Like the French and German new wave.
Paper moon is a simple movie with simple dialogs. It is not full of metaphors or existential dialog or the philosophical musings that are part of Bergman's films. It is at it's simplest a road movie. It has all the delights of a road movie. Interesting characters and good relationships. It is very hard to make Paper Moon. It is very hard to make a movie with a heart. Movies like Amelie and Paper Moon can go horribly wrong and end up like some extremely melodramatic and over the top Hollywood tearjerker.
However Paper Moon succeeds. Why does it succeed ? The great chemistry in the film by the father - daughter pair. The beautiful photography but mostly because the director cares for his characters.
We could all be hating Moses. Moses is a guy who sells Bibles to widows for a living. But somehow we overlook this fact . We take delight in him along with his daughter swindling all and sundry and traversing the road of America. But good times do not last. There has to be some conflict and a final resolution.
One of the reviewers commented on how this movie never ages and that is quite true. I could see myself watching this movie twenty years from now. The freshness of this movie will never leave it. It is ironic that the director commented that this movie had aged before it had released. Maybe that is true. It retains the 1930 ' s look . It retains the depression era feel but it juxtaposes it with such beauty and warmth that in the end you have a big goofy and contented smile.