+8
With the talk of realism in the first ten minutes of Take This Waltz and most of y'all disliking it, I guess I'd just like to say that while not realistic, it felt like early symbolism and a mirror into Williams' character's mind. She's clearly damaged goods, and the dude could have been any vice that grabs you when you are looking for an escape. It almost, to me, felt like it could have been an allegory for alcoholism. It was always around, and she really wanted a taste, but knew better. She knew better, but she flirted with it over and over again. I know the metaphor doesn't hold up when you consider it's her first time doing it, but I was getting those vibes, probably because Sarah Silverman played a literal alcoholic. By the way this is kind of me going stream of consciousness in an attempt to get out how I feel about this film without filtering anything out, so if it's stuffy, repetitive, or nonsensical, that's why. Despite the realism not necessarily being the main focus, a lot of focus was clearly put on the human experience. Seth Rogen's scene where he runs through all the stages of grief in a single montage was a great moment, and I don't think that scene was probably even intended to be edited that way. I think that could have just been Polley asking Rogen to adlib, and then deciding to use more than one of those moments... or maybe she had a really good idea and executed it well. Even better than that, and my favorite moment of the film, was Williams' describing rays of light depressing her for no discernible reason. I think I probably deal with depression, but I don't know if every person deals with depression, I feel like we all do. So that moment to me, was pretty powerful. I was like, holy sh*t, I know that I can relate to that sh*t. It makes sense too, because she is clearly lost in life, she doesn't know what she really wants, and I feel the same way a lot of times. It can be a painful thing to deal with, and sometimes a culmination of life pressing down on you and a seemingly small trigger can really lead to brief (sometimes prolonged) moments of devastation. I also think the conversation on the plane was more symbolic than realistic. She was pretty obviously describing more than just being afraid of terminals, and I don't mind the fact that most people wouldn't open up to strangers like that. I don't think realism is necessary all the time in films, and in this case, it works better that it's not realistic. It starts their relationship off on a blazing path of intensity, and you can really feel that intensity. That's why I likened it to an alcoholic feeling that urge to grab a bottle. It's probably been a week or more since I saw it, so I am already a little hazy on some of the details. My mind is whatever the opposite of a steel trap is.