+15
The Wrestler is another character study, and who would have thought that the world of wrestling would provide such believable characters? I haven't really paid attention to wrestling since the 1970s, but the first two bouts in this film do provide the goods as far as both the violence (which seems to get mentioned a lot here) and especially the humor. These bouts are downright funny, and that was the main draw for watching wrestling when I was a kid anyway. I just thought is was really funny to see people "sneak up" on somebody or see the referees get creamed. Anyway, I should leave my personal anecdote aside and address Aranofsky's newest film. I believe everybody knows it involves an aging wrestler (Mickey Rourke) who is nearing the end of the line and is trying to find some semblance of normal life by romancing a stripper (Marisa Tomei) and making amends to his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood). The wrestler's other problems involve having financial problems and then learning that he has extreme health problems which will keep him from ever entering the ring again.
The Wrestler didn't really draw me in with the opening scenes because Aranofsky used the camera technique pioneered recently by the Dardenne brothers of following close behind the protagonist and following wherever he goes. I realize that it's meant to make the viewer feel inside the world of the character, but it often seems a substitute for having to actually focus on the character's face to not only see the world he sees but to see it reflected through his own eyes. (Besides, Dardenne brothers' movies seem to spend half of their time focusing on "walking around"; if I wanted to put the viewer into somebody's world, I'd use subjective camera rather than this stalker stuff.) Anyway, once the camera started to actually focus on the characters' faces, I felt more empathy for them and they came alive. There is a lot of unspoken life in all the characters' actions and reactions and it gives The Wrestler its quiet power. I liked all three main performances, even if I didn't fully understand their exact life situations, I could believe in them more than some of my own friends and family because sometimes it's really difficult to crack through the outer shells of those you "know". Mickey Rourke nails his role because you can see that he's made a lot of mistakes and he wants to make amends, but he just really has no experience at living any kind of "normal" life. All he knows is the life of a loner wrestler, and although he enjoys the camaraderie and the notoriety, he realizes it will never make him a whole man.
I saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon more than once at the theatre, and one of those times was with a close friend who couldn't accept the "flying". I loved most everything about it, especially not knowing or maybe even understanding what would happen next. If anything, the thing which separates it from most "kung fu" movies is that it's about forbidden love. Maybe all the love in the film isn't forbidden but the true love story in the film, the one between Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun Fat, is completely unfulfilled, at least physically. The younger couple ARE able to consummate their love, but it's for such a fleeting time that it should help to persuade one that Ang Lee has a hard time in believing that love can last. It should have been on my list but I did some rearranging to make room for some other movies.
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