tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post5236525886403186556..comments2024-03-27T21:42:56.131-05:00Comments on 1001plus: Play it All Night LongSJHoneywellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-5787539682984273642011-07-08T20:57:13.987-05:002011-07-08T20:57:13.987-05:00Perhaps I'm more cynical than you--I see where...Perhaps I'm more cynical than you--I see where you're going, but I see the actions differently. I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-39855429835482775192011-07-08T02:42:45.535-05:002011-07-08T02:42:45.535-05:00I must disagree that Baines only ever viewed Ada a...I must disagree that Baines only ever viewed Ada as an object. Sure it was that way at first, but he clearly grew to love her, and she him. If she was only a sex object, he would have kept using his leverage over her, her beloved piano, to force her to have sex with him. Midway through the film, he gives her back the piano. This obviously symbolizes him giving her back her soul and her voice, what the piano clearly represents. He does this because he does not want a "whore," he does not merely want her body, he wants her soul, freely given. And she gives it, despite the risk, because she loves him. Also, lets not forget that she also stereotyped and looked down upon him at first. Remember how at first she did not want to give him lessons because he was a "barbarian" who could not read? Her wealthy White educated status caused her to make him an object as well until they really got to understand one another.Kurosawa_Lovernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-91389434994369250822011-07-08T00:59:08.831-05:002011-07-08T00:59:08.831-05:00I see the points--and yes, she does achieve some m...I see the points--and yes, she does achieve some measure of her own emotional and sexual destiny by the end of the film--but in some ways, it almost feels as if she is forced into it. It might be unrealistic, but I'd have liked to see her reject both of them in the end. Her husband deserves rejection because he is abusive and domineering. Baines deserves it because for so long he viewed her as a prize and an object, and there's no real proof that he views her any other way. It's noteworthy that at the end, that he doesn't dive in after her; like her piano, she's just an object he no longer has. A treasured one, perhaps, but still just an object.<br /><br />Of course, his attitudes aren't important to whether or not the film is a feminist expression--it's her story, after all. So maybe we're both right here. From Ada's point of view, it truly is a feminist film. But the attitudes of everyone else are the exact sort of thing that tend to be decried.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-61556971088856994772011-07-07T20:25:37.423-05:002011-07-07T20:25:37.423-05:00You make some very good points. Yes, the romance i...You make some very good points. Yes, the romance is a bit spoiled due to the fact that it really involves the only attractive Whites on the whole island (why Keitel's character wouldn't want a Maori woman doesnt make sense based on his character. I had the same worries as you did that this film had an ANTI-feminist message...at first. However, upon thinking on it I realized that this film is feminist because it portrays the reality of these times, when women were essentially sexual slaves. Having a fully independent woman in this time would be unrealistic. The fact that she manages to achieve some sense of a voice through self-expression in art, the fact that she chooses (and in the end it is her choice) to have an affair in order to achieve a sexual awakening despite social moraes, and the fact that after being brutalized by a man her will is strong enough to choose life over death, these make Hunter's character a true feminist character. IMO. Great review btw.Kurosawa_Lovernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-40685155761391204542011-07-07T20:06:52.421-05:002011-07-07T20:06:52.421-05:00The Piano is an unusual movie for sure, and Paquin...The Piano is an unusual movie for sure, and Paquin's performance is amazing, let alone for an 11 year old.Klaushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05006608076041962884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-70306945987978799942011-07-03T11:46:13.012-05:002011-07-03T11:46:13.012-05:00Helen Hunt is rather good in "As Good As It G...Helen Hunt is rather good in "As Good As It Gets" .. but aside from that, she seems very ... "white-trashy" haha.<br /><br />I need to see "The Piano" .. I believe it's on my 365 film list.<br /><br />Keep up the good work Steve - be backs soon.Sam Fragosohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09974858608988634583noreply@blogger.com