|
Bigger Than Life Sigh. Yet another 50's melodrama. OK, I know, go below the surface and there's all kinds of socio-political commentary about all kinds of things. But, I've got to be honest. I don't care! I love subtext and deep meaning, but the film has to work on the surface level for me to want to dig deeper. If Vertigo didn't work as an interesting surface film, then all of the great symbolism wouldn't mean a thing.
This is well-done 50's melodrama (just like most of the others on the S&S list), but well-done melodrama is still melodrama. If you hate bull fries, then no matter how great a gourmet chef is who prepares them, you still won't like them.
Compared to other Ray films, this is light years better than Johnny Guitar, and nowhere near as good as In a Lonely Place. It's about par with Rebel without a Cause, another overwrought 50's melodrama.
I remain baffled by the inclusion of this film on the S&S list, and frankly, astounded by the number of similar films that occupy far too large a percentage of the slots on this list.
"Movies should be like amusement parks. People should go to them to have fun." - Billy Wilder
"Subtitles good. Hollywood bad." - Tarzan, Sight & Sound 2012 voter.
"My films are not slices of life, they are pieces of cake." - Alfred Hitchcock
"My great humility is just one of the many reasons that I am vastly superior to everyone else." - Ramrod Clerk
|