Reggie W

Re: Thoughts on Southland Tales

I liked it a lot too. I think the complaints about it are blown way out of proportion. There are a lot of ideas crammed into this film and I like that Kelly tried to do that. Also I wonder how many people understand that the film is a black comedy. Kelly likes satire it seems, he showed this in Donnie Darko and again here. I think the thing is that a lot of people ignored the satire in Darko and enjoyed the film for other reasons and here they get the satire again but this time in a much larger setting with far more characters.

To me Darko was a film that fans of American Beauty should have loved and vice versa. I think Southland Tales is sort of an update of one of my all time favorite films Dr. Strangelove. Wallace Shawn being sort of the Strangelove in this film. I'm not saying the films are the same but they are both black comedies about the end of the world with a goofball scientist in the middle of them. I see a lot more Kubrick in this film than I see Lynch. I also think like a lot of Kubrick films this film may not get much love now but over the years may come to be thought of in a better light.

It's not as perfect a film as Strangelove is because I think he just does not have enough time to cover all of the ideas he's trying to cram into a single film. I would say the fact that there were three graphic novels that led up to where the film starts indicates he was very much trying to create something far larger than was possible. I think the film does stand on its own and I have not read the novels. I did not find it confusing but I can see why people would as there is a kaleidoscope of ideas constantly rushing by and due to the short running time all he does is wink at these ideas. Karl Marx, Revelations, alternative fuels, 50s atomic noir, Bushco, Philip K. Dick, George Orwell, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, time travel, the 4th dimension, multiple winks at other films including his own Donnie Darko, making fun of Hollywood....I mean the list just goes on and on.

It's a lot for an audience to grasp and be able to laugh at, which was his intention. I really enjoyed it because it's the exact opposite of most of what comes out of Hollywood. Most films are based on one idea or gimmick (sometimes less) and then ham handedly executed. Kelly packs his film with ideas and then parodies the ham handed Hollywood style to turn things inside out.

I think people who enjoy films like Dr. Strangelove or O Lucky Man should enjoy this....but then again who knows.

I give the film a big thumbs up and I'm dressed like Caligula as I type this....