The Shape of Things (1 Viewer)

[Lanny_B]

The Shape of Things
Quicktime Trailer on Apple.com
Rotten Tomatoes page

I haven't come to finalize my feelings on this movie yet, so I wanted to discuss it. I just rented it on DVD, and it was interesting to say the least. Slightly disturbing as well.


*Spoilers*





After this movie I did feel a little "used", and the feeling that the director had contempt for his audience, yet maybe that was his point. But does that make it good? I found myself spending the next few hours going over in my head how I would argue with Evelyn at the end. She obviously did something wrong, yet in her own self-righteous, prideful way she backed herself up as doing it all for art. I think in the end she proved that the quote on the wall "Morality has no place in art" (if I'm misquoting that, please correct me) is false, and this is a perfect example. If what she did was art, it was destructive, manipulative, and degrading.

I found that message to be the more bothersome and disturbing than the one she herself was trying to present as her thesis - that people are too focussed on the shape and surface of things. To be honest, mostly all I wanted was a way to prove to her that she was wrong.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Like most limited-release films, this one did not get an official thread, because there wouldn't be enough traffic to support it. It was discussed at some length in the 2003 Foreign, Alternative and Independent Films . Check the index on the first page.

If you'd like me to merge your review with the prior discussion, just let me know.

M.

 

[Brook K]

There also was recent disussion of the film in the "Expanding Your Horizons" thread.

Still the best film I've seen from 2003.

 

[SteveGon]

If what she did was art, it was destructive, manipulative, and degrading.

Yes it was and Evelyn's actions run contrary to what I think an artist should strive for: to entertain and enlighten. However, I will concede that this is a multi-faceted issue. I'm not sure if it's the best film of 2003, but TSOT did serve up some food for thought. For that, I respect it.

 

[Seth--L]

I saw this in the theaters, way back in I think May. I disliked it quite a bit - there was no subtext, everything was on the surface, practically predigested for you. There was really little point to actually seeing the movie. Besides being "filmed theater", everything the director said and wanted the audience to debate could have been summed up in a paragraph.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Having seen all of Neil LaBute’s films, he returns to the earlier themes of In The Company Of Men, while turning the tables at the same time and much more. The Shape of Things provokes maybe not so much for its verbal cruelty as it is for the piercing truth in what it has to say with the emotional honesty about human relationships and the world of art that it tries to examine.

I especially liked LaBute’s visual acuity with the use of long takes to focus on his characters.

Is Evelyn really that cruel? If so then, why does everyone benefit from her actions? Who do we identify with - Adam’s anger and feeling of manipulatively being deceived or Rachel as she slowly correct (or reveal) another person’s imperfections for that person and others to see as far as whom they really are? Or both? With the latter, isn’t human nature to be, in one form or another, in the giving and receiving end of such actions and makeovers?

It will be easy to miss the deeper meanings of what Neil LaBute is trying to say if one only focuses on the surface and the overall shape of things.

~Edwin

 

[Robert_Z]

There was really little point to actually seeing the movie.

Really? Geez, now I feel guilty for actually liking it. This is a great movie.

And on a side note: Damn, Rachel Weisz is HOT!

 

[MichaelPe]

the quote on the wall "Morality has no place in art" (if I'm misquoting that, please correct me)

Well, just being my nitpicky self...

“Moralists have no place in an art gallery.” -Han Suyin