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Comfort food as a movie
Pros
Set design, costumes, dialog, all of it
Cons
VHS/ regular TV cut off much of the scene far left and right
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
If you are feeling cold and sad and in need of macaroni and cheese with chocolate milk and cake, this works for me, might for you.
This movie is unlike anything I have ever seen. But this film is technically "before my time" so there may be others. I think Lucille Ball is a great actress but her version of Auntie Mame was not this happy and colorful, sophisticated and sleek.
**This is an update for anyone who is curious about what it is "about": Its a valid question because what its about is very sweet. A boy is alone with his maid after his father, a widower, passes away, and goes to his eccentric Auntie to live. The father makes it clear, in his ultra conservative way and Will, he is not happy that Mame is his closest relative, but sends the boy to her anyway. Of course she is unprepared to deal with a little boy. The story is how she learns how invaluable it is to have her own family, someone who needs and loves her and brings out the best in her- a best she never knew she had. Of course she has to fight the forces of prejudice and small mindedness in the man the father designated as the means of distributing the money from his bank- and that man is determined to have her raise a small minded little bigot. How does she fight this through the world's ups and downs.. well go see it. :)
The first thing that struck me were the long long takes. This cast was most of the original Broadway cast from what I know. So they knew their lines inside out upside down so it was a real treat to watch a scene unfold and unfold and- no edits- no camera changes- you follow the "action" as if you were there following the characters. This effect brought them amazingly to life for me. Somewhere your mind is expecting a typical movie camera angle change- a hard edit, the actors probably only knowing their lines in chunks nowadays- and you'd be amazed how long some of these scenes last. These are consumate pros.
In a "fantasy" like this its okay with me if the characters are stereotypes. My ex-boyfriend was insulted by the fact the "bad family" resembled his own, right down to the "enchanting mini-a-tures". I say don't take it personally, anyway for every nice version of a family type there is a bad version that looks just the same, so just forget it and have fun. Look at it this way- here is a wise and wordly woman who feels the ups and downs of life but through it all shares her joy and knowledge and love with her lucky nephew even if everything is not perfect. Coming from someone who had no "guide" to anything I love to watch this film when I feel down and imagine what it would be like to have such an amazing woman want to tell me stories, and share adventures.
The color palette of the sets are so wonderful- not white but silvery white, not pink but rosebud, not red but crimson velvet and purple irises, not grey but platinum and its a hard thing to pick which set you love the most. If you are into amazing vintage furniture and interior design you'll rewind just to get a look at a room again.
The humor and dialog moves fast and smart and funny. Months later you'll still be figuring out what they were alluding to in a certain line since it does allude to things current then and possibly lost now- but if you figure them out the script blossoms even more.
People behave very badly in very funny ways in this film but go into it on Mame's side and you'll understand and you'll love them faults and all.
Action- you want action? If you are afraid of horses and a truly scary old southern mother- avoid this film or fast forward through the whole "Peckerwood" sequence :) but I'd say Rosalind added some action points for a moment there.
Something I saw that was a similiar mood was Breakfast At Tiffany's. Different subject matter entirely but a similiar feeling of people finding things they need very badly and a kind of vintage colorful sheen to the film that does not exist anymore.
Oh and the clothes...dahlin to die for :)
If you are feeling cold and sad and in need of macaroni and cheese with chocolate milk and cake, this works for me, might for you.
**This is an update for anyone who is curious about what it is "about": Its a valid question because what its about is very sweet. A boy is alone with his maid after his father, a widower, passes away, and goes to his eccentric Auntie to live. The father makes it clear, in his ultra conservative way and Will, he is not happy that Mame is his closest relative, but sends the boy to her anyway. Of course she is unprepared to deal with a little boy. The story is how she learns how invaluable it is to have her own family, someone who needs and loves her and brings out the best in her- a best she never knew she had. Of course she has to fight the forces of prejudice and small mindedness in the man the father designated as the means of distributing the money from his bank- and that man is determined to have her raise a small minded little bigot. How does she fight this through the world's ups and downs.. well go see it. :)
The first thing that struck me were the long long takes. This cast was most of the original Broadway cast from what I know. So they knew their lines inside out upside down so it was a real treat to watch a scene unfold and unfold and- no edits- no camera changes- you follow the "action" as if you were there following the characters. This effect brought them amazingly to life for me. Somewhere your mind is expecting a typical movie camera angle change- a hard edit, the actors probably only knowing their lines in chunks nowadays- and you'd be amazed how long some of these scenes last. These are consumate pros.
In a "fantasy" like this its okay with me if the characters are stereotypes. My ex-boyfriend was insulted by the fact the "bad family" resembled his own, right down to the "enchanting mini-a-tures". I say don't take it personally, anyway for every nice version of a family type there is a bad version that looks just the same, so just forget it and have fun. Look at it this way- here is a wise and wordly woman who feels the ups and downs of life but through it all shares her joy and knowledge and love with her lucky nephew even if everything is not perfect. Coming from someone who had no "guide" to anything I love to watch this film when I feel down and imagine what it would be like to have such an amazing woman want to tell me stories, and share adventures.
The color palette of the sets are so wonderful- not white but silvery white, not pink but rosebud, not red but crimson velvet and purple irises, not grey but platinum and its a hard thing to pick which set you love the most. If you are into amazing vintage furniture and interior design you'll rewind just to get a look at a room again.
The humor and dialog moves fast and smart and funny. Months later you'll still be figuring out what they were alluding to in a certain line since it does allude to things current then and possibly lost now- but if you figure them out the script blossoms even more.
People behave very badly in very funny ways in this film but go into it on Mame's side and you'll understand and you'll love them faults and all.
Action- you want action? If you are afraid of horses and a truly scary old southern mother- avoid this film or fast forward through the whole "Peckerwood" sequence :) but I'd say Rosalind added some action points for a moment there.
Something I saw that was a similiar mood was Breakfast At Tiffany's. Different subject matter entirely but a similiar feeling of people finding things they need very badly and a kind of vintage colorful sheen to the film that does not exist anymore.
Oh and the clothes...dahlin to die for :)
If you are feeling cold and sad and in need of macaroni and cheese with chocolate milk and cake, this works for me, might for you.
