Gary Ross's Pleasantville is far from a precise film thematically, yet in revisiting it for the first time since its release I was quite enamored by its overall charm and lack of restraint when it comes to its not so subtle repudiation of 1950s conservatism. Featuring a very strong supporting performance from Joan Allen - as a housewife who begins to discover her own autonomy - Pleasantville often feels like a hodgepodge of metaphors that never quite feels holistic, with Allen's beautifully textured performance breathing a sense of depth to a film that largely struggles with characterization. I enjoy it best as a tale of how easily society can slip into fascism but the film is largely just a bunch of metaphors about 50s conservatism that never quite coalesce into something holistic. Ross formal stylings beautifully enunciate this sense of unease from creeping fascism, deploying canted angles, as well as extreme high & low angles, to give weight to a film that lulls one to sleep due to its more tender narrative components. Oh, and the casting of J.T. Walsh is perfect. The fear of change - the tyranny of the status quo, so to speak - and the inevitability of variation in any free society in which autonomous individuals exist is one of the more interesting subtexts of the film. While the Coda may come off as toothless to some, as the film is ultimately somewhat dismissive of any socio-political commentary, I'd argue it transcends political economy in its denouement, ultimately embracing the notion that anarchism is intrinsic to life itself. The pre-established social homogeneity is nothing but one of many types of strictures that are ultimately barriers to living life as a free, autonomous individual
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
|