Sunday, July 23, 2023

The Kubrickian biography

My favourite biopic may well be Control inasmuch as, although you spend time with the main character - here Ian Curtis - the movie shows the man's character by showing what the man did. I, Tonya falls in this category, easily the best Margot Robbie movie.

(I like Ed Wood too but that's more Burton screwing around than any real homage to that "director". Armond White is right about The Social Network, that it's on-par with stupid celebrity pictures... I'll get to this.)

So: Oppenheimer. I saw it Thursday. I wouldn't put it anywhere near Social Network; Armond White is a National Review guy and that rag is nowhere near as insightful nor as bold as, say, Counter-Currents.

I don't much respect that nepot J[unior]-Podhoretz either, and respect Driscoll less. I think here, though, Podhoretz gets it.

To do a biopic properly, you need to present the time-and-place as a major supporting character. You also need to show the main character's effect on those who care for him (or her). And you need to show the effect of the character's work. Control did brilliantly at juxtaposing Curtis' bleak lyrics and spastic stage-presence, against his wife's reaction to these, and not just to Curtis' personal coldness leading to infidelity.

Oppenheimer, I think, sticks the landing.

No comments:

Post a Comment