Rushmore and Self Congratulations
I saw Rushmore last night. Already a fan of The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, so was expecting to enjoy myself. Wasn't disappointed. It's a lot tighter than the other films, less forced as well. Maybe the best example of what goes on in the wacky head of Wes Anderson (although I haven't seen Bottle Rocket). In essence I think it's a film about desire for individuality. And maybe there's a class comment as well. I especially liked the pathos of Bill Murray's depressed millionaire who becomes Max Fischer's (Jason Schwartzman) friend and nemesis. I was going to write a review, but Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader set the bar too high.
The Australian Film Institute Awards Nominations were announced yesterday. This comes after the nominations for the If Awards and Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards. For an industry that makes so little films per year (with about 10% of them any good), is this orgy of self congratulations warranted? Probably. These people work hard, for very little money. For the record, I'm rooting for Look Both Ways.
The Australian Film Institute Awards Nominations were announced yesterday. This comes after the nominations for the If Awards and Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards. For an industry that makes so little films per year (with about 10% of them any good), is this orgy of self congratulations warranted? Probably. These people work hard, for very little money. For the record, I'm rooting for Look Both Ways.
posted by Damien at 11:08 am
1 Comments:
Hello Damien,
Welcome to the blogspohere. Am liking what you've written so far.
Yes, I really enjoyed Rushmore too. Yeah, I guess it's about a desire for individuality, but isn't it also about learning to let go? Herman Blume asks Max at the beginning how he 'does it', and Max replies 'I think you just need to find something you love and keep doing it forever. The thing I found is Rushmore'. (Sorry, I probably murdered that quote, but it's something along those lines). So when Max finds his new obsession in Miss Cross - his new Ruchmore in a sense - he is unable to let go of it, despite there being no chance of any success, and the inevitable war this brings about with Blume. It's not until they've both realised they've fucked up, and MIss Cross has told Max they deserve each other, that we get the scene where Max is sitting on his mother's grave, and finally realises it's time to move on. Blume says (about Miss Cross) 'she's my Rushmore.' Max replies: 'she was mine too.' Max has to learn the opposite of the advice he gave Blume at the start of the film.
Erko Reviewer
p.s. you should probably kill off the blog spammers (like this guy above) before they take root.
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