This is a great film about the God-awful decade known as your 20's, when your adolescent emotions conflict with adult responsibilities. All of the character's seem to be in love with somebody who's not in love with them, and conversely unable to love the person who is. Soooo painfully familiar.
It's also a film about the way that politeness often covers up deep currents of regret and insecurity. The dialogue is littered with the words "sorry" and "thank you," always employed when meant the least.
There is genuine strangeness and unpredicability to the work. When the main character, Marnie, is kissed by a good friend of hers with a girlfriend, she reacts with a remarkable lack of shock or hostility (and even a bit of compliance). Just when we think she may have found a guy who will treat her right, he subtely turns into an immature creep. Instead of the melodrama, we get passive agression (depressing, but much more true-to-life).
The acting, by non-professionals, is uniformly superb. One can only imagine what Bujalski would be capable of with professionals. Hope to see soon.
It's also a film about the way that politeness often covers up deep currents of regret and insecurity. The dialogue is littered with the words "sorry" and "thank you," always employed when meant the least.
There is genuine strangeness and unpredicability to the work. When the main character, Marnie, is kissed by a good friend of hers with a girlfriend, she reacts with a remarkable lack of shock or hostility (and even a bit of compliance). Just when we think she may have found a guy who will treat her right, he subtely turns into an immature creep. Instead of the melodrama, we get passive agression (depressing, but much more true-to-life).
The acting, by non-professionals, is uniformly superb. One can only imagine what Bujalski would be capable of with professionals. Hope to see soon.