I first saw The Telephone as a teenager in 1988 and just watched it again tonight. Though I loved it back then, I was reminded again of the sheer brilliance of this work. If you are looking for a simplistic nuance-less tale of the theme-less entertainment we have become addicted to - move on.
But if you are looking for something powerful and above average depth with rich thematic content - get comfortable for an emotional ride that will take you to the blackness of your own modern day existence.
I remain haunted by Blue's line "I just want someone to talk to...". What is really striking is that in a world/setting that is ridden with noise (audio and other) no one ever seems to actually HEAR the people around them. So Blue takes us on a journey of stripping off the liqueur from the supposed wonderful shiny civilized world we have created for ourselves. She does this by creating truisms within stereotypes and creating absurdest situations that breaks down the very fabric of the viewer's belief of the world (read mental reality) we observe every day.
This is a piece of cinema (I would be scared to call it film). It is about the thematic content and can be considered a great theatrical peace of cinematic work. Therefor, I fear, probably lost on most film and home entertainment audiences.
But if you are looking for something powerful and above average depth with rich thematic content - get comfortable for an emotional ride that will take you to the blackness of your own modern day existence.
I remain haunted by Blue's line "I just want someone to talk to...". What is really striking is that in a world/setting that is ridden with noise (audio and other) no one ever seems to actually HEAR the people around them. So Blue takes us on a journey of stripping off the liqueur from the supposed wonderful shiny civilized world we have created for ourselves. She does this by creating truisms within stereotypes and creating absurdest situations that breaks down the very fabric of the viewer's belief of the world (read mental reality) we observe every day.
This is a piece of cinema (I would be scared to call it film). It is about the thematic content and can be considered a great theatrical peace of cinematic work. Therefor, I fear, probably lost on most film and home entertainment audiences.