03-02-2014, 12:00 AM
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061184/
This might be the most bizarre movie I've ever seen. For me, watching it was much like watching a 2 hour train wreck; repulsive yet strangely intriguing. Ostensibly its the story of a married couple insulting each other for 2 hours, and dragging their 2 houseguests into it. From a sorceric veiwpoint it has some interesting things to tell. Most obvious is that the hosts are in full awareness stalking the attention of their guests; manipulating them to feel strong emotions directed at the hosts who are also taking potshots at each other. They do this through outrageous actions, (such as when George pretends he's going to kill his wife Martha with a rifle only to have an umbrella come out of the barrel when he pulls the trigger), but mostly through conversational methods, (such as when George manipulates Nick into telling him something personal about his wife, only to repeat it to everyone when Nick's wife is in the room). Near the end of the movie Nick is beginning to wise up to the fact that this is all a game to the hosts and there was a definite change in the feel of what I was seeing when they stepped out of the game for just a moment in the following sequence.
Nick somewhat off-handedly "Hell I don't know when you people are lying or what."Martha moves, looks straight into the camera and says "You're damned right"George matter of factly "You're not supposed to."
After this they quickly transition back into playing games. Additionally of note from a sorceric standpoint is the exploration of the theme of what is reality. Several times near the end of the movie Martha asks George if can tell or cares about the difference between illusion and reality.
"Truth and illusion George, you don't know the difference"
"No, but we must carry on as if we did"
At the end, George pretends to have recieved a telegram announcing the death of their fake son. This drives Martha to tears, and she stays upset even after the guests leave. She asks him if he had to kill their son, and he said that yes, he did have to. At this point, as the audience who knows there never was a son nor any telegram the question arises of why they give so much emotion to their own illusions, a good question for us to ask ourselves as well. I also wondered at this point if the whole thing wasn't just a dream that George was mainly controlling, as it would explain a few other things in the movie as well.
I think this movie is a good one to watch to help remind us not to take everything so seriously, to question reality, and to get a feel for what a certain kind of stalking looks like, (it might remind some viewers of some of the conversations I've seen in the Ixtlan Cafe).
This might be the most bizarre movie I've ever seen. For me, watching it was much like watching a 2 hour train wreck; repulsive yet strangely intriguing. Ostensibly its the story of a married couple insulting each other for 2 hours, and dragging their 2 houseguests into it. From a sorceric veiwpoint it has some interesting things to tell. Most obvious is that the hosts are in full awareness stalking the attention of their guests; manipulating them to feel strong emotions directed at the hosts who are also taking potshots at each other. They do this through outrageous actions, (such as when George pretends he's going to kill his wife Martha with a rifle only to have an umbrella come out of the barrel when he pulls the trigger), but mostly through conversational methods, (such as when George manipulates Nick into telling him something personal about his wife, only to repeat it to everyone when Nick's wife is in the room). Near the end of the movie Nick is beginning to wise up to the fact that this is all a game to the hosts and there was a definite change in the feel of what I was seeing when they stepped out of the game for just a moment in the following sequence.
Nick somewhat off-handedly "Hell I don't know when you people are lying or what."Martha moves, looks straight into the camera and says "You're damned right"George matter of factly "You're not supposed to."
After this they quickly transition back into playing games. Additionally of note from a sorceric standpoint is the exploration of the theme of what is reality. Several times near the end of the movie Martha asks George if can tell or cares about the difference between illusion and reality.
"Truth and illusion George, you don't know the difference"
"No, but we must carry on as if we did"
At the end, George pretends to have recieved a telegram announcing the death of their fake son. This drives Martha to tears, and she stays upset even after the guests leave. She asks him if he had to kill their son, and he said that yes, he did have to. At this point, as the audience who knows there never was a son nor any telegram the question arises of why they give so much emotion to their own illusions, a good question for us to ask ourselves as well. I also wondered at this point if the whole thing wasn't just a dream that George was mainly controlling, as it would explain a few other things in the movie as well.
I think this movie is a good one to watch to help remind us not to take everything so seriously, to question reality, and to get a feel for what a certain kind of stalking looks like, (it might remind some viewers of some of the conversations I've seen in the Ixtlan Cafe).