Can anyone help me finish solving the most complicated movie in history?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Dissidence, Mar 27, 2021.

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  1. unclefred

    unclefred Coastie with the Moastie

    Location:
    Oregon Coast
    Have you seen the Spanish production Open Your Eyes?
     
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  2. YarRevenge

    YarRevenge Forum Resident

    Location:
    Spain
    Thanks for advice but I think this kid of movies isnt for me.

    Yes and I dont like it.
     
  3. Onkster515

    Onkster515 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Thinking during a movie is not for everyone I guess!

    Just watched Triangle last night for the first time… Really liked it!

    Bring on the mental crap!
     
  4. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I keep forgetting to watch that film. Don't know why.
     
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  5. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    You saw it already. Don't you remember?
     
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  6. Onkster515

    Onkster515 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Don’t you at least remember Sammy Jankis?
     
  7. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Maybe I could write down notes as a reminder. What was the question again?
     
  8. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    I forgot what we're talking about.
     
  9. Onkster515

    Onkster515 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Did you tell us about your condition?
     
  10. Any discussion of mindbending movies ought to include Upstream Color, Shane Carruth’s followup to Primer. It’s pretty much incomprehensible. As is Takashi Miike’s Visitor Q.
     
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  11. rich100

    rich100 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Middle of England
    Mr Nobody, about the infinite possibilities that lead from a single action or choice and the lives that would be lived, a fantastic film and a real mind bender.
     
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  12. HiredGoon

    HiredGoon Forum Resident

    Loves me some mind-bending movies.

    I watched Coherence a few weeks back ... excellent little flick.

    Thanks to this thread I’ve added Jacob’s Ladder, Triangle, and Predestination to my watch queue.

    —Geoff
     
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  13. Phil Tate

    Phil Tate Miss you Indy x

    Location:
    South Shields
    Primer is fantastic, if anyone hasn't seen it I can't recommend it enough. It's basically about a couple of scientists who invent a time machine by mistake. It is incredibly complicated though, mainly because of how much of the story you don't actually see. I like to think of it as you're seeing the middle 80 minutes of a four hour film :D
     
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  14. HiredGoon

    HiredGoon Forum Resident

    Note: check that you are not watching a mediocre 2019 remake of Jacob’s Ladder before you waste 90 minutes of your evening. Learn from my mistake :laugh:

    —Geoff
     
  15. LarsO

    LarsO Forum Resident

    I seem to recall that Memento has a definitive «solution» in the way that it is edited and that you can find it as an easter egg on one of the DVD releases...

    The first film I thought about when I saw the thread title was Mulholland Drive by David Lynch but I think it is possible that even the director might be wondering about that one :D
     
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  16. Phil Tate

    Phil Tate Miss you Indy x

    Location:
    South Shields
    Nah, Mulholland Drive makes perfect sense as soon as you realise the structure is:
    • Dream/fantasy
    • "Hey pretty girl, time to wake up"
    • Reality, including flashbacks
    Now Inland Empire, on the other hand... :confused:
     
  17. HiredGoon

    HiredGoon Forum Resident

    I watched Triangle tonight ... an interesting time loop movie.

    Thoughts:

    - The mention of Sisyphus, condemned to an eternity of pushing a rock up a hill only to watch it roll back down again, made the plot quite obvious.

    - The driver at the end is basically the ferryman from Greek mythology.

    - A few nods to The Shining here: abandoned Art Deco surroundings, a ballroom, blood on the mirror.

    - I think that there were three “versions” of Jess on the boat: Already There Jess, Just Arrived Jess, and Later On Jess who turns up when Just Arrived Jess throws Already There Jess overboard. Hence ... “triangle” (although it’s probably just a reference to the Bermuda Triangle)

    - I didn’t have a problem with Jess being a bad Mum (sorry, “Mom”) as it gives her Sisyphean task more pathos: trying forever to save her son from herself, only to fail each time.

    The major problem for me is that this movie was filmed on the Gold Coast in south-east Queensland and I kept recognising all the locations (there’s no hiding that big Southport Yacht Club sign) :laugh:

    —Geoff
     
    Last edited: May 10, 2021
  18. HiredGoon

    HiredGoon Forum Resident

    It could be argued that there are alternate versions of the character (depending on the timeline or loop) which is why on the boat there is a nice Jess (confused and shocked about what she has to do) and a mean Jess (originally seen in the hood, covered with blood, with no remorse about killing). The "nice" Jess has to kill the "mean" Jess at the end to save her son (but then the cycle continues ...)

    --Geoff
     
  19. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    I'm sure you could argue a lot of things, but these possibilities aren't made clear in any way in the narrative, and we are led to believe that nice Jess becomes mean Jess in order to do what she feels she needs to do to restart the loop. It doesn't add up.
     
  20. ScorpSik

    ScorpSik Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Hertfordshire
    I am all for Jess being
    a bad mother
    . I like my characters dark, and I really see no problem in that being portrayed in fiction. I think a lot of mothers
    are pushed to that point.
    .
     
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  21. bob_32_116

    bob_32_116 Forum Flaneur

    Location:
    Perth Australia
    I have only seen three of these: Primer, Predestination, and Fight Club.

    I did not think there was anything particularly complex about Fight Club. I found it silly in spots, though it did seem to be making some kind of worthwhile statement about "masculinity".

    Predestination is excellent. Although the story is complex, I did not find it particularly difficult to understand, as the dialogue pretty much explains what is happening and who is who.
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2021
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  22. bob_32_116

    bob_32_116 Forum Flaneur

    Location:
    Perth Australia
    Re Fight Club: If you want to see Brad Pitt in a movie that is genuinely one that will leave you scratching you head for some time afterwards, try The Tree of Life.
     
  23. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I actually liked most of the segments with Brad Pitt, but at least 2/3 of the movie makes absolutely no sense. I think it's complete mind****ery.
     
  24. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member

    I love mind-eff movies and have seen all the ones in that list except Coherence, but I don't really consider any of these to be real mind-effs - maybe Primer since that one left my head spinning for days as I rewatched it over and over trying to figure it all out.

    Another great time-bending mind-eff would be the Spanish TIMECRIMES (I thought Hollywood was going to do an English remake but don't know what happened to that).

    Someone mentioned Jodorsky's Holy Mountain and they don't get much more mind-effing than that one.

    My favorite mindeffer is Zulawski's Possession though. Totally insane. Avoid the supercutup original American release though. You can't take the movie literally as it is a confounding confusing distorted mind-eff but it can really blow your mind if you try to interpret it that way.

    Five Fun Facts About Andrzej Zulawski's Possession — Viddy Well
    .
     
  25. RexKramer

    RexKramer Senior Member

    Location:
    Outside of Philly
    I've only seen both once. My feeling is that I could watch Primer every day for the rest of my life and I would still have trouble trying to make perfect sense of it, whereas I'd probably have a firm grasp of Upstream Color after 3-4 more viewings. Even without full comprehension, Upstream Color is still one of my favorite films of this century. With Primer, I got lost (very minor spoiler) during the scene the two leads are looking for a lost dog and discussing a party. At that point it felt as if there was a missing reel in the film, and I was unable to catch up for that point on. I get what ultimately transpired in the film
    with one of the friends betraying the other and going back two days
    - and I even think I picked up on that during viewing the film and not reading about it online later - but I don't understand how that unraveled the entire scheme and related to what I saw transpiring.

    Visitor Q - I don't remember struggling to understand that.I've read there's a subtext where Miike is commenting on reality shows and allowing strangers into our lives. But the family's life was so eff'ed up to begin with that I don't exactly know if that plays out as intended. It's a film I enjoyed and then purchased, but haven't re-watched it yet as you really have to be in the mood for it.
     
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