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Re: Art vs. Product

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***Sometimes I want to eat haute cuisine and sometimes all I want is a really good burger or hot dog. Spielberg occasionally makes very good hot dogs.

Yes, he is a very *professional* hot dog maker. The level of his crew's technical skills is tremendous.

I agree that the basic plot device used in "Ryan" was artificial and manipulative, and I think other directors would not have given Hanks the "why we are here" sermon or made him stop his troops from killing their German prisoner. But I found the Omaha beach sequence very effective at grabbing the viewer's attention. I think Spielberg also demands that his movies hammer home the point to the audience that this is what it takes to be the "good guys" (also in "Schindler's list"). He is not going to let the audience think about or question their morality (unlike Kurosawa, Stone, Pasolini, etc.).

That is a good point. However, I typically find that most US movie makers don't want the viewer to make that decision regarding the morality. They believe that the viewers must be told what's good or they shall deviate. Therefore you see the prolifiration of idiotic "summary" scenes, like the one at the Ryan's end (sorry, the other end).

Every onece in a while you want to see something that lets you think, not just cheer.

***BTW, when I wrote that "Salo" was the most repulsive movie I had ever seen, I did not mean to imply that it was a bad movie (actually was hoping that my comment would lead others to seek it out), but that it was going to make the viewer extremely uncomfortable and make one question why viewing this horror holds a strange attraction/fascination.

That was fairly clear, I thought.

***One thing is for sure, viewing "Salo" will affect and change you.

That is true too. I do find it hard to admit that I actually love that movie. Most folks would probably consider me a deviant for saying this. I also uderstand that it was specifically created to shock by someone with absolutely tremendous skills. And it works.

Regards,

Victor.




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