Could someone clarify a bit?
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bpach86 — 19 years ago(February 11, 2007 05:00 AM)
Wow! I liked reading your postand to think you wrote your dissertation on this movie. For some reason this film popped into my head this morning. I saw it way before Google, etc. So I decided to find out what I could about the movie and your post was the most helpful. I remember at times during the movie there were these women dressed in religious garb walking I think with doves. And what I could make of this was that this was symbolic for something, but that is as far as I got. And could you tell me more about the angel. I remember Seth and his buddy taking care of it in the barn and hiding it in the hay. Was this also a symbol for something? I guess those are the 2 things that stood out most. Also the very last scene when Seth is on his knees in the field and screaming as he grasps at the ground and throws his hands in the air from the utter destruction of his life.I thought this was a very powerful scene and captured the moment.
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animal062 — 18 years ago(June 09, 2007 10:47 PM)
just saw this film first time tonight. buddy (whom i have a movie affinity with) has long claimed it as one of his favorites. aside from the obvious 'loss of innocence'/'child abuse'/'nightmare of childhood' themes it also occurred to me that there seemed to be a strong thread of the loss of american innocence (e.g., atom bomb, decay of values, etc.) don't know if i was reading more into it than i should be, but i think it is a film i will revisit many times because i sense that each time you watch it some other interpretations will make themselves evident. might also highly depend on your mood when watching as to how you will interpret it at a given moment. all the characters scared the crap out of me
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djsmokingjam — 18 years ago(June 10, 2007 07:48 AM)
Animal, I definitely agree with you about it about the film referencing the "loss of American innocence". Remember the United States is to this very day the only country that has used the atomic bomb, and that happened around the time the film is set. (Though the timeframe is left ambiguous, but it's roughly intended to be the early-1950s.)
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save_alf — 15 years ago(April 23, 2010 03:46 AM)
the usa isn't the only one to use an 'atomic' bomb. the french, the russians, the english(?) have all tested nuclear weapons.
i would agree that it is about the loss of american innocence too, interesting scene with seth when he meets his brother, he is running through the field with the american flag. next time we see it is when kim is getting kidnapped (and later his corpse wrapped in the flag, which is very vietnam). maybe a bit obvious but still very effective.
Cameron's illness is also a good metaphor for the loss of american innocence.
i read a post i these forums from someone saying that the director didn't want to show any blood on the bodies, it got me thinking of scenes which did have blood in them, (cameron's hands, the frog) and was wondering if there is any significance to these particular moments given the director was so selective about showing blood. thoughts? -
tucoify — 11 years ago(August 28, 2014 04:51 AM)
"the usa isn't the only one to use an 'atomic' bomb. the french, the russians, the english(?) have all tested nuclear weapons."
Of course only the usa
used
it. "Using" here clearly referred to the genuine purpose it was made for, being dropped at a city full of people.
Use of A-Bombs lies not in detonating in vacant deserts.
The nations testing and developing this weapon, aiming at the
ABILITY
to
use
it, if necessary.
Hard to understand it wasnt self-explaining what was ment here. -
ablack90 — 11 years ago(December 14, 2014 02:38 PM)
NO point. Everything that happened seemed to be random and unconnected. None of the characters were realistic (with the possible exception of Mortenson's), nor even comprehensible. I came to this board hoping someone could tell me what the point of this dribble was, but everyone seems to just describe it as "beautifully horrible."
I stopped watching after 30 minutes. After watching the mother torture her own child, the kids discovering Dolphin masturbating, and the two extremely weird broads in black making weird noises while they marched by that was enough for me to know this film is absolutely not my cup of tea. I could not relate to one single character and didn't feel like depressing the h*ll out of myself for this poor child's experience. -
StefL — 20 years ago(August 19, 2005 01:30 PM)
Good point, although I guess we might never get an answer to whether it was deliberate or coincidental.
Hm, it's been a while now since I saw the film (I just got an email you'd answered in the thread) so I really should try and get hold of it so I can see it again. Any idea as to whether there's any DVD release? -
Borowczyk76 — 19 years ago(March 14, 2007 01:04 AM)
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/dvd/B0007TIQ64/250-5676471-7599436
Here you go This is the copy I ordered. It's widescreen and all.