06-21-2020, 09:36 AM
Guess what popped up on Kanopy?
So LCF and I took a gander last night.
Not much to add to DM's assessment. B&W, a boxy aspect ratio (not merely old TV 4X3, but 1.19:1 -- very nearly square). Was that aspect ratio chosen to emphasize the film's central object? Inquiring minds want to know -- from a safe distance. Dark, very dark, atmospherically. A man takes the ultimate job from hell under a horrid and unrelenting boss. Inspired performances from Dafoe and Pattison. Do they even speak anymore? Then again, this shooting ordeal may have brought them closer together.
There were no subtitles, and even LCF felt the need. Dafoe's archaic seafaring brogue scuppers understanding. Thoroughly bilged on our anchor, we paused early in and did some soul-searching, and found a "Closed Captions" toggle in the Kanopy Settings menu. Then we rewound and started again. Dafoe does get clearer (or we got used to it) later on.
One oddity: I kept waiting for the creepy half-human creatures to start appearing among the ocean rocks. But they didn't. I'm confusing this with another recent release. When I mentioned it to LCF post-viewing, she immediately knew what I was referring to. But neither of us can recall the name of it.
Not really escapist fare, but something to be appreciated for its dark atmosphere, which ranges from Gothic to Lovecraftian (as DM mentioned).
So LCF and I took a gander last night.
Not much to add to DM's assessment. B&W, a boxy aspect ratio (not merely old TV 4X3, but 1.19:1 -- very nearly square). Was that aspect ratio chosen to emphasize the film's central object? Inquiring minds want to know -- from a safe distance. Dark, very dark, atmospherically. A man takes the ultimate job from hell under a horrid and unrelenting boss. Inspired performances from Dafoe and Pattison. Do they even speak anymore? Then again, this shooting ordeal may have brought them closer together.
There were no subtitles, and even LCF felt the need. Dafoe's archaic seafaring brogue scuppers understanding. Thoroughly bilged on our anchor, we paused early in and did some soul-searching, and found a "Closed Captions" toggle in the Kanopy Settings menu. Then we rewound and started again. Dafoe does get clearer (or we got used to it) later on.
One oddity: I kept waiting for the creepy half-human creatures to start appearing among the ocean rocks. But they didn't. I'm confusing this with another recent release. When I mentioned it to LCF post-viewing, she immediately knew what I was referring to. But neither of us can recall the name of it.
Not really escapist fare, but something to be appreciated for its dark atmosphere, which ranges from Gothic to Lovecraftian (as DM mentioned).