Sunday, January 25, 2004
21 Grams
Continuing on the Naomi Watts theme, after watching The Ring on DVD on Friday, we went to 21 Grams at the theater on Saturday. This film stars three of the best actors today, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts, in the interwoven story of three individuals and their families, linked together through a tragic event. All the many awards and nominations that 21 Grams is racking up are surely well-deserved.
The official website posits the question, "How much does life weigh?" 21 Grams leaves you pondering many more questions than that. What would you do or overlook for your family? When does grief become despair? Despair become vengeance? What happens when that to which you have attributed your salvation vanishes? When does a belief become blind faith? Where is the line between accepting your fate or destiny and abandoning all personal responsibility for your actions? Tragedy strikes the victims, survivors, families, those responsible and their families, and countless others. This is the story of how all these people deal with the blows life brings. The timeframe jumps around quite a bit, but in a way that draws you into the story and forces you to analyze the characters' motivations and what has changed between one time and another.
21 Grams also prompts questions about punishment. What is appropriate punishment, and who is the appropriate person to make this determination? What roles do remorse, forgiveness, retribution, and amends play in the grand scheme?
Lesbian trivia: Naomi Watts played a lesbian (again, in a variety of settings and characterizations) in Mulholland Drive, and Clea Duvall, who plays her sister in 21 Grams, was Natasha Lyonne's girlfriend in But I'm A Cheerleader. Natasha Lyonne was one of the '70's lesbians in HBO's If These Walls Could Talk 2, with Chloe Sevigny, who in turn was the love interest for Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry.
For you Buffy fans, Clea Duvall was also Invisible Girl in season one.
Reality Check: The Girl was at first a little thrown by the time cuts, which is something that will usually turn her right off a movie. But not this one - she agrees that it was intense but excellent.
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The official website posits the question, "How much does life weigh?" 21 Grams leaves you pondering many more questions than that. What would you do or overlook for your family? When does grief become despair? Despair become vengeance? What happens when that to which you have attributed your salvation vanishes? When does a belief become blind faith? Where is the line between accepting your fate or destiny and abandoning all personal responsibility for your actions? Tragedy strikes the victims, survivors, families, those responsible and their families, and countless others. This is the story of how all these people deal with the blows life brings. The timeframe jumps around quite a bit, but in a way that draws you into the story and forces you to analyze the characters' motivations and what has changed between one time and another.
21 Grams also prompts questions about punishment. What is appropriate punishment, and who is the appropriate person to make this determination? What roles do remorse, forgiveness, retribution, and amends play in the grand scheme?
Lesbian trivia: Naomi Watts played a lesbian (again, in a variety of settings and characterizations) in Mulholland Drive, and Clea Duvall, who plays her sister in 21 Grams, was Natasha Lyonne's girlfriend in But I'm A Cheerleader. Natasha Lyonne was one of the '70's lesbians in HBO's If These Walls Could Talk 2, with Chloe Sevigny, who in turn was the love interest for Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry.
For you Buffy fans, Clea Duvall was also Invisible Girl in season one.
Reality Check: The Girl was at first a little thrown by the time cuts, which is something that will usually turn her right off a movie. But not this one - she agrees that it was intense but excellent.
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Posted by Rogueslayer at 1/25/2004 12:55:00 PM
