and he's not an American. His body of work shows that he has an incredible depth of vision for the American psyche, culture, and family. I can't think of any filmmaker that portrays the true nature of a nation better than Sam Mendes portrays America and Americans.
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Visca Catalunya Lliure -
I don't think American Beauty portrayed the true nature of the USA. It seemed like a vicious parody to meOriginally posted by Tim View Post“There is a great deal of difference in believing something still, and believing it again.”
― W.H. Auden
"God made the angels to show His splendour - as He made animals for innocence and plants for their simplicity. But men and women He made to serve Him wittily, in the tangle of their minds."
-- Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery -
Revolutionary Road was not Mendes' vision, but Richard Yates'. And that movie is less a vision of America than it is of suburban marriage.
Away We Go was also not a vision of America, but a vision this time of a hip, gen-xer young couple who got knocked up. What kind of family to have, they ask? Not any they meet in America, that's for sure; maybe one like they meet in Canada, but mostly they want one they have in their minds from their past.
Any one of John Hughes' high school movies is much more accurate than all of Mendes' movies put together.
I like Sam Mendes, but I don't think he's any great interpreter of America. Not even close.Comment
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I also like Sam Mendes, yet I like to think that these movies tapped into the American psyche (a moving target) just as authentically:
Robert Redford: The Natural
Billy Bob Thornton: Sling Blade
John Singleton: Boyz N the Hood
Paul Thomas Anderson: Boogie Nights
Cint Eastwood: Unforgiven
Michael Cimino: The Deer Hunter
Orson Welles: Citizen KaneComment
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Edward Montagne: The Reluctant AstronautOriginally posted by Katy Lied View Post"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy; its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." - Winston Churchill
"I only know what I hear on the news." - Dear LeaderComment
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