5 down, 1 to go
I just watched Wit with Emma Thompson. What a spectacular movie. She has cancer, diagnosed right at the beginning and the rest of the movie takes place as she's undergoing an aggressive experimental treatment. She mostly talks directly to the camera, telling you about her take on her surroundings and circumstances, and about a few pertinent moments in her personal history.
The way these personal history moments are portrayed is pretty interesting. I don't think I've ever seen it before. The scene cuts between her memory and her present state. For example, you'll see her in the hospital talking to you, then you'll cut to the previous version of herself she's telling you about, and then you'll see her present body placed in that flashback scene, and then you'll see the flashback character in her present surroundings. And all the while the dialogue flows uninterrupted. And then it very smoothly flows into how that memory is pertinent to her current situation.
It's tough watching her get sick, and tell you all about it at the same time. I have no personal experience with cancer patients (thank goodness), so I've never really seen the nitty gritty of what it's like to go through chemo. She had no visitors, but I never felt sorry for her on that account, because I found her to be an enjoyable and endearing character (Wit is a very appropriate title). I hated the doctors and loved Audra McDonald as her nurse.
It occurred to me that even though I've known of Audra McDonald's name, I never put it with her face until just now. I've known of her a lot longer than I realized. Very kissable. Bygones. Emma Thompson also has a very nice shaped head.
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I watched that movie a while ago. I have to say (and I love Emma Thompson and think Mike Nichols is a genius (The Graduate is one of my top-five favorite movies)) I didn't much care for it. I very much saw how it would make a good play (as it was based on one), but there wasn't enough wit in the play to make it bearable. It was a bit too realistic for its own good; it ceased to entertain at all, and only pained me. I did, however, LOVE the scene where she has a pelvic exam by her previous student, and afterwards she says, "I wish I'd given him an A". That was excellent. And I also thought the scene between her and her mentor professor at the hospital, when she reads her one of her grandchildren's books, was heartbreaking and fantastically done.
So, in case you were wondering what I thought of that movie, you now know.
I am usually better able to appreciate angsty movies than enjoy them, but this one just got to me. Maybe I just loved listening to Emma Thompson talk. The pelvic exam scene was a good one. I kinda wish I had seen the play, but I feel like it wouldn't have been as interesting. Maybe because the whole "talking to the audience" thing isn't the norm in movies.
Have you seen The Remains of the Day? One of my favorites, although admittedly for Anthony Hopkins rather than Emma.
Nope, haven't seen it. I think an Emma Thompson-fest might be in the works.