27-Nov-99 Reacting To Malkovich
Nobody is going to believe it of me, but that's two movies -- two first run movies -- in two days.
Quit complaining about the metaphysics of it. The handout at the theatre (the new Embassy in Waltham, across Moody and a block down the side street from where Grover Cronin's department store used to be) said, “Hands down the wierdest premise of the millenium.” In mathematics what you do is take a premise and see what follows logically from it. Cut the writer and director some slack. We have a deal here, temporary suspension of disbelief. You don't say, “this is ridiculous,” but “all right, for the sake of the argument, suppose so.” The rest of the movie follows just fine from the premise. Diane is right -- “It's impossible to spoil the good bits in this film--they simply don't make sense out of context.” What else could the “Malkovich. Malkovich? Malkovich!” scene be like? If it weren't like that it would just be one of those infinity mirrors, looking through looking through looking through... . I loved that Elijah's breakthrough in therapy was just what Lotte needed. The chase scene through the subconscious was brilliant. Don't say it's too obvious, given the assignment to write a chase scene through the subconscious. Did you give yourself that assignment? Even the 7 1/2th floor makes sense. Maxine said that the cover story was bullshit, but it's not clear that she knows the truth. I'll tell you, because it makes sense: they built the 7 1/2th floor for access to the portal. They could have hidden the portal behind a picture on the wall, say, but it would be hell to get into it from a stepladder.
In retrospect, if you wonder about the 7 1/2th floor long enough, you would deduce the existence of the portal, but most people just accept the 7 1/2th floor rather than wonder about it. A key question the film raises is, how much else of what we accept as normal is just a cover-up for some undiscovered truth?
And of course the whole journal business is all about seeing what the world is like if you're someone else.
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