I just caught the French film Caché, a movie disturbing on a couple of levels that I won’t get into here. I wanted to love this movie but left there unsettled, and in an unfulfilling way. This is one of an onslaught of disturbing, shift-in-the-seat movies that debuted (at least in US theaters) late last year: The Constant Gardener, A History of Violence, Syriana, Good Night and Good Luck, Munich, and Match Point. All of those others ranged from really good to brilliant. Then there was Brokeback Mountain, a movie that was supposed to be disturbing, given all the media buzz, but it was really a beautifully told love story (okay, the hokey makeup job to make Jake Gyllenhaal look older later on was pretty creepy).
It’s hard to make much of patterns like this. Given the varied times it takes for movies to evolve from concept through production to release, a single season doesn’t say much about society or art or anything else. The French misstep aside, I’m excited to get outside of my comfort zone more often. Then again, a few diversions are welcome. Glory Road, anyone?
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