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Mysterious Dude
02-03-2008, 07:54 PM
In a Year of 13 Moons
(1978, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)

This is a film made by a man who is much smarter than me. I am sure that every detail of the screenplay has a significance, right down to the fairy tale about a brother and sister who get turned into a mushroom and a snail. I am sure that when the characters reenact a musical number from a Jerry Lewis film, that there is significance to that, as well. I don't know what the significance is, but I'm sure there is. I have no doubt that Fassbinder knows what he is doing. But do I care?

This is the fourth Fassbinder film that I have seen. I have not truly disliked any of the ones I have seen, but I have not particularly liked them, either. I cannot seem to stop watching his movies. There is enough about the ones I have seen that I liked, that I feel sure that he must have made at least one movie that will amaze me. But now I am beginning to think that will never happen. I choose to watch these movies, and then I struggle to come up with anything meaningful to say about them.

Perhaps I should tell you a little about the film. It is about a man (Volker Spengler) who had a sex change operation some years ago in Morocco (and if you're going to get a sex change operation, what better place than Morocco?) and now lives as a woman. She is a parody of a woman, though -- the kind of woman who should never be allowed to stand next to other women, because she'll always look worse by comparison. This is her tragedy, I guess, because she got the sex change for love, and it didn't really work out the way she hoped it would.

I cannot find fault with this movie. (That does not mean there are not faults in this movie; merely that I cannot identify them.) In fact, I like the film, sort of. There are very interesting scenes and moments. I love the scene where a nun describes Erwin's childhood. And Fassbinder does some very interesting scenes with voiceover narration. But for me, it never comes together into something truly amazing.

Anyway, I apologize for wasting your time with all this rambling gibberish.

monolith94
02-03-2008, 09:33 PM
Your continuing modesty baffles me. Seriously, although your reviews don't go for the sort of things some reviewers go for, they have merit. I respect your eye for cinema, and that's more than I can say for most reviewers.

Anyway, interesting read. Can't say I'm salivating at the thought of watching some Fassbinder films. I'd prefer to finish off watching Pasolini's canon first.

Mysterious Dude
02-04-2008, 02:41 PM
I never want to be too negative about a movie, because someone might like it, and I hate to discourage someone from seeing a movie they might like.

A few years ago, I ranted about how much I hated Finding Neverland, and my mom decided not to see it, but you know, she might like that movie.

monolith94
02-04-2008, 02:45 PM
Heh, I wouldn't worry about that. Collateral damage. Express yourself.

I don't rant about hating movies too often because I've become ultra-selective concerning what I see.