The family was away this weekend, and not knowing what else to do with myself, I decided to watch entire movies start to finish without interruption. I hear it’s all the rage in homes without kids. Of course, so as not to limit the options for films I can watch with other people, I restricted myself to the genre of “stuff only I might be interested in,” a category that’s mostly explosions and older films.
So, Patton. I knew it was about a general, and that George C. Scott had refused his Oscar for it, but that was about it. But hey, if he’d refused an Oscar, that meant people thought he did a good job (turns out not just him; the thing won seven awards and was nominated for ten in total.) And it didn’t disappoint. But here’s the thing:
With every biography I’ve seen, there’s the seeming obligation to put in certain key phrases and moments from the subject’s life. And sure, that makes sense, since if a moment was famous and it’s not in the picture, then I guess the biography can’t be called definitive.
But.
What if, during the stress of making the film, working long hours, overcoming obstacles, and so on, the writer, director, producer, team, what have you becomes convinced that, like in time travel, if they don’t include the right dialogue at the right time, the subject will never be born?
Relevant clip (and irrelevant language, you know what it says)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSoXwn-Okd4