IdleRich
IdleRich
Anyone a fan of this director? I've just watched Ride In The Whirlwind which was pretty good but very normal in comparison to all of his other films that I've seen. I thought that Two Lane Blacktop, The Shooting and Cockfighter were all fantastic and stand out as different from any other films and they had a profound effect on me.
For those who don't know his films are typically about silent men (especially in Cockfighter where the main character has taken a vow of silence) with an unusual obsession (their car, cockfighting etc) who act in peculiar and often almost unexplained ways. It's common for the characters to have no names (The Driver, The Mechanic and The Girl in Two Lane Blacktop, The Woman in The Shooting) and never explain what they are doing or why, some people find this annoying but for me it really works and the films get right under your skin and keep you thinking about them for days. People often describe them as "existential" (whatever that means - my friend said it means that nobody speaks much) and that may be the case but either way you get drawn in to them totally and surprisingly considering that often nothing really happens and there is hardly any dialogue.
I guess that the films are kind of macho in a way, hence the lack of names for the women who often seem to be tokens in a game. In Cockfighter after losing a bet the main character passes his girlfriend on with his other possessions and in Two Lane Blacktop there is a sense that somehow The Girl is at stake in their wager. This isn't something that appeals to me but these films are normally totally amoral and make no value judgments, stuff just kind of happens.
Hellman seems to use particular actors that he likes, all three of those films feature Warren Oates who is brilliant in all of them. Jack Nicholson, Millie Perkins and Harry Dean Stanton make regular appearances as well. I guess that this can often have benefits and lead to productive relationships and I like it when I see a director who likes working with the same people.
Anyway, banged on long enough anyone else a fan and want to talk about this? Can anyone recommend anything similar?
For those who don't know his films are typically about silent men (especially in Cockfighter where the main character has taken a vow of silence) with an unusual obsession (their car, cockfighting etc) who act in peculiar and often almost unexplained ways. It's common for the characters to have no names (The Driver, The Mechanic and The Girl in Two Lane Blacktop, The Woman in The Shooting) and never explain what they are doing or why, some people find this annoying but for me it really works and the films get right under your skin and keep you thinking about them for days. People often describe them as "existential" (whatever that means - my friend said it means that nobody speaks much) and that may be the case but either way you get drawn in to them totally and surprisingly considering that often nothing really happens and there is hardly any dialogue.
I guess that the films are kind of macho in a way, hence the lack of names for the women who often seem to be tokens in a game. In Cockfighter after losing a bet the main character passes his girlfriend on with his other possessions and in Two Lane Blacktop there is a sense that somehow The Girl is at stake in their wager. This isn't something that appeals to me but these films are normally totally amoral and make no value judgments, stuff just kind of happens.
Hellman seems to use particular actors that he likes, all three of those films feature Warren Oates who is brilliant in all of them. Jack Nicholson, Millie Perkins and Harry Dean Stanton make regular appearances as well. I guess that this can often have benefits and lead to productive relationships and I like it when I see a director who likes working with the same people.
Anyway, banged on long enough anyone else a fan and want to talk about this? Can anyone recommend anything similar?