Masterpiece
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fabGirl — 17 years ago(September 07, 2008 05:15 PM)
I love everything you just wrote Crawfordfan! I couldn't have put it better myself. The film is remarkable because George refuses to hide, she is who she and lives her life with remarkable honesty.
I find her one of the most refreshingly three dimensional characters to ever grace a film. She is a beacon of hope in a hostile world!!! -
TheLurkingFox — 16 years ago(April 22, 2009 11:15 AM)
"she has no desire to manipulate others, but enjoys upsetting the hetero norm! Despite the negative ending, we know she'll bounce back (just as on the sound stage she refuses to lie down in the road and 'play' dead): in spite of the humiliation of her providing the voiceover for Clarabelle Cow, I like to think this is proof that she refuses to be silenced!"
I don't agree with you. She has every desire to upset other people, namely Childie. They both are in a pseudo S/M abusive relationship. I say pseudo S/M because real (healthy) S/M relationship have obviously liited boundaries, etc. Here, it looks more like psychological abuse than anything else. She constantly puts Childie down because she suffers from being put down herself (typical bully behaviour) Childie on the other hand is not completely innocent (she IS 32 as mentionned in the movie, and is a willing participant in this abusive relationship, as often) but lets herself put down, even when she does not want to.
On the other side, when it's said "inability to conduct herself in a civilised manner", I don't agree that it refers only to her obvious lesbianism. It's also to do with the fact that indeed she seems to have no understanding of social norms or play. She's unable to conduct herself like an adult. She interrupts people at the bad moment, yells on her girlfriend and insults her in front of everyone, etc etc. She gets drunk all the time, and is a mean drunk.
But why is she like that? You'll have the greatest difficulties to convince me that it is not some homophobic logic behind. Just the way the scene in the bar is filmed you understand from where the movie comes from: It is a film made by a heterosexual man for a (60s) heterosexual public. It is not by chance that she ends up alone, drunk and desperate. (read: The Celluloid Closet by Vito Russo)
In the end, I had heard that The Killing of Sister George and The Boys in the Band were two very homophobic movies made in the late 60s presenting gay people as desperate souls. I saw TBITB, and it went directly in my top 10 of all times movies, and I can argue against anyone who tells me it is homophobic. I tried to have the same take on TKSG, but I couldn't. While TBITB is a gay movie made by a gay man (not Friedkin, but Crowley) with gay people and for gay people (it used to be a play on Broadway), TKSG is a straight movie played by straight actors for a straight audience, and pretending to portray the life of lesbians as it is but failing miserably.
With the newspaper strike on, I wouldn't consider dying! /Bette Davis/
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WarpedRecord — 16 years ago(May 20, 2009 07:23 PM)
I completely agree that this film is a masterpiece and years, perhaps decades, ahead of its time. Homophobic? Hardly! This is a warts-and-all look at an aging star who happens also to be lesbian, not through cause or effect. Her character is completely developed, though she's not very likable. But then again, not every lesbian is. And the scenes in the lesbian bar were an eye-opening look at an era almost lost to history.
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gioconda — 15 years ago(January 18, 2011 10:25 PM)
It really is a masterpiece. Once seen, never forgotten. I've seen it many times, and am always amazed at how unique this movie is, with all the unusual and strongly written characters.
It's a shame it's not more well known. -
MrEdnablackadder — 13 years ago(April 11, 2012 02:13 PM)
This was a fantastic movie indeed and it certainly deserves to be better-known , but , alas , I suppose many would find it too scabrous .
I think the film features one of the greatest female acting trios ever assembled and I would have a really hard time to imagine it with a different cast . Beryl and Coral had originated the roles on stage , so it is natural that they look so perfect . Susannah is utterly magnificent as Childie : frail and delicate like a China doll , George's toy . I doubt Eileen Atkins would have lookied so convincent on film : she's always been too butch and never looked very young . I know that she must have made a different impression on the stage , but here .. come on . Do you think she would have made the same effect as Susannah in a pink baby doll ?