a review of 德州巴黎

i truly don't understand this. the cinematography is good-ish. the acting is fine. the writing...dunno. it's clear that this resonated with a lot of people in 1984 or it would not have won the palm d'or (presumably). and i think that also says a lot about the pain of people born around the time of world war two...and of their relative inability to actually deal with it. i have a hunch the writers and director were going for sentimentality...tugging at some heart strings and investigating what it means to be a 'good dad' and also how easy it is to fall short of that ideal. and i just can't connect with it. first of all, we have no idea what caused this man's life to unravel until over two hours into the movie. and it doesn't really come across as suspenseful. it just comes across as telling an entire story without telling the first chapter. (the rest of the movie is entirely linear.) we (or at least i did) have a hunch that the main character probably caused his own circumstance, even though the narrator remains steadfastly dedicated (from the opening scene all the way through to the music playing while the credits roll) to getting us to feel for this man. but...why do i care about a wacked out abusive, possessive, controlling much older (like twenty plus years) grown-ass man who impregnated a teenager and then promptly proceeded to begin abusing her? also, weird and completely inappropriate fucking way to try and apologize, bud. i'll say that the penultimate (or like penpenultimate) scene is moderately interesting and emotional (and just like the entire movie, slow and too long). it's the first time we really meet the kid's mom, and i dunno, i personally connected with her a little...but you also have to suspend your disbelief that this woman who moved on with her life (in a lot of ways) somehow is clinging to love and fond feelings for a man who used to seriously abuse her...i don't buy it. it's weird that the movie feels clearly intended to humanize this wacked out dude (who is admittedly less wacked out now, and also definitely a human). but...almost all of our stories from the last several hundred years glorify men. we don't need more stories glorifying or making excuses for men. tell her story. tell the story of the young girl who was groomed and abused by this dude and how she survived it (men definitely wouldn't know how to write that though). dunno. haunted movie. perfectly depicts what's wrong with the white baby boomer (or maybe more accurately silent) generation in america...and why their collective emotional ineptitude has allowed them to cause so much harm to the world and the generations that followed them (including their own children). so glad we (well most of us) know way more about postpartum depression now. way too long and too slow to tell a story this thin. please go to therapy and deal with your shit, y'all. <3