One of many reasons why that film aggravated me!
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Replying to @parabasis
Similar to how they used Dave Van Ronk's life in Llewyn Davis or Eddy Mannix in Hail, Caesar: they took the barebones of a life & milieu but gave the character a very different personality. I don't have a problem with that. These aren't documentaries.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
I don’t have a problem with it exactly but they owe such a debt to Odets that their reflexive pose of contempt, particularly towards anyone who believes in anything, seemed particularly ill fitting.
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Replying to @parabasis
I think there is an article to be written about the Coen's use of history -- I don't think this myself but I can see someone making the argument that it's irresponsible.
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Replying to @HeerJeet @parabasis
The Coens know a lot more history than their average viewer, and I suppose you could say they misrepresent it, but their films are mannered and heightened enough that it's hard for me to read them as irresponsible.
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I'd argue the standard three-act inspirational biopic with star casting is a much more pernicious influence on understanding of history and culture.
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Anyway I think, in film terms, most people who make history are more like character actors than glittering stars, and the Coens' films reflect that.
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Replying to @mattkeeley @HeerJeet
Well except in hail Caesar where a real life monster is portrayed as a frumpy middle management type whose instincts still manage to usually be right
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Replying to @parabasis @HeerJeet
But a real monster 99% of the audience hasn't heard of and that the remaining 1% will understand to be a wry joke?
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Replying to @mattkeeley @HeerJeet
Is it a joke? If it is a joke what is the actual joke? (I think the actual problem here is that Hail Caesar is just underbaked rather than this particular choice)
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I think the joke (or more properly the context) is that this is a movie not only about Hollywood in the 1950s but also one that also parodies 1950s films, so Eddie Mannix has to be a noir-style hero (not a thug) and Marcuse has to be a Soviet spy.
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