Subject
Fw: American Beauty / The Eye
From
Date
Body
EDITOR's NOTE. It seems to be most unlikely the blowing litter in AB owes
anything to VN's THE EYE, his least known novel. Also the image is a very
common one in film.
-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara Wyllie <bwyllie@ssees.ac.uk>
>----------------- Message requiring your approval (21
lines) ------------------
>It's a "sheet of wrapping paper" (Penguin, p. 81) that is being blown about
>in the street by a ferocious and mischievous wind. Not remotely as elegaic
>as the vision of the carrier bag floating in the breeze in AB, but then it
>has an entirely different purpose - to demonstrate the ludicrous
>irrationality of Smurov's behaviour and to lead him into yet another
>humiliating situation. The wind eventually blows his bowler hat off his
head
>and as he chases it down the street he runs slap bang into Bogdanovich. To
>me, this sequence is an overt piece of slapstick, made more complex by
>elements of irony and bathos. Ball couldn't possibly have been thinking of
>it, and if he was, he produced something else altogether.
>
>And anyway, I'm certain that I've seen countless images of litter blown
>about on sidewalks in films. Makes for a good opening shot - SCENE: city,
>early morning. Camera pulls away from gutter to reveal sleazy
>alleyway/deserted main street. Very noir.
>
>Barbara Wyllie
>SSEES
>University College London
>
>
anything to VN's THE EYE, his least known novel. Also the image is a very
common one in film.
-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara Wyllie <bwyllie@ssees.ac.uk>
>----------------- Message requiring your approval (21
lines) ------------------
>It's a "sheet of wrapping paper" (Penguin, p. 81) that is being blown about
>in the street by a ferocious and mischievous wind. Not remotely as elegaic
>as the vision of the carrier bag floating in the breeze in AB, but then it
>has an entirely different purpose - to demonstrate the ludicrous
>irrationality of Smurov's behaviour and to lead him into yet another
>humiliating situation. The wind eventually blows his bowler hat off his
head
>and as he chases it down the street he runs slap bang into Bogdanovich. To
>me, this sequence is an overt piece of slapstick, made more complex by
>elements of irony and bathos. Ball couldn't possibly have been thinking of
>it, and if he was, he produced something else altogether.
>
>And anyway, I'm certain that I've seen countless images of litter blown
>about on sidewalks in films. Makes for a good opening shot - SCENE: city,
>early morning. Camera pulls away from gutter to reveal sleazy
>alleyway/deserted main street. Very noir.
>
>Barbara Wyllie
>SSEES
>University College London
>
>