We bid farewell to a month with fact-curious films rooted in history. As we turn our attention to science fiction and speculative fiction, we alter our expectations as well. After all, the next few movies are decidedly not claiming to be in any way true and we do not need to assess them in comparison to anything real.
…and yet. Be prepared, nevertheless, to encounter these fantastical stories as either plausible or realistic in some way. It’s hard to follow a plot or characters that have no relationship at all to what we as viewers already know and expect.
Anyway, hello, welcome, and thank you for stopping by. For new visitors, here’s what this situation is all about:
With Savor the View, we’ll watch, think, and talk about movies and the things that matter. A special welcome and thanks to our regular crew!
Each Monday, I share brief, spoiler-free remarks and questions to frame viewing a movie on our own.
Each Thursday, I share post-viewing questions to poke at the issues, ideas, quandaries, inspirations...whatever...that movie might have summoned (spoilers, ahoy!).
Paid subscribers can talk it all out in a weekly Discussion Thread.
General thoughts?
The universal/general
The movie asserts confidently how this history, in which Dick Cheney (Christian Bale) features centrally, works. How one thing leads to another with substantive, substantial, even horrifying consequences. Is this view plausible? Might this view change with additional context beyond what this movie provides? Why or why not? Is this a cynical or or a realist perspective?
The specific/unique
When Cheney asks Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell) what their party (the Republican party) believes, Rumsfeld just laughs. Who is this exchange all about – just these characters in this movie, just these two people in real life, or their party as a whole (and in real life)?
What’s Kurt’s (Jesse Plemons) role in this film? Is there any TV show or movie that Jesse Plemons doesn’t make better by appearing in it?
The heart symbolism: isn’t this all just a bit too “on the nose?” Or does it fall just right?
Also, why so much time with dental hygiene…then Shakespearean dialogue immediately after? What’s happening with these scenes?
The viewer is always present
I borrow this question directly from Alissa Wilkinson at Vox: “Do you think Vice ‘humanizes’ Cheney? If so, should it have? If not, did it fail?”
What elements of this film resonate with today’s issues?
Worthwhile Reads
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/adam-mckay-on-the-veracity-of-vice
Next Week’s Movie?
For May – the month of “Thresholds and Horizons” – A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
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