Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Written and Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Adam Sandler, Phillip Seymour Hoffman
The film has a very interesting tone. It has a psychological thriller vibe, delving into the headspace of the character. It's tough to write a logline for a film like this - because it's not about one singular premise. The film is about a lot of things - a girl in a phone-sex center he calls starts threatening him for money. He's trying to exploit a marketing loophole. He's struggling with a sense of self worth with his overbearing sister and also he meets a woman. These things are not even related. The only common thing is the character, and the tone/vibe of the film. The film is expressionist and surreal at times - the music and sound design is freaky. The imagery is also distorted at times, we see video art, and blown out highlights - just like how we'd see an exterior after being in a dark room for long. They use blue a lot, there are blue lights, his costume is a blue coat, there is blue in the production design as well - and Lena wears red, bringing in visual contrast in character - a technique which even 'Pauline at the Beach' used.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays an alpha male, he is the owner of the phone sex business - he is quite aggressive, but he gets scared when he gets to know that Barry has come all the way from California to warn him. I think someone who is not afraid is more dangerous than someone who is stronger - and Barry slowly goes down that path as the film progresses. Except for Lena, it felt like he was losing his shit and that's why he gets too protective when someone attacks Lena.
No comments:
Post a Comment