"I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we are reading doesn't wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for? ...we need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us."
-Kafka
I think it's interesting that the complaints are very similar to the article Ms. Schieffelin posted below about Foer's writing: its manipulative and just plays with emotions. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, I don't know. All I know for sure is that I plan on seeing it anyways.
Also, this audience review summed up my thoughts just looking at the other reviews:
Critics are calling this film sentimental, exploitative kitsch. Yet EL&IC is just about a duplicate of the critically acclaimed Hugo; the key difference is that Hugo innocuously transports us to 1930s Paris while EL&IC bravely takes us to 9/11 New York. My guess, then, is that many people aren't ready for a 9/11 movie that not only documents the events of 9/11 (like United 93), but also captures the feelings from 9/11 and the shared healing process that has followed.
I don't know about Hugo, because I didn't see that, but reading the reviews that call it manipulative, I think people may be reacting so strongly just because of the time. We are emotionally linked to 9/11 in a way that forces us to not only be emotional, but feel very specific emotions about it.
I think it's interesting that the complaints are very similar to the article Ms. Schieffelin posted below about Foer's writing: its manipulative and just plays with emotions. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, I don't know. All I know for sure is that I plan on seeing it anyways.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this audience review summed up my thoughts just looking at the other reviews:
ReplyDeleteCritics are calling this film sentimental, exploitative kitsch. Yet EL&IC is just about a duplicate of the critically acclaimed Hugo; the key difference is that Hugo innocuously transports us to 1930s Paris while EL&IC bravely takes us to 9/11 New York. My guess, then, is that many people aren't ready for a 9/11 movie that not only documents the events of 9/11 (like United 93), but also captures the feelings from 9/11 and the shared healing process that has followed.
I don't know about Hugo, because I didn't see that, but reading the reviews that call it manipulative, I think people may be reacting so strongly just because of the time. We are emotionally linked to 9/11 in a way that forces us to not only be emotional, but feel very specific emotions about it.