Every once in a while I will select a general
topic and select movies to accompany it. As you can see the more child-friendly
movies are at the start of the day, but when night falls: ‘here be monsters’. Please
feel free to give suggestions of other unknown movies.
Theme: Who is who? .
Identity is a strange concept when you think about it. I am me! But there a millions of people on the world who ‘think’ like me. Then there are hundreds of thousands of people on the world who like the things I like. And, then, there are probably a few thousand people on the world who like their coffee they way I like it. The point being: I am unique; yet there a quite a few people around on this silly little planet of ours who are exactly like me.
This time ‘round I want to focus on movies that delve into this concept of ‘identity’. ‘Who are you’- really and can somebody else fill your shoes. We will soon find out.
They might even look like me according to the popular theory of ‘seven doppelgangers’.
This time ‘round I want to focus on movies that delve into this concept of ‘identity’. ‘Who are you’- really and can somebody else fill your shoes. We will soon find out.
08:00-10:00
Freaky Friday: The original body change routine between a mother and her daughter. I prefer the 1995-version because that movie is a bit less over the top for me girl.
Still, the original is the best of the bunch. There’s nothing better than a (young) Jodie Foster telling her classmates how it is.
Still, the original is the best of the bunch. There’s nothing better than a (young) Jodie Foster telling her classmates how it is.
10:00-12:00
Hilfe ich bin ein junge: A German movie in which a young girl and boy switch places. Hilarity ensues. It’s tame childhood fare as only the Germans could produce in their years of dividedness.
Like father, like son: The boys took over. That’s the way to look at this particular genre. Girls go first (if it’s a hit!), the boys follow. This tale isn’t very different from the first if not for the fact that the ‘cringe’ is nudged to eleven!
14:00-16:00
Vice Versa: Accepting the mood this movie goes down on the ‘cringe’-factor and merely plays it as a boy trying to understand his father (and ‘vice versa’). Yes, there are those terrible scenes of a boy pretending to be an adult (which always fail). But at the same time this movie has an sweet paternal love story between father and son at its core. And some adventure to boot!
16:00-17:00
Switch: The difficult one. Here we have a guy being killed by his former lovers. This guy is a bastard! Period! But then he ‘re-awakens’ as a gorgeous girl. What to do? Hunt donwn his killers (check), get accustomed to his/her body (check), accept the fact that he was quite the bastard in his previous life and the women were (rather) right to kill him (double check).
In the end Switch is a story about accepting your flaws and becoming a better person. Only, in this fantasy, murder had to come first.
In the end Switch is a story about accepting your flaws and becoming a better person. Only, in this fantasy, murder had to come first.
17:00-19:00
Prelude to a Kiss: Alec Baldwin and Meg Ryan at their most charming. It’s a small story about love and aging as a young woman and an elderly man switch places.
19:00-21:00
Face/Off: An action flick by the master of the genre John Woo. A criminal and a terrorist change places. Be prepared for some, almost, operatic violence and the white dove or two as the forces of good and evil collide.
The best part of this movie is the ease with which Travolta and Cage manage to mimic each others little habits. Having strong capable actors in such a silly tale almost makes the fantasy it is based on plausible.
21:00-23:00 The best part of this movie is the ease with which Travolta and Cage manage to mimic each others little habits. Having strong capable actors in such a silly tale almost makes the fantasy it is based on plausible.
Dark reflection: (Yes, I’m almost cheating) Another switch this time between grown up clones/ or brothers – separated at birth. A guy finds out that he was a clone and his older ‘sibling’ comes to meet him.
His brother wants to take his place and all kinds of shenanigans happen in-between. But, the true question happens in the end: when we are talking about reality. Who is real and who is false?
His brother wants to take his place and all kinds of shenanigans happen in-between. But, the true question happens in the end: when we are talking about reality. Who is real and who is false?
I excluded Multiplicity here because this movie doesn’t really feature a switch between two different souls as it were.
23:00-01:00
Fallen: ‘Ti-i-i-me is on my side; yes it is!’
According to Biblical stories: when the war in the heavens ended God punished each fallen angel accordingly. Some angels were stripped away from a body, cursed to live eternity without a permanent host, dependent on the humans de detest.
We are in the horror genre now (well, supernatural-thriller, at least).
What is identity? Is it our mind or our body or both? Think about it. Then imagine that the ‘body’-part gets stripped away.
This is what the villain in Fallen is experiencing. He has no body anymore –he’s all mind. What does that do to a being? For starters: he becomes everything, with no identity of sex, race, color or creed.
According to Biblical stories: when the war in the heavens ended God punished each fallen angel accordingly. Some angels were stripped away from a body, cursed to live eternity without a permanent host, dependent on the humans de detest.
We are in the horror genre now (well, supernatural-thriller, at least).
What is identity? Is it our mind or our body or both? Think about it. Then imagine that the ‘body’-part gets stripped away.
This is what the villain in Fallen is experiencing. He has no body anymore –he’s all mind. What does that do to a being? For starters: he becomes everything, with no identity of sex, race, color or creed.
Lou Diamond Phillips' The First Power (1990) uses the same concept but Fallen is the better movie.
01:00-03:00
The Thing: Talk about identity. Here we have a shape-shifting Alien monster intent on killing every single living soul it can find. Who is who? Who can one trust? What’s that around the corner?
Honourable mentions:
I decided to let most of the movies on this list have a bit of ‘magic’ behind it all. So I’ll probably keep Trading Places, Big Business and Filofax for another time. Still there are many other movies to mention:
18 again!, Dream a little dream: An elderly man and a teenager switch places. I like the use of this concept better in Prelude to a kiss because of the romantic angle and the fear of aging after marriage.
It’s a boy girl thing: Boys and girls switching places is a staple of this particular niche genre. This movie is one of the better outings.
All of me: A woman’s soul enters the body of a young man. All kind of hilarious things happen along the way as he tries to help her (and she helps him).
Horror movies: Lot’s of horror movies use the concept of the ‘switch’ or ‘unreliable/reliable’ character dynamic. But including it on the list would be spoiling the movie. One I can tell you is the underappreciated The witch in the window. The other is a brilliant 2005 movie. That’s all I can say.
Honourable mentions:
I decided to let most of the movies on this list have a bit of ‘magic’ behind it all. So I’ll probably keep Trading Places, Big Business and Filofax for another time. Still there are many other movies to mention:
18 again!, Dream a little dream: An elderly man and a teenager switch places. I like the use of this concept better in Prelude to a kiss because of the romantic angle and the fear of aging after marriage.
It’s a boy girl thing: Boys and girls switching places is a staple of this particular niche genre. This movie is one of the better outings.
All of me: A woman’s soul enters the body of a young man. All kind of hilarious things happen along the way as he tries to help her (and she helps him).
Horror movies: Lot’s of horror movies use the concept of the ‘switch’ or ‘unreliable/reliable’ character dynamic. But including it on the list would be spoiling the movie. One I can tell you is the underappreciated The witch in the window. The other is a brilliant 2005 movie. That’s all I can say.
No comments:
Post a Comment