Excellent. Now, seriously, do Moby Dick with Gregory Peck. I would be fascinated to read your thoughts. I will tease you a bit. At the end Ahab fearlessly attacks the great white whale. And is taken down with it. The crew who had been ambivalent, hesitant even downright rebellious as to how far they would go to slake their captains blood lust now went into a frenzy attacking the whale they so greatly and recently feared. This is a tale as old as time. The great tribal chief dying in battle sets off a fire in all the tribe. No one wants to outlive the chief. But there has to be one lone survivor to tell the tale. He carries a huge burden. This also a great timeless theme. I could name a dozen films and books which would not be known if not for the lone survivor. Who will be the lone survivor of our collective human tale? An immortal hybrid robot human perhaps? Who knows.
The problem with Moby Dick is that it’s so famous that a million people smarter than me have already minded it pretty thoroughly. I’m not saying there’s nothing left to say about it, but it would take someone with a really deep grasp of the story to do it justice, and it’s been a while since I’ve read it. Perhaps you might give it a try. I’d be eager to read your take.
We know Ed really well, built his home in Colorado. He is so talented, a good person. Politically we are on 2 different planets though as he is a liberal jew living in lala land and we are conservatives living in paradise. I wonder if he could vote for Kamala?
Another great piece about two great movies. I always loved the small but significant character of Sgt. Mulcahy (the name means ‘warlike’ in Irish) in Glory.
His harshness with the recruits is initially attributed to racism, setting the viewer up to see him as another predictable, minor villain. Later its revealed that he is simply committed to his duty as an NCO, making sure the men are properly prepared for the trials of battle.
I would like to mention Conrad’s critique of liberalism “Heart of Darkness”. It has been plastered over by lit crit paens to its imaginative and groundbreaking structure, before of course it got skewered by ignorant but politically correct misreadings. But its message still stands: Beware the lightbringers of progress!
It’s sad that there’s never been a great movie version. Yes, I know that Apocalypse Now was a modern retelling, but as for the actual film it hasn’t been done. Zwick would actually be a good choice to direct, come to think of it.
I am really enjoying these essays from you, and as I am a huge fan of The Last Samurai you brought up some excellent points that I hadn't considered, and now I want to go back and rewatch.
This is my favorite Tom Cruise movie. Maverick was excellent, but this was really a great role where Cruise submerged himself in the character. As young blood I trained Aikido for 10 years, and Cruise and the film portrayed the mindset and the act of stilling the mind to sense the vectors of attack as an observer, almost as though dying to the peril as the mind calms. The bushido and walking the path to dispel fear of death was excellent, and Cruise / Algren's growth as he learned to master his demons and fear is paced well. This evolution makes the action sequences all the more compelling.
Going to get really weird on you and add some Ian Flemming ala Bond: You only live twice, once when you are born and once when you stare death in the face. It's in those moments for death and struggle that Algren fully lives, and yet to reach that point much of his pain and his western thinking had to die and fall away.
While I said this is my favorite movie with Cruise, I am a huge fan of Maverick, as that movie is about the old wolf with yet some fangs left, coming to terms with his failings. In light of what you are doing with these types of essays I'd love to see your interpretation of that movie and it's themes. It was a far different movie than what I expected, and in my opinion far better than the original. There was a sadness to it as well, like the bittersweet realizations of life's twists as one ages.
Anyway, these have been really enjoyable, and inspiring. Gives me some ideas.
Excellent. Now, seriously, do Moby Dick with Gregory Peck. I would be fascinated to read your thoughts. I will tease you a bit. At the end Ahab fearlessly attacks the great white whale. And is taken down with it. The crew who had been ambivalent, hesitant even downright rebellious as to how far they would go to slake their captains blood lust now went into a frenzy attacking the whale they so greatly and recently feared. This is a tale as old as time. The great tribal chief dying in battle sets off a fire in all the tribe. No one wants to outlive the chief. But there has to be one lone survivor to tell the tale. He carries a huge burden. This also a great timeless theme. I could name a dozen films and books which would not be known if not for the lone survivor. Who will be the lone survivor of our collective human tale? An immortal hybrid robot human perhaps? Who knows.
I love the Gregory Peck Moby Dick but I read that Peck hated his performance in it.
The problem with Moby Dick is that it’s so famous that a million people smarter than me have already minded it pretty thoroughly. I’m not saying there’s nothing left to say about it, but it would take someone with a really deep grasp of the story to do it justice, and it’s been a while since I’ve read it. Perhaps you might give it a try. I’d be eager to read your take.
You do a great job of giving these two movies context. The opening battle scene in Glory is one of the finest I've seen.
I've just rewatched Legends Of The Fall and that movie, as you point out, is also a confrontation between modernity and the old ways.
My wife and I were in our twenties and just beginning to have children when we watched ThirtySomething. The ad agency storyline was very good.
There’s just something fascinating about a man being able to make lite family dramas and epic war movies.
We know Ed really well, built his home in Colorado. He is so talented, a good person. Politically we are on 2 different planets though as he is a liberal jew living in lala land and we are conservatives living in paradise. I wonder if he could vote for Kamala?
That’s amazing. When you see him, kindly give him my regards.
Your essays are gems, so much that I briefly forgot I hated both movies
Another great piece about two great movies. I always loved the small but significant character of Sgt. Mulcahy (the name means ‘warlike’ in Irish) in Glory.
His harshness with the recruits is initially attributed to racism, setting the viewer up to see him as another predictable, minor villain. Later its revealed that he is simply committed to his duty as an NCO, making sure the men are properly prepared for the trials of battle.
You see the men using the exact bayonet techniques he taught while storming the fort. Chekov’s bayonet.
I would like to mention Conrad’s critique of liberalism “Heart of Darkness”. It has been plastered over by lit crit paens to its imaginative and groundbreaking structure, before of course it got skewered by ignorant but politically correct misreadings. But its message still stands: Beware the lightbringers of progress!
It’s sad that there’s never been a great movie version. Yes, I know that Apocalypse Now was a modern retelling, but as for the actual film it hasn’t been done. Zwick would actually be a good choice to direct, come to think of it.
I am really enjoying these essays from you, and as I am a huge fan of The Last Samurai you brought up some excellent points that I hadn't considered, and now I want to go back and rewatch.
This is my favorite Tom Cruise movie. Maverick was excellent, but this was really a great role where Cruise submerged himself in the character. As young blood I trained Aikido for 10 years, and Cruise and the film portrayed the mindset and the act of stilling the mind to sense the vectors of attack as an observer, almost as though dying to the peril as the mind calms. The bushido and walking the path to dispel fear of death was excellent, and Cruise / Algren's growth as he learned to master his demons and fear is paced well. This evolution makes the action sequences all the more compelling.
Going to get really weird on you and add some Ian Flemming ala Bond: You only live twice, once when you are born and once when you stare death in the face. It's in those moments for death and struggle that Algren fully lives, and yet to reach that point much of his pain and his western thinking had to die and fall away.
While I said this is my favorite movie with Cruise, I am a huge fan of Maverick, as that movie is about the old wolf with yet some fangs left, coming to terms with his failings. In light of what you are doing with these types of essays I'd love to see your interpretation of that movie and it's themes. It was a far different movie than what I expected, and in my opinion far better than the original. There was a sadness to it as well, like the bittersweet realizations of life's twists as one ages.
Anyway, these have been really enjoyable, and inspiring. Gives me some ideas.
Thank you for helping me to see why I found those films so profoundly moving. Well done!
Excellent analysis and I like what you said near the end that while societies succumb to liberalism, the individual can overcome them.