Movies Part II: With Thin Man, Watchmen, and The Three Musketeers’ Spoilers

Thin Man
This one is particularly complicated for me. On the one hand, I absolutely love the film version to death. I can re-watch this one at any time. Nick and Nora are such a wonderful, hilarious, couple; they show that you can have a film/film series about a married couple that is truly in love without having it be at all dull/have their relationship be at all dull. Mona Loy and William Powell have amazing chemistry (and Mona Loy looks so beautiful). The second one is almost as much fun as the first (the Nick/Nora interactions are as fun, and the twist is excellent, but the overall story is not as good or well plotted); they go a bit off the rails after that, but still fun.

On the other hand, I have a passion for the book as well. It is darker, more noir. Dorothy in particular is less of an innocent victim, and has her own instabilities with which to grapple. The non Nick and Nora characters ring more true, and the psychology of the novel is more complex. I would love to see a remake of the film that emphasizes the darkness of the book (though it can leave out the cannibalism excerpt; still not sure what to make of that).

Watchmen
Sigh. I actually enjoyed the movie of this, which I saw before I read the graphic novel. I wasn’t at all familiar with the source material, and I particularly enjoyed the Laurie/Daniel romance, perhaps in part because of my love for Patrick Wilson. I remember I had an absolutely horrific headache after seeing it (which is not unusual for me; I spent more time recovering from the headache I got at Atlantis than I did watching that unfortunate piece of cinema), but all in all I had fun.

But, after reading the graphic novel, I can see why a) critics/fans were disappointed, and b) Moore thinks you can’t really adapt his works for film. The power and the pain of the graphic novel seemed to be missing in the movie somehow. It’s been awhile since I saw it, but the movie doesn’t capture the raw despair of the novel nor the desperate hope that keeps propelling the novel forward.

In the novel, every little cruelty seems to matter, you can see how Dr. Manhattan is shattered by those around him and how he is unintentionally cruel beyond words to those he claims to care about; the film doesn’t capture that. For example, I was most struck by his relationship with Laurie in the novel (not Daniel’s, though again, that may be a Patrick Wilson issue), and the incredible pressure he places on her to be all of humanity for him, even when he chooses to save the world. So, yeah, the film disappoints. The graphic novel doesn’t.

The Three Musketeers
Okay, I’m a terrible person, but I still really enjoy the Disney film version. Yes, it is not really The Three Musketeers at all, but I still love it, all right?

Maybe it’s because the King and Queen have such a sweet, adorable relationship. It certainly is not historically accurate at all, but I’m not really looking for that in this movie. They are just too cute, particularly at the end when they finally connect; yes, it is an overly rose-colored glasses version of arranged marriages, but hey, I’m cool with that because I ship them.

Similarly, while Athos is a better character, with more depth and complexity in the novel, I prefer Sabine in the film. This may because the women get modernized in the movie, but again, I can live with that. She is a more compelling ,interesting character when she is not pure evil from the beginning but really was betrayed by Athos, and it makes him have a certain depth as well (which is so ironic, considering that he is more complex/interesting in the novel; I can’t explain that).

On the other hand, the Cardinal is a much more interesting character in the novel; I appreciate that it is not as black and white, and it makes significantly more sense. The novel manages the difficult task of not having one main story arc but several little ones while maintaining momentum. The friendship among the four is better developed, and d’Artagnan is less shallow/less of just a pretty-boy hero.

I do think it is interesting that the male characters in the novel are more interesting/complex/three dimensional, while the women are much more interesting/complex/three dimensional in the film. Whether this reflects a better ability to portray women, or the fact that I can just more easily identify with these modernized women is an interesting question.

Still need to see Cider House Rules, Dr. Zhivago, and The French Lieutenant’s Woman. And I’m excited to see Never Let Me Go when it comes out this fall, so there will be another movie post soon.

You Look Approachable or It's Watchmen All the Way Down

“Reading anything interesting?’ The elderly gentleman on the metro asks me.
Now, I am not only engrossed in the novel in my hands, I also have headphones in. Yet, apparently I seem approachable. I couldn’t begin to tell you why.
I respond by showing the cover of The Three Musketeers.
“Now, that is interesting,” he says. “Not many young ladies read that one anymore.”

This conversation felt odd while I was in it, since I tend to have these out-of-body conversation experiences where I see myself having the conversation. That being said, recapping it makes it seem even odder. I mean, did many young ladies used to read The Three Musketeers? Do young men read it now, or did he really mean young people? Gah, I’ve got nothing.
Anyway, I sort of smile dubiously. I’m not really sure what to say to that.

“Are you reading it for a seminar?”
Now, this would be the point to tell all about my exciting list project, right? WRONG. I merely say that I thought it would be fun and that I’m enjoying it. And I breathe a sigh of relief that my metro stop is here.

This experience was in no way as awkward (and uncomfortable!) as when I was walking home from the library (again with headphones) with a large stack of books, and some creep in a car pulled over to try to use my books as some sort of entry pick-up line. That was really awkward. I have a low trigger threshold, though, for being hit-on or for street harassment.

In other news, I actually really did enjoy The Three Musketeers. Young ladies may not be reading it anymore, but they don’t know what they are missing out on. It was a super fast read (about two days for 600 pages), since it just moved so quickly. I was a bit disappointed by Lady de Winter, but other than that I thought it was excellent. Athos was easily my favorite character (which is interesting, considering how I felt about the Milady situation). It feels modern in many ways, and stands the test of time quite well, though overall the female characters are a bit thin. In all, I prefer The Count of Monte Cristo, but for fun, it’s hard to beat The Three Musketeers.

I finally finished Watchmen as well. Graphic novels aren’t easy for me, so I was glad that I knew about the plot ahead of time. I had forgotten some of the pieces for how it fit together, but it came back to me as I read it. I found it hard to read, though. I do not think of graphic novels as childish, per se. I’m not one of those people who sees superheroes as juvenile.

At the same time, for me, they are tied in many ways to my childhood. I think of them in terms of watching the Batman animated series in our house in Germany or in Phoenix growing up. I think of the ridiculous X-Men talking game Sarah, Josh and I played. I don’t necessarily want them to be dark and dystopian; I want them to have that nostalgia (no joke intended there, really) of childhood memories. Of course, Watchmen ultimately has a (fairly) happy ending, but it still rips at the security of superheroes.

My favorite quote is from Dr. Manhattan (who wasn’t always blue!): Come...dry your eyes. For you are life, rarer than a quark and unpredictable beyond the dreams of Heisenberg; the clay in which the forces that shape all things leave their fingerprints most clearly. Dry your eyes... and let's go home.