Matchpoint is really very refreshing. A quiet beginning - the scenes almost detached, clipped, chartering the rise of the protagonist. It is a very steady, pragmatic, easy ascent into London high society for Chris. Almost too easy. There must be something to make him slip. As the show weaves on, his life starts to fray... In the later half of the movie, even the pace of the movie and the pacing of the scenes become more harried and more drawn out, thus mirroring his thought process. The good life or love? Soon, he would convince himself that it is a battle more of love v lust.
Initially, what seemed like a really stereotypical movie of a complex love story was turned on its head by brilliant direction and abrupt twists and turns. The rise and fall of the protagonist was akin to that of a Shakespearean tragic hero. A modern day Macbeth.
There's something about Jonathan Rhys Meyers' face that reminds me of a painting I once saw in the Louvre. Very Jacques Louis David. No, I actually can't place the artist. I even have a specific painting in mind, but I can't place the artist. But I remember how the light cast a dark shadow across one side of the face, and the other side is bathed in light. Very brooding. And it's amazing how so normal a man could look so majestic with the right paint, the right light. Jonathan Rhys Meyers also possesses the Mediterranean/Italian man charm. He can carry off a Prada outfit like he was born to be in on the cover of a magazine. And he doesn't even have the best bod to begin with.
Everything about the movie spoke of care and precision. The innuendoes in the jokes are so scathing that they blast you in the face. (Spoiler alert: Watch out for the joke about being shell-shocked) And it was so sad when the perfect British lady tried to make a sexual pun on how his tennis serve was "hard" and it just turned out really really lame. But when Scarlett Johanssen made a ball reference, things just heated up for him. Watch out also for the paintings hanging in the gallery as the characters pace through the exhibits. Their significance is also in the subtext.
Woody Allen's gift in this show at least was to highlight the stereotypes and celebrate it. The hot-blooded white trash American v well-groomed upper class British lady comparison was a tad old, but hey, it works. How about the many very cold, very polite dinnertable conversations the upper class British had about "how tragic" were the numerous famines and earthquakes and murders that were happening around the world. Similarly, lovemaking in the rain? In the countryside? puh-lease. But it was done with panache, tongue in cheek. Even the Scotland Yard were 2 Scottish men!!!
Love v Lust... how does one tell sometimes? In his case I believe it was the latter. But he led an existence dependent on this Emotion, this Feeling that he had believed was Love. It took such a major event to make him realise the truth. And when revelation comes, so many in its path suffer. Scarlett Johansson's character, Nola, was like a sacrificial lamb in his path to enlightenment.
Affluence v Sticking to one's principles and Living one's life for oneself - Another scary thing about this theme in the movie was that no matter how strongly I felt towards the latter, every time a scene unfolded with a beautiful model home or a gorgeous mahogany library laden with antiques and vintage books, I started to covet. No matter how convicted I am that I will choose the latter, inevitably, unconsciously, I am naturally drawn to what is beautiful and perfect. That is the lifestyle I covet. I will not go to those ends to seek it, but it will always be something I yearn for...
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