So I went to see Old Joy back when it was at the Red Vic. It's out on DVD now and it's really different from any movie I can think of at the (tired) moment. In a good way.
I'd like to stress again here on my blog (strongly) that I am not a Yoga Mat Person, but I will say this
movie has a meditational feeling to it. By that, I mean while you watch it there is so much silence and there are so many moments of a quiet kind of reflection that when you finish watching it you really do feel like you went somewhere else on a journey.
The journey of the film takes place in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Old friends from way back Mark and Kurt meet up and go camping. They haven't seen each other in a long time and it's obvious that their lives have branched far away from one another in those years apart. What's great about this film is that the issues that this growing apart have caused are never directly addressed. Instead, the filmmaker Kelly Reichardt allows the viewer to use those gorgeous silent moments to absorb thoughts and scenery and to reflect, bring about one's own ideas, and draw one's own conclusions. I love it when movies don't preach their message to you,slam you over the head with whatever it is they are trying to get you to feel, and this one is brilliant in that regard.
The film definitely sparked my own memories about
similar experiences. It got the awkward silences right for sure. Mark is the Reformed And Now Responsible Guy and Kurt is the Wild Dude That Never Grew Up Totally. Kurt is still flying by the seat of his pants and Mark is uncomfortably wearing his like Urkel. I read a review a few weeks ago that said how the viewer sees both Mark and Kurt by the end of the film will say a lot about how that viewer sees life in general and I think that is a fair and interesting comment
.
I'd like to stress again here on my blog (strongly) that I am not a Yoga Mat Person, but I will say this
movie has a meditational feeling to it. By that, I mean while you watch it there is so much silence and there are so many moments of a quiet kind of reflection that when you finish watching it you really do feel like you went somewhere else on a journey.The journey of the film takes place in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Old friends from way back Mark and Kurt meet up and go camping. They haven't seen each other in a long time and it's obvious that their lives have branched far away from one another in those years apart. What's great about this film is that the issues that this growing apart have caused are never directly addressed. Instead, the filmmaker Kelly Reichardt allows the viewer to use those gorgeous silent moments to absorb thoughts and scenery and to reflect, bring about one's own ideas, and draw one's own conclusions. I love it when movies don't preach their message to you,slam you over the head with whatever it is they are trying to get you to feel, and this one is brilliant in that regard.
The film definitely sparked my own memories about similar experiences. It got the awkward silences right for sure. Mark is the Reformed And Now Responsible Guy and Kurt is the Wild Dude That Never Grew Up Totally. Kurt is still flying by the seat of his pants and Mark is uncomfortably wearing his like Urkel. I read a review a few weeks ago that said how the viewer sees both Mark and Kurt by the end of the film will say a lot about how that viewer sees life in general and I think that is a fair and interesting comment. 
