It's a good idea to come to this movie completely unprepared or at least half-prepared.
I haven't read the novel, and had only an idea I'd heard of it before, so I was unprepared.
The movie's a much more accessible parody than, say, one of a Henry Fielding novel. It comes with a great touch of the absurd, in common with Rawlinson's End (the late Viv Stanshall of the Bonzo Dog Doodah Band) and works very well. I don't think you can compare it with a contemporary Hollywood movie at all. Subtitles are really a boon to catch the language and understand it, and I was glad to watch it on satellite TV's IFC. I guess they'd be there on DVD.
It's a rustic parody, mixing Jane Eyre and post-Great War English Country sensibilities with a dash of pre-Pythonesque surrealism.
It does make sense, but there are parts that almost demand that you don't try to make sense. True enjoyment comes from just enjoying it. Funny? Absolutely. But you may have to have an understanding of English rural life, at least of the 1930's, to get a full grasp of the ridiculous humor.
To be half-prepared you might try to find the original novel, or a (literary) review of it.
And be prepared for more.
I can see it becoming a cult movie, if it managed to get back out and be seen by the many who would be uproariously engaged by it.
I haven't read the novel, and had only an idea I'd heard of it before, so I was unprepared.
The movie's a much more accessible parody than, say, one of a Henry Fielding novel. It comes with a great touch of the absurd, in common with Rawlinson's End (the late Viv Stanshall of the Bonzo Dog Doodah Band) and works very well. I don't think you can compare it with a contemporary Hollywood movie at all. Subtitles are really a boon to catch the language and understand it, and I was glad to watch it on satellite TV's IFC. I guess they'd be there on DVD.
It's a rustic parody, mixing Jane Eyre and post-Great War English Country sensibilities with a dash of pre-Pythonesque surrealism.
It does make sense, but there are parts that almost demand that you don't try to make sense. True enjoyment comes from just enjoying it. Funny? Absolutely. But you may have to have an understanding of English rural life, at least of the 1930's, to get a full grasp of the ridiculous humor.
To be half-prepared you might try to find the original novel, or a (literary) review of it.
And be prepared for more.
I can see it becoming a cult movie, if it managed to get back out and be seen by the many who would be uproariously engaged by it.
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