Kate's Film Club: Opening Night
by Kate Kate's Film Club Pop Culture
Our resident film buff šŖ, Kate Corcoran, takes on fashion films, whether they be classics for every fashion girl's watchlist or surprising finds with looks that dazzle.Ā Ā
John Cassavetes
Opening Night is a DARK movie that film nerds call ābrilliant.ā (Editor's Note: Ahem, that would be us! šš¼āāļø)
Personally, the movie didnāt hook me like it did others. However, let us all remember that I am the gal who ratedĀ Mixed Nuts, a total flop of a film, 100/100.
So, perhaps we should take my movie recommendations with a grain of salt. However, I am the film critic around here, so youāre all going to have to listen to my hot takes!Ā (Editor's Note: TouchĆ©!)
Sheās so beautiful and natural in her acting you almost forget this is a movie and not a documentary.
Opening Night stars Gena Rowlands (Sunglasses icon and general muse) playing Myrtle Gordon, who is completely mesmerizing in this film. Sheās so beautiful and natural in her acting you almost forget this is a movie and not a documentary. There are moments where the movie feels like a doc, actually. The cinematography is so up close and intimate, even shaky like the cinematographer didnāt know what was going to happen next. It kind of sets an eerie tone.
Myrtle is an actor preparing for a play. Sheās also an active, sort-of-functioning alcoholic.
Early in the movie, when Myrtle is leaving the theatre in the rain, a crazed fan swarms her. The fan is fatally hit by a car, setting off the vibe of the entire film.
Myrtle canāt focus on anything besides this dead fan and bottle of brown liquor. She sees the fan, she talks to her, she even gets violently physical with her.
Myrtle is having nervous breakdown, after nervous breakdown. But the show must go on!
This movie is one part hallucinations and another part identity crisis. The play Myrtle stars in centers around the story of an aging woman.
The theme of Myrtle "getting older" is hammered into her multiple times throughout the movie. Sheās having a hard time coming to terms with that, and so am I as the viewer. Sheās so stunning and only in her 40s...
John Cassavetes offers a profound exploration of the human psyche in this film. Myrtle is having nervous breakdown, after nervous breakdown. But the show must go on! If youāre an actor, I think you would love this movie. Itās almost like an artsy horror actor's movie.
Iām sad that it didnāt grip me like I can see that it has other folks, but you canāt win āem all! I guess Iām more of a slapstick kinda gal at heart.Ā
Blame it on the early exposure to Mel Brooks, I guess.
Ā
Nice visuals for this dark movie:
-Gena Rowlands in sunglasses inside.
-Playwright Sarahās feather hat that she wearsā¦ every day, all the time?
-The way smoke was inhaled more than oxygen in this movie ā itās cool, I canāt help it, sorry.
-John Cassavetes' use of red.
Ā
Final Rating
Iām rating Opening Night 65/100 fights with a ghost. š»
To read all of Kateās wildly deep and complex reviews, follow @katecorcoran on Letterboxd!
← Older Post Newer Post →
