Solondz and Fiction

It has been a bit since last writing (although not sure who this is supposed to be directed towards besides myself), and there has been some stunted amount of activity since my previous post. The one thing that I was able to take notes on and respond to in a somewhat responsive manner is Todd Solondz's second most recent film Storytelling. My "notes" basically outline a rambling invested in the agency of the film. It seems to have been a film for the most part attempting to shock. However, it seems like 2001 is a bit too late for a film of this type to have any type of lasting infliction or shock. If anything, it's shock is rather predictable and pedantic, however there is an underlying layer in the material and the representations that take place: the relationship between irony and truth. This relationship, although somewhat cliché in terms of its leading the viewer into certain instances of second guessing agency and motivation, as well as forcing the viewer into polar relationships between fiction and fact, seems to be a thread throughout Solondz's work. However, the irony aspect of the film does not pan out for me. The more interesting part of the overall "narrative" or "motive" behind the film for me lies in the idea of trying to convince the audience of the "truthfulness" of film, or oppositely the inherent lieing that narrative film plays on the viewer. It seems that Solondz isdesperately trying to make a statement where we have to consider how the relationship of polar camps like "fact" and "fiction" come so scarily close to each other in their extremes.

This all being said, I want to say that Palendromes is one of my favorite new(ish) movies that I have seen in a while. I think the shock value in this movie don't play out as being simply ironic or comical/satirical as an ends in itself. Instead, the fiction(s) that is(are) developed in that plot line are more serene, less contrived, and strangely more accessible. This concept of seeking love in wrong places is approached (however disturbingly) with a type of flavor that makes you simultaneously empathize and loathe. The physical appearance of the main character shifts to reflect appropriate moods, or modulate in accordance with the fluctuations of the ever-changing persona of sexual development. It also illustrates the triviality of physical being, and instead aims at showing how our own perceptions shape our sympathies and receptions. Not to mention that the "story" to me is just more interesting, but perhaps not as forcibly jarring as Storytelling.

I feel like I had more to say, but perhaps this is significant for now. I've got more to write in the near future.