I saw Nebraska yesterday and wrote about it early this morning before going to bed. I made a mess of it. It was the most contrived piece of shit I ever came up with. So when I woke up I took down the post. I want to give it another go now.
I liked Nebraska. I did not love it. It did not make me want to queue up to see it again. But it did leave me with a smile in the end. I actually had a wide grin on my face throughout Woody's triumphant moment in the climax. A grin that widened even more when Uncle Albert finally got to see an actual car to wave to. A grin that didn't fade even when I felt my eyes misting ever so slightly as the camera lingered on Woody's girlfriend of yore.
That was, however, the very end. I didn't have that same emotional response to the rest of the movie. There were moments, yes. Moments when I could feel with David mainly. Moments that made me laugh out loud (there are some very funny bits). But, by and large, the movie left me unaffected while I was watching it.
That last bit is important. For, you see, unlike Her which made me feel as I was watching it, Nebraska made me think after I was done watching it.
One of the thoughts that came to me sometime later was in the form of this beautifully defiant poem of Bharathi's. The poem in a sense tackles the same universal theme as the movie. And even if taken literally, it could be describing the characters in it. Those last lines, while they can apply to Woody's need to do something before fading away, mean something more to me. I cannot but internalize the defiance. Even if a part of me suspects that it is probably a futile endeavour. I guess I'm not that different from Woody after all.
I liked Nebraska. I did not love it. It did not make me want to queue up to see it again. But it did leave me with a smile in the end. I actually had a wide grin on my face throughout Woody's triumphant moment in the climax. A grin that widened even more when Uncle Albert finally got to see an actual car to wave to. A grin that didn't fade even when I felt my eyes misting ever so slightly as the camera lingered on Woody's girlfriend of yore.
That was, however, the very end. I didn't have that same emotional response to the rest of the movie. There were moments, yes. Moments when I could feel with David mainly. Moments that made me laugh out loud (there are some very funny bits). But, by and large, the movie left me unaffected while I was watching it.
That last bit is important. For, you see, unlike Her which made me feel as I was watching it, Nebraska made me think after I was done watching it.
One of the thoughts that came to me sometime later was in the form of this beautifully defiant poem of Bharathi's. The poem in a sense tackles the same universal theme as the movie. And even if taken literally, it could be describing the characters in it. Those last lines, while they can apply to Woody's need to do something before fading away, mean something more to me. I cannot but internalize the defiance. Even if a part of me suspects that it is probably a futile endeavour. I guess I'm not that different from Woody after all.
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