|
This
film is about the meaning of life
The meaning of life seems to be topic of several recent film such
as Narc, Solaris,
About Schmidt, Antwone
Fisher, Adaptation and 25th
Hour.
I remember
seeing Chuck Barris on television during the sixties and seventies.
He was a riot. He was the producer of The Dating Game, The Newly
Wed Game and the awesome Gong Show. He was a national
sensation. He was a leading pioneer for the currently popular so-called
reality shows.
The
other day I asked some teens if they had ever heard of Chuck Barris
and they responded, "No, who is he?"
To
some degree this is the message in this film. Fame, power and money
are fleeting. At some point people forget. So, when you boil it
all down what is the true meaning and purpose of life?
 Chuck
had it. And then he lost it. He went from fame to obscurity. At
the end of it all he wrote an semi-autobiography, including his
so-called life as a secret agent. It's part factual and part fantasy.
The movie is based on this book.
It
is a fun film that takes a serious look at the purpose of life.
 This
is the first film that George Clooney has directed. He took five
months to prepare a detailed story board. He put a lot of effort
into this film. He worked in association with many of his Hollywood
friends, including actress Julia Roberts (Ocean's
Eleven) and producer Steven Soderbergh (Solaris,
Ocean's Eleven, Out of Sight).
The
screenplay is by Charlie Kaufman, who wrote Spike Jonze's Adaptation
which is also about a writer (himself) played by Nicolas Cage. It
is interesting to note that he wrote Being
John Malkovich. All these stories that explore the human
predicament and purpose.
 The
film is not what could be described as spiritual. It is more base
-just as Chuck Barris' productions were. But it does contain religious
symbols and Biblical quotations. In fact, Barris himself strikes
a crucified position during one of his delusions of persecution.
I must
admit that I was hoping for a less explicit screenplay and a PG
rating. Accepting it on its own terms, however, Confessions of
a Dangerous Mind explores a so-called time of innocent by stripping
off the facade of nostalgia, just as other recent films have done
(e.g. Catch Me If You Can, Far
From Heaven, and even Gangs
of New York). Confessions reminds us that crassness
has always been a part of entertainment industry and in popular
culture. Confessions remind us that there has never been
a time of innocence. Nostalgia is deceiving. There is nothing new
under the sun. The world has always been in a fallen state. Humans
have always been as we are.
 Confessions
also explores the sheer fun that Barris is. He has been gifted with
a great talent. I can appreciate Barris at this level. Each of us
has been given various and unique talents and abilities. What we
do with them is part of our responsibility before God. I am grateful
that only God is the judge of how well we do.
 One
of the eye opening moments of the film comes at the end of the film
when the real Chuck Barris appears on screen as he is today. He
has aged. I was impressed at how short life is.
Blaise
Pascal once declared, "When I consider the short duration of
my life, swallowed up in the eternity before and after, the little
space that I fill and even can see, engulfed in the infinite immensity
of spaces of which I am ignorant and which know me not, I am frightened
and am astonished at being here rather than there; for there is
no reason why here rather than there, why now rather than then.
Who has put me here? By whose order and direction have this place
and time been allotted to me? . . . The eternal silence of these
infinite spaces terrifies me."
This
film opens the door to many important issues and discussions on
life and its meaning.
|
