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I was recently fortunate enough to watch Being John Malcovich. I thought it was a great movie, with moving portrayals of the main characters. I have always adored Spike Jonze pieces, but this is the first one that I can't really grasp the understanding of. I realize that the film is a portrayal of self realization, and conciousness. Beyond that, I have a hard time grasping what all the portals, and life extension has to do with the main idea behind the movie. Some questions I had were, what is the metaphor or reason behind the low ceilings on floor 7 1/2? Obviously the short orientation picture in the film with midget, isn't the realistic reason behind it. Mind body dichotomy, somehow this is related, but how is it represented in the picture? For all my effort, I can't see the symbolism and purpose behind all the motivations in the movie. Anyone else a fan? Have another perspective on the film?
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 03:01 |
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| # ? Nov 20, 2009 22:41 |
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I'm pretty sure the 7 1/2 floor was done for comedic purposes.
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 03:21 |
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True story: Jonze tried to find a building that had a half floor inside of it. After a lot of searching they took a building with an empty floor and lowered the ceiling.
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 03:58 |
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It's great "dream imagery", something that Kaufman has talked about before in relation to Synecdoche, New York (specifically the tiny paintings). I guess it could also be an oblique reference to 8 1/2, and there's probably something biblical or sexual you could attach to it. In the end, unless you can get it from the horse's mouth, I'd take it as just a visual gag.
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 04:04 |
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Maybe it was just supposed to be a weird funny movie?
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 05:27 |
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Malkovich
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 05:37 |
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I took the symbolism to be that here's a complete shithole place to work, so completely dehumanizing that you don't even get physical headroom. What an ironic place for a portal that allows you to completely escape your existence and step into someone else's relatively spectacular life.
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 05:46 |
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That's really deep. Man, you might want to step it down a notch, SMG might get mad.
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 05:50 |
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I thought that old guy discovered there was a portal there before the floor existed, possibly between floors, and thus had floor 7.5 built so he could access it. Contemplating that now, it doesn't make that much sense but neither does the movie.
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 07:47 |
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LloydDobler posted:I took the symbolism to be that here's a complete shithole place to work, so completely dehumanizing that you don't even get physical headroom. I really like this interpretation. I always took it to be nothing more than a non-sequitur in a movie that's already full of them. Sometimes there really is nothing more to it than that.
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 07:56 |
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Egbert Souse posted:Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich?
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 16:11 |
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5436 posted:I'm pretty sure the 7 1/2 floor was done for comedic purposes. I'm going with this. Alot of people try to overinflate Being John Malkovich but in reality, it's just a really dark comedy with a few "deep" themes buried underneath.
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 16:57 |
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Perhaps the 7 1/2 floor is a representation of the telltale heart, namely that all secrets scream to be unearthed. With this magical gift he tried to hide it from everyone. But people would notice that a 7th floor was missing so he made half a floor. But just like the beating heart, every hunched body would desire to know the secrets hidden in that half floor. So it is the guilty mind represented by that half floor, begging to be caught and letting his secrets be free to the inquisitive. Or it was just funny.
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 21:04 |
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5436 posted:Malkovich Malkovich? Malkovich Malkovich
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 22:28 |
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z0ratio hornblower posted:Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich 
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 22:55 |
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zalgo posted:M̯̲̾͘͞͝ạ̵̟̙̙͂̓̒ͩͭ͞l̢̛̖̗͙͖̟͍̟͎ͯ͒͂͐͑͋k̙̫̬̜̰̐́̃̇̇͂͆͟ô̶̢̟͍͙͒̑̓v̤͗̄̓̌ͥi̴̞͖̺̮̙̠͙̔ͥ̿̓͒̕ċ̲̬̙̠͐ͦ͊͌̀̈hͧ̏ͥͧͤ̈̈́̄҉̡̞͉͉͚̤̺̻
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 23:23 |
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The 7 1/2 floor thing is symbolic of being a setup for a hilarious joke about low overheads.
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 23:26 |
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Those seem to be pretty legitimate answers. I think dream imagery and dark comedy are the pre-dominate forces behind many of the visual and mental gags in the film. It seems like one of those films you could go way over your head in dissecting it's messages, or you can take it at face value, and enjoy the monkeys and New Jersey turnpike jokes.
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 23:51 |
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Subways Jared posted:Those seem to be pretty legitimate answers. I think dream imagery and dark comedy are the pre-dominate forces behind many of the visual and mental gags in the film. It seems like one of those films you could go way over your head in dissecting it's messages, or you can take it at face value, and enjoy the monkeys and New Jersey turnpike jokes. The monkey flashback scene is one of the best parts of that movie. I've seen most Kaufman written films, except Human Nature and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (which I heard Clooney rewrote and hosed it up). Are either of these movies actually good? I have to say Human Nature looks pretty bad, but its Gondry/Kaufman..
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| # ? Nov 08, 2009 23:59 |
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I started with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind which I though was  freaking awesome, and really turned me on to Sam Rockwell. That led me to Synecdoche, New York, Human Nature, and just recently now John Malkovich. I agree, the monkey scene was one of my favorites. They managed to make Cameron Diaz so ugly in this film, it took me an hour to figure out what actress she was; I just knew I recognized her, but didn't want to look at the box to ruin it.
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| # ? Nov 09, 2009 00:58 |
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McSpanky posted:Malkovich *Singing* Malkoviiiiiich... I've seen a world that NO MAN should see!
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| # ? Nov 09, 2009 01:20 |
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Red Ryder posted:I thought that old guy discovered there was a portal there before the floor existed, possibly between floors, and thus had floor 7.5 built so he could access it. Contemplating that now, it doesn't make that much sense but neither does the movie. If you really want to go the absurdist route, you can pretend that the guy who built the building found the portal just floating in the air and built a building around it.  CinnamonToastFunk posted:The 7 1/2 floor thing is symbolic of being a setup for a hilarious joke about low overheads. I like to think that the 7 1/2 floor was there so that they could work in the "ye and yer accursed kind" line.
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| # ? Nov 09, 2009 02:43 |
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Smoothrich posted:I've seen most Kaufman written films, except Human Nature and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (which I heard Clooney rewrote and hosed it up). Are either of these movies actually good? I have to say Human Nature looks pretty bad, but its Gondry/Kaufman.. In my opinion, neither rate among the best of the Kaufman written films but just means they're merely good rather than great films. Human Nature probably squeaks out Confessions for me, mainly because of Rhys Ifans' usual brilliance. Patricia Arquette is also excellent.
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| # ? Nov 09, 2009 06:34 |
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Is it true that the "Hey Malkovich, think fast!" bit with the beer can was an ad-lib? I've heard that from one source and that it being an ad-lib is a private joke from a different one. (It also seems a little far over the line, not to mention risky, for something spontaneous.)
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| # ? Nov 09, 2009 06:37 |
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haveblue posted:Is it true that the "Hey Malkovich, think fast!" bit with the beer can was an ad-lib? I've heard that from one source and that it being an ad-lib is a private joke from a different one. (It also seems a little far over the line, not to mention risky, for something spontaneous.) I heard that it was actually an extra from an earlier shoot who had something bad happen to him, so he decided to prank the next shoot and they left it in because it was funny. That just smacks of urban legend, though.
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| # ? Nov 09, 2009 06:40 |
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I've no doubt there's someone on this forum who can show beyond the shadow of a doubt that Being John Malkovich is about the plight of the people of Burma or some such thing, but no matter how much I've thought about it, I can't make it a coherent statement about anything. It's not a criticism, it's one of the things I've always liked about it. There are so many themes brought up - death, sexuality, mortality, celebrity - hell, consciousness itself. As a result, the times I've watched it, it's always lead to different thoughts afterwards, and it's never failed to entertain me. That's about the most I could ask for from a movie.
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| # ? Nov 09, 2009 07:26 |
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Hahaha, the drunk angry extra totally did happen, the direct himself relates the story in the DVD commentary. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-lSUz0Hn10
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| # ? Nov 09, 2009 07:39 |
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The 7.5th floor is, along with what other folks have said, is also about a failure to communicate. Like look at the dialogue of the boss and the secretary in the building. The movie is about yearning to express yourself. By contrast, here's this place that no-one can explain, whose history (as portrayed by the awful orientation film) is "bullshit". Dr. Lester calls it "my isolated tower of indecipherable speech." SuperMechagodzilla fucked around with this message at Nov 09, 2009 around 08:28 |
| # ? Nov 09, 2009 08:26 |
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McSpanky posted:Hahaha, the drunk angry extra totally did happen, the direct himself relates the story in the DVD commentary. There is no commentary for Being John Malkovich.
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| # ? Nov 09, 2009 16:08 |
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EvilTobaccoExec posted:There is no commentary for Being John Malkovich. It's hidden between the 7th and 8th audio tracks.
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| # ? Nov 09, 2009 16:11 |
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I think this is a horror movie in the body of a different movie. So we look at it expecting a comedy of some sort, but on the inside, it's Twilight Zone horror. So the movie sort of actually is the scenario it depicts.
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| # ? Nov 09, 2009 16:38 |
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Ema Nymton posted:I think this is a horror movie in the body of a different movie. So we look at it expecting a comedy of some sort, but on the inside, it's Twilight Zone horror. So the movie sort of actually is the scenario it depicts. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Man trapped in his own degrading memories. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind - Man driven by ennui into finally questions his own reality. Adaptation. - The old book-is-writing-itself story popular in horror, combined with some schizo duality.
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| # ? Nov 09, 2009 17:44 |
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bad movie knight
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bad movie knight posted:It's interesting that you mention that. Synecdoche, New York, was supposed to be Kaufman's idea of a horror movie, but if you look closer, his screenwriting oeuvre is oddball renditions of horror motifs. Actually, without the humor, his movies would be scary as hell. Human Nature - mad scientist tries to impose his will on humanity by capturing and torturing a wildman, only to find that he ends up being destroyed by his own desires.
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| # ? Nov 10, 2009 01:42 |
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I believe this is the movie that got me hating John Malcovich. Honestly, I refuse to watch anything he is in now.
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| # ? Nov 11, 2009 22:47 |
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Kaufman is my favorite screenwriter in Hollywood. His movies aren't political and they don't really have cliché messages or morals (if any at all). They're all just different looks at well, human nature. And they're brilliant for it. Being John Malkovich is just a crazy movie with a crazy plot and crazy characters. I've seen it a number of times and have no idea what its real purpose is. The downfall of most characters is their inability to accept who they are or what they have. They're always lusting after something else. John Cusack wants control, and he wants Catherine Keener. Catherine Keener is turned on by people who control and seeks them. Both are pretty manipulative, horrible people. Cameron Diaz discovers she's a transsexual. Dr. Lester, or whoever he is, doesn't ever want to die. It's not just that they have these desires, but they actively pursue them and go through despicable means to obtain them. Most of them get what they want in the end, but the cost is very high. I guess if Kaufman has any tropes, it's the constant theme of dissatisfaction and lack of fulfillment. He's definitely a writer who's own anxieties are present in his work. Most obviously with Adaptation, which is a fictional autobiography about his problems. It's about not being satisfied with his screenplay. Eternal Sunshine takes this and applies it to relationships. Human Nature does the same thing with out natural desires and instincts. [i[Synechdoche[/i] is about your whole life passing away, working towards some goal that provides no happiness in the end. I hadn't ever thought about it until I started writing this, but it's true. But he takes these, and places them in very entertaining, absurdist comedies.
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| # ? Nov 12, 2009 00:47 |
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I think Synechdoche is about a good deal more than that, MokBa.
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| # ? Nov 12, 2009 04:03 |
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I'm not saying that's the movie's ONLY theme. It's just one of them. Synechdoche is one of the weirdest movies I've ever seen. And it can be interpreted in many many ways.
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| # ? Nov 12, 2009 04:24 |
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