The beginning ... the end ... but just (untrue) parts of it No pun intended - you might have heard a lot about the movie. Good and bad things about it - depending on your moral compass, depending on how easy you can be shocked ... well the movie might be not the right one for you. Good thing is: you will know early on ... although it may have been for you, if the movie just stayed away from the depravities on display - again no pun intended.
The movie starts with our main character on the receiving end of some ... well I don't think I can use the word, but let's just say you wouldn't like the way it smells. And it just proceeds to more nastiness - some people describe it as golden shower. And that is before we get to the gratuitous nudity that is sprinkled all over the place - literally.
But even so, the movie is actually a love letter. A morbid and wicked one for sure - but still a love letter to movies and movie making. You have to be able to take the jokes - some seem superficial - even shallow. Giving us cliches and seemingly 2 dimensional (or even one dimensional) characters ... but there is depth there. And even more so in the performances! One example is Brad Pitt (with a flawless introduction - quite old school with his back to the camera) - when he is drunk ... and then he isn't. Well he is, but he also is able to do stuff ... like find his way to his bed.
Sticking with him, even if he is only one of many main characters, he also is able to be drunk but be there on point when it comes to working. His journey is quite something to behold ... and the things he learns ... again circling back to the love letter thing. Expiration dates may be imminent, but there is also eternity to be earned ... well as far as we can tell.
While I understand that the characters are made up and the stories heightend to say the least, the movie itself does portray a lot of truths. I am again not sure, what words I can use without being seen as offensive. Even if I only describe what the movie is telling us - about the movie industry but also about society. Like when Margot Robbies character is being made to "play" a role ... in real life. Which she is not suited for at all.
She is as mesmerizing as eveyone else in this. Some stars are blink and you'll miss them - like Olivia Wilde and many others. And that with a movie that runs over 3 hours ... but is over before you know it. Many incidents and many little stories one could say .. and yet they make a whole movie ... they make up a lifetime of ... stories if you want to call it that.
But is it as bad and "graphic" as some have said? Well to a degree - again, especially the beginning is to blame for that ... with the party being as mad as you can imagine. There are other scenes that you may find repulsive ... still, there is romance in the air. Between characters - but also between the audience and the movie(s) ... we get some scenes we may know. Brad Pitts character uses lines from other movies ... well he delivers them differently. A nice tip of the head.
And like that incident there is much to be discovered. Be it dialog wise or visual wise - like a pregnant woman at the party, a lot of nudity and ... love making and god knows what else ... well he may be ashamed by what he sees - that may be an intended pun right there. Anyway, this is on the right side of wrong ... and it knows it very well. So many goodies to be discovered ... I can only recommend it so much. Don't let the run time be an obstacle.
PS: I thought I had written about it, but looks like I forgot to give context to my summary headline. The movie plays towards the end of the silent era ... film era that is. And with that new beginning of sound in movies ... well things change. Some get obsolete, some new stars are born and so forth. The film has so many things that I could write about - things that people surely can do essays about too.
The question is, can you forgive the movie that it has a lot of things that are on the nose? Hopefully you can because it really is worth - as is true with the "graphic" scenes! Take it with a grain of salt (rather than drugs). Who wants to live forever indeed ... a song that would be fitting for this movie too ... or party forever I guess.