MovieChat Forums > Belle de jour (1968) Discussion > What's so amazing about ripping off Godd...

What's so amazing about ripping off Goddard?

posted 18 years ago by Sandman138
52 replies | jump to latest

Honestly, I got the surrealism aspect within the first ten minutes, and I felt like I understood every character soon after they were introduced. One of the reviewers said that the film had no subtlety, I'd have to agree. It's not that the story wasn't interesting, but I felt like I was watching somebody rehash One's Life To Live. Bunuel acknowladges Goddard's influence (New York Herald Tribune!), but he doesn't do much more than that. In other words, he doesn't put enough of his own spin on a tired FNW plot to make it stand out. Add to this that the production value can't begin to compete with the films that this movie steals from, and I'm left wondering why so many people think it's so special?

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] udippel 10 years ago

Was it really a "rip-off"?

I think you grasped Bunuel very well without understanding that you did:

I felt like I understood every character soon after they were introduced

To me personally, he's the greatest of all because of this! There is no other director who gets the audience in the middle of being within the scene within a few moments (except of, maybe, some hollywoodian over-realistic shooting or bombing scenarios). To me, the best example, though not Bunuel's best movie, is Simon del desierto. Watch it, if you want to learn how 'camera' can get one into fear, shudder, emotion.

[–] ducksoup (3933) 3 years ago

No clue what this means. The two films are miles apart in style, in story, in character motivation... about the only similarity I can see is that the two movies have a French prostitute as the central character. One is doing it for money, the other for an obscure reason (implied that she is trying to conquer repressed memories from childhood, but it certainly isn't for the money whatever the reason), one is married, the other doesn't appear to be (although I do remember seeing a ring on her finger, but never any mention of a husband), the list goes on.

Just curious, do you think Tropic Thunder is ripping off Good Morning, Vietnam? Okay, it's 15 years later, you probably won't see this. I *am* curious if you've changed your thinking on this topic in the interim though...