MovieChat Forums > Charly (1968) Discussion > All the split-screen business was distra...

All the split-screen business was distracting, stupid, and annoying.

posted 15 years ago by toldyousew
9 replies | jump to latest

That took 2 stars away from the movie for me alone.

~ I can sing better than Taylor Hicks!

I rather see split screen editing than Shaky Cam any day. At least split screen takes some good old fashioned editing skill.

[–] toldyousew 13 years ago

The thread is about split-screening in this movie,
NOT making it a comparison to some other filming technique.

~I wish I had a more interesting signature line
than this one. :(

[–] lennon21182 13 years ago

To be honest though, that same logic would affect your rating many of the films from the 60's that feature this same editing technique. Films from that period had this style of storytelling rather than a lot of back-and-forth, cross-cut editing. Essentially, this would be like saying that you rate some of the great silent comedies much lower on the use of iris-out/iris-in.

[–] arcarese 13 years ago

Too bad for you - even though certain scenes do date the film, the "split-screen business" was an elegant way to explain the story without getting bogged down in too many details.

As it is, the movie is nearly two hours long.

[–] lennon21182 13 years ago

Agreed. It's a great way of being able to handle simultaneous events and conversations without having to go back and forth with rapid cuts or have the artificially loud phone where you can hear everything.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] singjohn 12 years ago

When Charly makes the bread, I think the split screen was particularly effective when we get to see Charly's reaction and his co-worker's at the same time.

[–] singjohn 9 years ago

I don't recommend watching The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). The technique is used heavily. At one point the screen splits into about 47 separate screens!

[–] Interlepos (1784) 2 years ago

It must have been the "gimmick of the year", since it was also used heavily in The Boston Strangler (1968).

I like the effect, and it was cool in Charly, and very effective in Strangler.