Did anyone catch the Nuns driving in the parking lot.
First time when Archie is offering Petulia a ride, couple of Nuns peel out in the background.
Second time when hes checking on her condition the Nun is driving a Porsche.
Did anyone catch that or is that just me?
I read your message before I watched the movie, so I started taking note of the nuns.
Yes - those were four nuns in a convertable speeding down the ramp in the garage (42 min mark).
And after Archie and May get up from their picnic, there are five nuns in the background of the outdoor concert location and then coming out from under the bridge (36 min mark). Two make another appearance looking through telescopes at Alcatraz holding a pink umbrella, behind the phone booth and on the boat (48 min mark). More appear at Petulia's bedside (63 and 78 min marks). Two more nuns are in the white Porche in the parking garage and in the background, two more are in a red Mustang backing into a parking spot (67 min mark).
The nuns are just a few of the dozens of backgound color characters in this movie.
Nuns, Hassidic Jews, Indians milling about, chattering, zipping around sportily in cars. Clowns with large bouquets of balloons.... all very Fellini-esque, no?
shareMy thoughts exactly.
I do wonder if there's an Antonioni connection as well; see the nuns in background shots in Blow Up.
I had the same thought, as I recognize a few Antonioni elements. Another is cameos of famous musicians (in "Blow Up" it was the Yardbirds, in "Petulia" it's Janis Joplin and the Greatful Dead).
Play the game existence 'til the end...of the beginning...
yes, there are nuns left and right. helpful medical nuns, mean medical nuns, officious medical nuns, wild nuns in convertibles. yes, that's a great shot in golden gate park just after the japanese tea garden scene where, in the background, a flock of nuns emerges from a pedestrian tunnel.
and, not only are there nuns in black and white habits (aka penguins), but also there's a scene where archie takes his sons to watch real penguins, named after the beatles, do tricks at "the cannery."
I'm curious jonnyss, why do you call the location of the penguin show "the cannery"? I remember it as the SF Zoo.
shareI just saw it last night at the Castro (part of a John Barry tribute). The penguins were indeed at the Cannery. This article from SFGate includes a brief mention of the penguins:
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/07/12/PK82603.DTL&type=travel>;
"In 1963 the Cannery was turned into a shopping center by Manchurian immigrant Leonid Matveyeff, who changed his name to Leonard Martin. Martin's son Chris taught penguins to skateboard -- an amusement that harked back to the card- playing pig on Meiggs Wharf. The pigs and penguins are long gone, but Chris Martin is still there, running the Cannery."