Interesting, offbeat little rom-com pairing Hoffman and Farrow fresh off their Graduate/Rosemary's Baby breakthroughs. Given the flamboyant childishness of so many 1969 counterculture-shock films, I was struck by the film's maturity and intelligence. But in its depiction of what is basically a hookup, it also seems to anticipate by several decades the "mumblecore" genre pioneered by Andrew Bujalski.
There, daddy, do I get a gold star?
At first I pooh-poohed your comparison to mumblecore as I have not been a fan of the films I've seen of that genre (though I think only the Duplasses films if I must be honest), but I have to admit there are definite similarities. My question though is whether John and Mary was fully scripted (I suspect it was) or largely improvised, which is a mumblecore must. Interesting observation, gnolti.
I enjoyed J&M very much.
"To me you are the teacher in a Charlie Brown cartoon"
I'm no fan of mumblecore either. But since the genre does exist, I thought it was worth remarking on. Thank you for your comments.
There, daddy, do I get a gold star?
"Mumblecore" = improvisation, like Cassavetes? Or like Marlon Brando, (Frank Sinatra called him "Mumbles".
shareI don't consider this film to be Mumblecore, but it does have that Cassavetes like Naturalism in the acting, dialogue & overall feel of the film. I personally detect screenplay writer John Mortimor's wit, which for me cancels out the Mumblecore. Style wise, I thought the party scene was Felliniesque: circus music, beautiful people, freaks, dream like quality & protagonist's alienation.
shareExcept John and Mary is good, has a story (ingeniously told), and has actual acting (which happens to also be quite brilliant).
shareI haven't seen this (I want to). But I imagine anything with Dustin Hoffman from "The Graduate" up through "Marathon Man" would feature him mumbling at its core. So, yeah.
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I should warn you -- he's a Fourierist.
At least I can understand Dustin Hoffman's mumbling . . . . Joaquin Phoenix, on the other hand, might as well be speaking Russian for all the good his dialogue does me.
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