MovieChat Forums > Carnal Knowledge (1971) Discussion > So somebody remind me . . .

So somebody remind me . . .


Which part of this movie was the carnal part? Was it the first half of the movie where we get to see Art Garfunkle try to not make out with Candice Bergen and succeed with flying colors? Oh no, wait, I'm sorry. I got confused. The first half is where we get to see Jack take a shower every five minutes. Maybe that was the carnal part. Or maybe it was getting to watch Jack show Ann-Margret how he can take five full minutes counting from 18 to 30. Maybe it was the part where we get to watch Jack lay in bed and argue about whether he or the girl or both of 'em or neither of 'em will or will not get up and get him a beer. No, maybe it was the part where we get to watch Jack, with everything but his d k i c hanging out (and I may be wrong about that), while he tries to find a way to tell Ann-Margret everything in the world except "No, I don't want to marry you." Surely it had to be that tennis match between Jack and Art, the one where we get to watch the two women sitting on the sidelines while *the two women* watch the actual tennis match (because honestly, who among us wouldn't admit that it's more fun to watch people watching sports than it is to watch sports, especially when one of the women gets up, walks away, and turns her back to the camera, like what happens in this movie)? Maybe it was Jack's sudden impromptu slideshow toward the end of the movie of some of his sexual conquests from the age of 10 on up (culminating with a picture of his daughter, of course), after which Art's wife gets up and goes to the door, then Art gets up and goes to the door, then he stares at Jack for a few seconds, then they leave without either of them saying a word. Maybe it was the last scene in the movie, where Jack goes to see an Asian prostitute, then he gets mad because she doesn't charge him $100 during foreplay, then she does charge him $100 while repeating the foreplay word-for-word, then she starts going on and on about how Jack has inner strength and kindness and denial (or something). Then we get a close-up of Jack's face, and the screen dissolves to a female figure skater in a white outfit, which just happens to be the very image we see at the halfway point, denoting the passage of time.

Oh, by the way, I almost forgot: I've included a spoiler or two, so if you don't want this classic film ruined, be sure to be careful while you read my post. I'd hate to deprive anyone of the joy of watching all 98 minutes of "Carnal Knowledge" so that they'll not get to see it the way that I saw it, without knowing what might happen ahead of time.

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You should stick with 'Transformers'.

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An 'Asian' prostitute? That was Rita Moreno.

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That's kinda the surprise about this film: it ain't really about carnal knowledge.

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I think that's the point. They try so hard to find it and never really do.

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Appears to me like you may not have had the patience to appreciate this masterpiece.

For the time in which it came out, this movie barely got away with that which it does (and apparently there is a version--probably a foreign release--with more nudity and language).

This is excellent, and so is "Closer", cut from the same cloth, written and directed by the same creative forces.

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The men discuss their sexual experience and the knowledge they think they have about sexual matters at various points.

Perhaps you were looking for a porn movie to watch and got confused by the word "carnal"?

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What a terrible post.

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"carnal"
as in:
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.
as in:
F.
U.
C.
K.

Clever, eh.

I love when people spend however long that they do to read the page, log in, and write long passages about movies they thought were a waste of time.
They continue to let that movie waste their time by posting and responding, etc.
Movies impact people, even if they consciously think they disliked it.

I think this movie is a masterpiece, and achieved what it set out to do.

RIP Michael Peschkowsky (Mike Nichols).
I hope you're doing your art in whatever form it takes, wherever you've gone to.

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The OP sounds like it was written by Nicholson's character, Jonathan.

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