What is the deal with the pharmacy scene which leads up to the "better luck next time" card in the back of the car?
I LOVE these scenes, but tonally they don't seem to totally match with the rest of the pacing, editing and music. Was there more scenes like this that got cut out or something?
I think it a) allows the film to widen out and show a bit more of society, like the near-passed out guy who the youths are helping to stand up at the end of the pharmacy scene. There's something quite melancholy about all those people in the pharmacy, too, isn't there?
b) it shows how tranisent just about everyone is in their lives. He picks up the guy and they have some sort of connection, David goes out of his way to help him and what does he get in return?
Doesn't it also contribute to the depiction of a society that's in decline, i.e. such as the news reports about the worst financial crisis, mass unemployment and strikes, etc.
The people in the pharmacy are really a sad lot. What was it with the sheets draped over things too, like in Glenda Jackson's apartment?
At the time of the making of the film, Boots (the chemist) in Picadilly Circus, was licensed to operate a 24-hours-service, offering an emergency service for medicines and drugs only (hence the covers) which also applied to drugs prescribed to addicts, the only proviso with those prescriptions being that they could not be collected until the "next day". The addicts in the chemist were waiting for midnight.
shareThanks for this posting, clarifying this scene. SBS, so artfully directed by John Schessinger and brilliantly written by Penelope Gilliat, contains many authentic scenes from the 'Swinging London' of the 60s. The contemporary, social, economic reality of 'Mop Head Mania', prior to the 'British Invasion' is remarkable. The shots of Piccadilly, Greenwich, and Pimlico/Chelsea are super.
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it shows how tranisent just about everyone is in their lives. He picks up the guy and they have some sort of connection, David goes out of his way to help him and what does he get in return?^ Yes
The addicts in the chemist were waiting for midnight.Thanks for explaining this. Yes, I thought they were junkies waiting for a fix.
It shows what Finch resorts to basically cruising guys, and he gets ripped off in the process. It is a pretty empty existence.
shareYes, it shows that Daniel has in the past picked up at least one "rent boy." His relationship with Bob, even though it isn't as committed or as satisfying as he would presumably like, has got to be a whole lot better than that.
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