MovieChat Forums > The Bed You Sleep In (1998) Discussion > APPRECIATE THE ARTISTIC USE OF FILMING

APPRECIATE THE ARTISTIC USE OF FILMING

posted 18 years ago by TheVirginTerror
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but....I was left a little bit unsatisfied.

What I didn't enjoy were how LONG those long shots were of absolutely NOTHING! I mean I GET what the point was - but they were just TOO fricken long. I thought it was interesting and frustrating that we never got to see the daughter. It was intriguing though that we only knew her side from that letter. I thought it was very realistic how the fathers wife reacted to finding out what was going on by reading the letter - since she knew it was probably true but had to ask him to tell the truth because she wanted it to not be true. Also how she broke down to her friend about her situation and how it was stressed about what she would have to suffer when people found out and when she had no husband to help her financially. I thought it was a bit overkill for everyone to kill themselves. I mean the daughter wanted her to know the truth before she died. The step mother didn't want to go on with her life after this happened and the father - I have no idea what the hell he felt.

I thought that strange man coming up to him and telling him to repent his sins was eerie and a good idea although it didn't exactly fit into the realisticness of the film. I don't know - I didn't love or hate it.

TRIAL BY STONE!!!!...."The Dark Crystal"

[–] nwmoor 15 years ago

I understand your take on the film completely, as it reminds me of how I first felt. Now, having seen it several times, in addition to nearly all of Jon Jost's other films (no small feat!) I really appreciate it in a new light. Jost is one of the great filmmakers, but he's a hard cookie and certainly not a "feel-good" filmmaker. Like Robert Bresson or Werner Herzog, Jost's cinema often seems to resonate AFTER the film is over. This one stayed with me a long time.

I also highly recommend seeing the previous two films Jost made with BED's lead actor, Tom Blair. They are "Last Chants for a Slow Dance" and "Sure Fire." You might be able to find used copies of "Sure Fire" on Amazon, but everything else is long out of print, or never was picked up for distribution. You can, however, order any of the films directly from Jost via his web site.