MovieChat Forums > Amateur (1995) Discussion > Funny scenes (spoilers)

Funny scenes (spoilers)

posted 11 years ago by PoppyTransfusion
5 replies | jump to latest

There are many and the dialogue is very witty. Some of my favourite moments: Edward's fight with the woman at the phone box (I loved Edward); Officer Melville when she asks Edward if Thomas hurt him; when Thomas goes to buy a porno at the video store (where the white supremacists hang out) and is accosted by the shop assistant; and the boy on the bench discussing porno with Thomas. But the moment of genius was Isabelle threatening Kurt with an electric drill - that is one of my favourite film moments.

I'm not trying to break your heart,
I'm just trying hard not to fall apart

[–] icequeen_vienna 11 years ago

Funny - did you just watch this at the weekend? I did.

I had been looking for this DVD for many years and finally it was available on Amazon at a good price. Never forgotten the brilliance of this film since I saw it at the cinema when it came out.

Isabelle Huppert is always watchable and she is stylishly amusing in this.

Overall the film is well shot and is definitely different from Hollywood mainstream, which is something I always welcome.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 11 years ago

Hello, yes I did! I too had been looking for this dvd and it's recently been re-released, thankfully. I didn't see this at the cinema on release, wish I had. Isabelle Huppert is my favourite female actor so I find her watchable in anything.

I found the film so funny and stylish. It's nice to get a film with a shiny veneer that has depth.

I'm not trying to break your heart,
I'm just trying hard not to fall apart

[–] franzkabuki 10 years ago

Yeah, it's frequently hilarious; only Aki Kaurismäki's films have a drier/more deadpan humor than this Hartley guy. And both also share a serious streak of warmth & humanity.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] PoppyTransfusion 10 years ago

Glad you liked it. Hal Hartley hasn't reminded me of Aki Kaurismäki but I agree that both make warm films about a flawed but loveable humanity. Have you seen Hal Hartley's The Unbelievable Truth? Fantastic film.

I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.

[–] franzkabuki 10 years ago

Haven't seen that one, but there's another early Hartley film named Trust that I watched recently - it's also very good. Actually, I've fairly lately begun to discover there's a lively, interesting indie scene in American filmmaking from the late 1980's onwards which doesn't begin and end with the guys who eventually made it in the mainstream "big time", like the Coens or Soderbergh or Tarantino. You've also got guys like Hartley or John Sayles or that Payne guy who recently came up with the excellent Nebraska. Curious stuff to discover out there.

As for Kaurismäki... funny that on another thread someone remarked that the actors in Amateur deliver their lines as if reading them from cue cards - when, in fact, that has been one of Kaurismäki's tactics in order to get that ultra-deadpan effect from his cast.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan