MovieChat Forums > An American Rhapsody (2002) Discussion > 50s LA Looked Like a Set

50s LA Looked Like a Set

posted 17 years ago by goodc
9 replies | jump to latest

The (true) story behind this movie is a real heartbreaker. The story carries the film, allowing it to transcend some stilted dialogue and clumsy editing.

Overall I liked this movie, but a few things jump out as being truly objectionable. One of these is the over-the-top depiction of 1950s LA suburbs. Really, after seeing a few well-groomed lawns and someone washing their finned cadillac in the driveway, is it truly necessary to throw in the newspaper boy on the bicycle, the girl with the hoola-hoop and the poster of Elvis Presley? Really, we get it already!

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] goodc 17 years ago

Actually, they didn't use a set; they used an LA neighborhood. My complaint is that they went over the top in providing signifyers saying "this is the 50s!"

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] goodc 17 years ago

Oh, man, you didn't have to delete your posts. I thought you made good points, and you were clever, not rude, in your disagreents. I liked being called a "sillyhead" instead of all kinds of rude terms you could have used.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 17 years ago

Yeah,yeah, but why leave out the pogo stick?

Nothing exists more beautifully than nothing.

[–] jescci 17 years ago

The objective was not to indicate setting thru set, but to draw a constrast between the two countries and shed a favorable light on Hungary. America had freedom and consumer goods, but lacked variety, nature, perpective and important values.

Nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands.

[–] ip2007 16 years ago

as someone who immigrated to canada as a young child in the mid 90s and then just recently went back for a year of high school i can still attest that still, obviously much less so, many there view north america as a land of oppurtunity where money grows on trees, i thought that they were trying to show the ideal country that the parents had envisioned whent hey planned their escape

[–] woofagooba 15 years ago

Just what is it supposed to look like? What you saw was a representation of the time and very accurate. It's not a matter of "getting it", it's a very accurately represented '50s suburb. You have no point.