I watched Wong Kar Wai Dreams the other night. In it, a woman blends characters from his different movies and her situation is a concoction of these imaginary people, only that she is oblivious to it. She is quiet, very confused, and speaks of her difficulty to singularize dreams from reality. It is the instant when you wake up suddenly, trying very hard to recollect if the dream you had was fictitious or if it belongs to the world of routines, except that this instant happens excessively for her.
I am thinking of characters from my favourite movies coming together, Raymond from Rain Man, Joel and Clementine from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Forrest from Forrest Gump, Sam from I am Sam, Guido from Life is beautiful…
[Raymond doesn't want to go outside when it rains]
Charlie: Hey, Ray, you take a shower right?
Raymond: Yeah.
Charlie: Well the rain is a lot like the shower, you get a little wet. What do you say, Ray? What do you say?
Raymond: Of course the shower is in the bathroom.
Charlie: That's the end of that conversation.
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Clementine: This is it, Joel. It's going to be gone soon.
Joel: I know.
Clementine: What do we do?
Joel: Enjoy it.
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Forrest Gump: Will you marry me? [Jenny turns and looks at him]
Forrest Gump: I'd make a good husband, Jenny.
Jenny Curran: You would, Forrest.
Forrest Gump: But you won't marry me.
Jenny Curran: You don't wanna marry me.
Forrest Gump: Why don't you love me, Jenny? I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is.
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Lucy: I won't read the word!
Sam: I'm your father and I'm telling you to read the word. Cause I can tell you to because I'm your father.
Lucy: I'm stupid.
Sam: You are not stupid!
Lucy: Yes, I am.
Sam: No, you are not stupid 'cause you can read that word.
Lucy: I don't wanna read it if you can't.
Sam: No, because it makes me happy! It makes me happy hearing you read. Yeah, it makes me happy when you're reading.
Lucy: [Lucy reads again]
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Guido: [being shipped to a concentration camp] You've never ridden on a train, have you? They're fantastic! Everybody stands up, close together, and there are no seats!
Giosué Orefice: There aren't any seats?
Guido: Seats? On a train? It's obvious you've never ridden one before! No, everybody's packed in, standing up. Look at this line to get on! Hey, we've got tickets, save room for us!
I don’t usually fuse characters from different movies like the woman in the play but sometimes, or maybe too many times, I get the déjà vu sense creeping onto me. The feeling you get when you hang the laundry, clip toenails, walk to the train station, look at the same scenery and at fixed times see the same people doing the same thing. I think it is a case of having too many repeated conversations that I feel as though I have been through this before. Little talk, deliberate teasings, one-liner ice breakers.
We need to talk the talk. We need to open our mouths, we don’t need any right atmosphere, we just need someone to start.
Work-in-Progress
[Hunting for a good quote]
Sunday, June 17, 2007
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7 comments:
We go about our lives in a very structured and orderly manner that when we pause for a while and then unknowingly carry on with the same thing, we feel the sense of dejavu. It is just the human instinct reminding us of what we had experienced and hence helping it to adapt again i guess.
In a way, when things are carried out routinely, it gives us comfort in that we know what to expect next. But then again it also makes us take things for granted, expecting that that comfort will never be taken away. That's a very dangerous mindset indeed.
ah i wanted to watch that! wkw dreams. -ml
I think Shakespeare once said that life's a stage and we are all actors in it (maybe not exactly what he said verbatim, but something along those lines.) There is a stark similarity to what happens in real life, when we map it onto film, and in film, they do attempt to portray life as realistically as possible. But I believe that there are complexities in life that film isn't able to portray - the little things, the peculiarities that film will never be able to fully explain and display. Go take SC2210 (Pop culture) and you will know what I mean! Hahaha
The patterns of life, it loops back sometimes, and when it loops back too many times, it forms a beautiful psychedelic pattern, and makes you lost inside it.
When you see that happen, break the loop, and pave a straight line. It might loop again, but that will be another pattern....
woah zq, you got so many people to evoke so many cheem comments here.. haha
Life is beautiful is beautiful man...cant beat that.
han,so...we need to step out of our comfort zones, right?
ml, we have dsd to look forward to: )
daryl, i know what you mean about the limitations of films, sometimes, you're hit by how you feel spot on about a certain something, yet knowing there is something incomplete by the representations... are u taking 2210? haha, what are u taking next sem man? all level 3 mods? :X
charles shifu, that's a nice observation. i think, sometimes, deliberate conversations make me feel that i've been through that same scenario many times and it makes me feel what a waste of time, what a waste of time engaging in pretentious talk. yet, small talk that is necessary to belong...somwhere.
zhihan, life is beautiful yeah.
wah my comment is the most frivolous! compared to e rest.haha -ml
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