Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond the Pines

[redhawk23]

Trying to pass of 2012 as 1996(ish), would work equally as well as trying to pass off 1975 as 1960.

American Graffiti.

 

[Vid Electricz]

Is that supposed to mean something? Is that meant to be your argument? Listing a period film meant to convincingly represent an earlier date? How poignant. I want in:

Grease
Forrest Gump
Hairspray

??????

 

[redhawk23]

What I mean is they had to go out of their way to present the time period. 1962 represented a drastically different setting that could be romanticized as a kind of lost era barely 10 years later.

Thought had to be put into costuming, choice of cars and music to capture that moment.

Meanwhile, you can have the twist ending of a film from 2011 be that it is secretly set in 2000 with very little effort. Hell FD5 had to go out of its way to include clues.


Things have changed since 2000 no doubt, but the things that changed aren't the same signifiers that we associate with the drastic changes in style, cars, and music from decades past. Change has come more in terms of our habits than anything.

Add cell phones to any scene from the 3rd season of Buffy and it could pass as a modern show, 13 years on.

 

[Vid Electricz]

What I mean is they had to go out of their way to present the time period. 1962 represented a drastically different setting that could be romanticized as a kind of lost era barely 10 years later.

The Place Beyond the Pines had to go out of it's way to represent the 90's in the same way though (ie. excluding any anachronistic clothing, cars, hairstyles, etc...). It might not seem that way, especially if you've actually lived during the time.

Thought had to be put into costuming, choice of cars and music to capture that moment.

And that same exact thought had to be put into this film. Saying it didn't is selling the production designer and costume designer short. The Place Beyond the Pines, needed to make just as much of an effort as American Graffitti would have in excluding any anachronistic clothing, cars, hairstyles, etc...

Meanwhile, you can have the twist ending of a film from 2011 be that it is secretly set in 2000 with very little effort. Hell FD5 had to go out of its way to include clues.

Yes, but the entire twist hinged on the GA thinking it was already taking place in 2011- so some liberties were taken as far as hair and clothing (which were not accurate for 2000). So they fudged it a bit. FD is not a good example of a well made, accurate, period film.

Things have changed since 2000 no doubt, but the things that changed aren't the same signifiers that we associate with the drastic changes in style, cars, and music from decades past.

Sure they are! You can't look at a car from 1997 and immediately tell it wasn't made in 2013? You don't hear like, Bush or Limp Bizkit and immediately recognize they're from a different era of music?

Add cell phones to any scene from the 3rd season of Buffy and it could pass as a modern show 13 years on.

Buffy, to me is very obviously late 90's. It's there in everything from the clothing to the hairstyles, to the cars, etc...

Take a movie like No Country for Old Men, a lot of people weren't even cognizant of the fact that it took place in the 80's, because the Coen's didn't play up the trends and fashions of the time (not everyone is trendy or fashionable), but if you pay attention to the cars, clothes and hairstyles, it becomes very obvious that it takes place in the early 80's.


btw. Nice comparison with AG. I haven't watched that movie in ages

 

[Asteroid-Man]

Just saw this - it was freaking amazing. The callbacks in the film down to the kid learning about his dad while eating ice cream again at the same place as when he was a baby, to the picture again at the same place, the mirroring shots of the kid on the bike and the father on his (both on the road to the pines and their respective robberies), also forgetting his glasses for the son to get it in the future, the kid becoming a wreck like his father feared once he found out about the truth (which he made the mom not tell), the way the son's nose is bleeding due to AJ mirroring Luke's blood on his face due to Avery. Avery's money toss is comparison to Luke's and the shift in roles of their children vs the previous generation.

The characters are all VERY well fleshed out and beautifully acted.

It was also shot beautifully (God, I love film) and considering they cut down their budget on lighting to get more shooting days because Cianfrance wanted more days to work with the actors, the film was actually incredibly lit.

The music was beautiful, as was the sound design (especially that sound of the gun in Robin's mouth). A couple shots were a little out of focus, but it's to be expected with film - harder to get playback + optimal exposure, and the film was already running on a small budget - reshooting takes with film is very difficult with no money.

Also how all four of the main characters' first appearances were done by a tracking shot from behind (Luke, Avery, AJ and Jason).

The pacing in the film was masterfully edited - kudos to the editor.

All around a fantastic film.

Something I had noticed in May/June on my second viewing was that everything the father gave the son at the ice cream shop came back to the son in the same order. The ice cream (intimacy), sunglasses (crime), motorcycle (identity).

 

[Doctor Jones]

Yeah, I noticed some of those things. Others you just pointed out to me, which makes the film even better. Especially when Luke leaves his glasses for his son to pick up later.

Also notice how at the end of the film Avery goes back to the place per Jason where Deluca wanted him to follow him into to kill him, but escaped.

I just saw this a couple days ago and loved it. My second favorite film of the year behind Prisoners. I've never used this term to describe a film before, but this was an intimate epic. I did not expect the film to turn out the way it did.

 

[Project862006]

while i did like it

blue valentine is far superior imo

 

[Heretic]

For the record, I don't think that Bush sounds like it's from another era...considering that Active Rock still focuses on Post-Grunge, and Bush helped usher in the Post-Grunge style.

Oh...and I loved this movie!