tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497928641398322495.post5030436384297718830..comments2024-03-23T12:33:33.918-04:00Comments on Junta Juleil's Culture Shock: Film Review: HOLLOW MAN (2000, Paul Verhoeven)Sean Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00537515557596273876noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497928641398322495.post-32182841649192437752011-03-18T18:41:46.338-04:002011-03-18T18:41:46.338-04:00Yes, Sean, sadly, it's true. Not to give away ...Yes, Sean, sadly, it's true. Not to give away too much, but the film role is mostly Slater's voice. He is already invisible once the movie starts. It was a DTV release.Tempesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14886859669478196071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497928641398322495.post-53371917133032769452011-03-17T12:17:31.884-04:002011-03-17T12:17:31.884-04:00Anon.,
I appreciate your candor. I suppose not e...Anon.,<br /><br />I appreciate your candor. I suppose not everyone can be won over by The 'Bac!<br /><br />Tempest,<br /><br />Well, I'm obviously tempted now to see the Slater version, but by reports it sounds as if he's not actually in it for long. Is that actually the case?Sean Gillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00537515557596273876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497928641398322495.post-77495657370334592192011-03-17T07:17:11.027-04:002011-03-17T07:17:11.027-04:00I liked this film a lot too, when I saw it in the ...I liked this film a lot too, when I saw it in the movie theater. I had a classmate who made similar comments in that she didn't like how he just became a psycho. She also said they should have explored more of what would you if you were invisible. <br /><br />As for Slater being in the sequel, it was what renewed my interest in Slater. I saw the sequel on tv a few years back. I had no idea there was a sequel, that Slater was in it, then I got to thinking, "Whatever happened to Christian Slater, anyway?" But these comments would be more appropriate for a Slater review, perhaps if anyone were to post a review of the sequel.....Tempesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14886859669478196071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497928641398322495.post-75902993241134757382011-03-16T20:45:15.519-04:002011-03-16T20:45:15.519-04:00I'm going to take a more simplistic approach t...I'm going to take a more simplistic approach to this movie; I can't stand Kevin Bacon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497928641398322495.post-65364495369029722122011-03-16T16:18:00.647-04:002011-03-16T16:18:00.647-04:00Space Cadet,
Thanks for your thoughtful comments...Space Cadet, <br /><br />Thanks for your thoughtful comments- it is interesting that Bacon is set up as a complete asshole from the start (the purple satin shirt is fairly mind-blowing), and that the experiment itself is not what made him a sociopath. I was afraid that "it was the experiment that twisted his mind!" would become the main thrust of the film after the characters began to act as if invisibility made the gorilla more violent, but thankfully that didn't end up being the case. The idea that we maintain social niceties because of our form at any given time is a compelling one, and one which Verhoeven explored tangentially in FLESH + BLOOD, whereupon the young princess can lie her way to survival so long as she's never physically present at the same time as both of her 'suitors' and thus has to make a concrete choice- poisonous words no longer cut it. Conversely, in BLACK BOOK, our undercover heroine becomes "a Nazi" in physical form despite remaining mentally a member of the resistance, a distinction which is harder for others to comprehend during the 'punish the collaborators!' chaos which breaks loose after liberation.<br /><br /><br />J.D.,<br /><br />I know what you mean about it not being 'extreme' enough for Verhoeven, and perhaps if the final superhuman half hour were replaced with something more of Verhoeven's own design (i.e., something that could still be gory, but driven by his patented squirm-inducingly accurate skewings of human psychology instead of straight-to-video slasher movies) it could rank with his upper-tier Hollywood output. Ah, well.Sean Gillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00537515557596273876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497928641398322495.post-58954620723429571542011-03-16T10:20:01.742-04:002011-03-16T10:20:01.742-04:00I would also agree that HOLLOW MAN is the weakest ...I would also agree that HOLLOW MAN is the weakest of Verhoeven's Hollywood fare because he doesn't go far enough with the concept. It felt like he was being hemmed by executives and I believe I read somewhere that they exerted a lot of control over the production which led to Verhoeven leaving Hollywood. Based on other films of his, the film isn't extreme enough (if that's possible) and certain bits of behavior once Caine is invisible are not explored enough.<br /><br />That being said, the film was pretty good up until the end when it loses its damn MIND and Caine suddenly becomes superhuman, unstoppable killing machine. What, just because he's invisible he gets super powers? I didn't buy it and it ruined the film for me. It was pretty good up until that point and then Verhoeven lost me.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08164105442273577128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497928641398322495.post-61605152086689970832011-03-16T06:03:19.897-04:002011-03-16T06:03:19.897-04:00I think I was more won over by the Hollow Man than...I think I was more won over by the <i><b>Hollow Man</b></i> than most people. Audiences wanted a story that more fully explored the possibilities of being invisible from a sympathetic everyman point of view. What they got was, as criticized, just another slasher B-movie. Well, I agree that it’s a B-movie, but I also think it uses the invisibility premise to make a cynical point about humanity, one that is indicated in the very title. I’m intrigued by the idea that Sebastian Caine has no real character arc. Even before the experiment, Caine is already a borderline sociopath, as exemplified by his egomaniacs and total disregard for ethical boundaries (he even wears a purple satin shirt & tie to a meeting with US defense contractors. I mean, hello?! – this guy’s an asshole). <br /><br />Yet he’s still able to maintain himself under basic rules of right and wrong. Caine may be morally defunct, but he’s still civil. The question is, why? What is it that keeps Caine under control? Why doesn’t he just stroll on over and rape Rhona Mitra the first time around? Answer: form. Specifically, the psychology of form. I think the film proposes the idea that, for every homicidal maniac in the world, there are so many more walking among us (perhaps you or I) with the same latent natures, but natures kept under lock’n’key simply due to physical form. It’s kind of an existential thing… that social norm and physical form are symbiotic. We function properly within society simply because we are a physical part of it. Man associates with morality only when acknowledged by his fellow man as an actual, physical being. Of course, Caine is just as physically <i>there</i> after the experiment as he is before. But, again, it’s the psychological aspect – form as defined within our minds. Invisibility didn’t change Caine, it freed him. <br /><br />“It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t have to look at yourself in the mirror.”<br /><br />Verhoeven offers up the theme visually, when Cain’s water rinsed face evaporates; when he swats away at a buzzing fly before catching and killing it with his ungloved invisible hand. There’s even a line of dialogue that serves up a nice double entendre: “The concept of Sebastian is much more interesting than Sebastian.” – referencing the character as the seemingly abstract entity he becomes. I don’t know. I liked <i><b>Hollow Man</b></i>. I agree that it’s probably Verhoeven’s weakest Hollywood genre movie but I still think it works well enough on its own (it’s got Shue in her panties. Win.) and, if nothing else, is technically well made. Verhoeven is a superb cameraman director. It’s also true that Goldsmith elevates the material, but that’s not saying much; when do his contributions ever fail? Even <i><b>Congo</b></i> rocks an awesome score.Cadethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09378212224451377855noreply@blogger.com