Film Club #1 - Enemy

[Aroura]

Well, let me start by saying I'm really shit at breaking down a movie and the subtle metaphors that might be at play under the surface.

I pretty much agree with Heat's take though (that did add a lot of interesting new angles and explanations to things) and I thought it was a decent 2 hour long exercise in mindfuckery.

What the hell was the group at the start of the movie meant to be though? And the security guard saying he 'needed to go back'.


What a strange movie. I may need to rewatch at some point, and read on some theories. This one made me raise an eyebrow (apparently it's all about a race of spiders taking over humanity?) http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014...denis.html

Wow, I hadn't seen any theory like that before.  It fits though, in a weird way.  I mean, there is a lot int he University scenes that fit this theory.  Maybe it's like the Shining, and has lots of sub-contextual ideas running through it.

[Excited Penguin]

I have a suggestion, Aroura. What if we create the thread for the next movie right now and that way anyone who watches it before the deadline can go and start talking about it. That way no one has to wait for anyone else, and anyone who takes the whole week to watch the movie will still be able to read the thread and join the conversation as well- if only later. We'll still watch only one movie a week, but this way we can start talking about it during that week as soon as we watch it.

So once a movie is accepted as the next, the thread is created for it?  That works for me!  So, do you want to start each thread or should we wait for Heat to create the next one, since it was his movie sugestion?

I think Heat should create it, if he agrees of course. I'll only step in once the person who suggested the movie is either absent for too long or doesn't want to get further implicated in the process. Otherwise I think it would be good practice if the one who's movie we're watching is also the the one who takes care of everything.

[Heat]

So once a movie is accepted as the next, the thread is created for it?  That works for me!  So, do you want to start each thread or should we wait for Heat to create the next one, since it was his movie sugestion?

I think Heat should create it, if he agrees of course. I'll only step in once the person who suggested the movie is either absent for too long or doesn't want to get further implicated in the process. Otherwise I think it would be good practice if the one who's movie we're watching is also the the one who takes care of everything.

Ill create it in a few days if we agree.

[Heat]

I think we need some more people for discussions

I really like this idea, but more than half the people who posted saying they also thought it was a great idea didn't come on and discuss the movie we chose.

That's not a bad thing, but it's much more fun with more perspectives.

[ignoramus]

Not getting involved but I give Coherence a 9/10!
My type of brain fuck!

[Sterben]

Sterben, read your two responses and I think you're exaggerating. We may disagree, as I said, but even if everyone else thinks otherwise than you that doesn't necessarily mean you're wrong. Now, if our arguments truly changed your mind, that's great, but if they didn't, you should stick to your guns, I think. Don't feel pressured into agreeing with other people for any other reasons than you actually agree with them .


Disagreement is inevitably going to happen and if I'm to participate as well, I will at times disagree with some people's opinions. That doesn't mean my or anyone else's interpretation is "the right one". There is no right way to interpret art, which I consider film to be. I hope I didn't come off as too pushy, and I'm really sorry if I did, but again, I couldn't possibly participate in any meaningful way if I didn't ever challenge anyone's interpretations.

        I'm aware of that, and thanks for backing me up. Sorry for the late reply I've been busy of lately. I'm sticking to my guns on my opinion of the movie, it was good in many aspect and not in others. As far as the actresses that the lead and the supporting roles, Helen did a good job and girlfriend (I forgot her name) her part was quite small. It would of been an interesting twist if they would of met since they looked quite similar as well. I agree with the theory, if it was psychology brake in his mind that would explain his personality split. A hole in the theory though; how could Helen see Adam? Maybe it was the trauma of her life coming to an end cause of the baby. I know something of women and children, from what I have read about it (Not a expert, I can't even get a girlfriend.). When a woman has her first child, the life that was once her's has come to a massive halt and her life changes in a drastic fashion. She appeared to be quite young, I would say roughly about 26 or 27, the thought of her career and life changing must of been shocking.

        I think Anthony and Helen both felt that mental shock and were feeding off one a other. Helen wanted her old life back before the pregnancy and Anthony shared a similar desire.

[Sterben]

I think we need some more people for discussions

I really like this idea, but more than half the people who posted saying they also thought it was a great idea didn't come on and discuss the movie we chose.

That's not a bad thing, but it's much more fun with more perspectives.

       It is more diverse to have more people in the group, it makes me wounder, how many people just kinda liked the idea and bailed at the last minute cause they did not want the commitment. EP, I have question for you. How many PM'S did you send out when you first started the club? We should make a new film club meeting thread so that way we have a fresh place to get info. This and the other thread are becoming a bit messy to talk in.

[Excited Penguin]

Sterben, read your two responses and I think you're exaggerating. We may disagree, as I said, but even if everyone else thinks otherwise than you that doesn't necessarily mean you're wrong. Now, if our arguments truly changed your mind, that's great, but if they didn't, you should stick to your guns, I think. Don't feel pressured into agreeing with other people for any other reasons than you actually agree with them .


Disagreement is inevitably going to happen and if I'm to participate as well, I will at times disagree with some people's opinions. That doesn't mean my or anyone else's interpretation is "the right one". There is no right way to interpret art, which I consider film to be. I hope I didn't come off as too pushy, and I'm really sorry if I did, but again, I couldn't possibly participate in any meaningful way if I didn't ever challenge anyone's interpretations.

        I'm aware of that, and thanks for backing me up. Sorry for the late reply I've been busy of lately. I'm sticking to my guns on my opinion of the movie, it was good in many aspect and not in others. As far as the actresses that the lead and the supporting roles, Helen did a good job and girlfriend (I forgot her name) her part was quite small. It would of been an interesting twist if they would of met since they looked quite similar as well. I agree with the theory, if it was psychology brake in his mind that would explain his personality split. A hole in the theory though; how could Helen see Adam? Maybe it was the trauma of her life coming to an end cause of the baby. I know something of women and children, from what I have read about it (Not a expert, I can't even get a girlfriend.). When a woman has her first child, the life that was once her's has come to a massive halt and her life changes in a drastic fashion. She appeared to be quite young, I would say roughly about 26 or 27, the thought of her career and life changing must of been shocking.

        I think Anthony and Helen both felt that mental shock and were feeding off one a other. Helen wanted her old life back before the pregnancy and Anthony shared a similar desire.

I think both women were in fact one and the same, only different versions of themselves temporally speaking. I think it's the same with the two main characters. The two of them were able to interact with each other's lives and partners because they were in fact accessing their own memories, or, at least, one of them was and the other was a pure memory.

[Excited Penguin]

I think we need some more people for discussions

I really like this idea, but more than half the people who posted saying they also thought it was a great idea didn't come on and discuss the movie we chose.

That's not a bad thing, but it's much more fun with more perspectives.

       It is more diverse to have more people in the group, it makes me wounder, how many people just kinda liked the idea and bailed at the last minute cause they did not want the commitment. EP, I have question for you. How many PM'S did you send out when you first started the club? We should make a new film club meeting thread so that way we have a fresh place to get info.  This and the other thread are becoming a bit messy to talk in.

Hmm. I don't know. We are already going to start a different thread every week for future iterations of the film club, similar to this one. And we've got that first one as a starting point but I see what you mean, we mostly talked about what we were going to watch for the first time in it. I guess it could be a good idea to start a new thread in which to exclusively talk about the film club, its rules, its membership and whatnot. But there's so few of us right now, I'm sure people got the idea and can see this thread anytime we post in it, so I don't really see the point in creating too many threads about it when there's only four of us for the time being. We can manage for now, I think, and later we'll create a bunch of threads, one for organisational purposes, another for deciding on what to watch next, and the weekly ones strictly about the films we're watching. But there would have to be an active membership of at least ten, first, I think.

I sent PMs to everyone who professed interest in the idea at first, but then bailed, for whatever reason.

[Excited Penguin]

I think we need some more people for discussions

I really like this idea, but more than half the people who posted saying they also thought it was a great idea didn't come on and discuss the movie we chose.

That's not a bad thing, but it's much more fun with more perspectives.

Hey, Heat, was wondering if you watched it yet? I'm about to do it myself.