Well, it’s not like artists never offer deceptive, fanciful, or revisionist interpretations of their own work. But no, I doubt that he’s lying. Still, he did not make it obvious that the daughter knew, nor was he trying to, because he didn’t want us to know. It’s supposed to be a surprise for us at the end of the movie when we see the blanks box. (Yes, I know already that everybody in the anti-Crash faction knew they were blanks from the beginning. Pin a rose on you.)
As garygnu points out, it doesn’t really matter whether the daughter knew, anyway; it’s the father who couldn’t know.
Because this is a very obvious that she knew. I don’t see how anyone could reasonably think otherwise. And to argue the point after knowing the director said she knew is an embarrassment. You don’t have to be a genius to follow the story. It’s a pretty straightforward plot device.
Again, just because you didn’t pay attention doesn’t mean one has to have superhuman perception to see this.
Yes, he did make it obvious. The first scene is only fleshed out when you see that they are blanks, but it plays out that way on purpose. The scene with her father also shows that she knows. What else do you want Haggis to do? Must she look into the camera and say she knew?
No, it’s both. If her buying blanks is an accident, then any discerning audience member will wonder how she didn’t realize this while buying the bullets, or loading the gun. It’s almost impossible that she didn’t know. Plus, it builds upon the theme of people acting instinctively, and as a medical professional, she would try not to do harm. Thus, buying blanks was in line with that philosophy.
Understood. But just because you don’t “see how anyone could reasonably think otherwise” doesn’t negate the fact that very many did in fact think otherwise. Your estimation of their degree of reasoning is immaterial. Again, if * that * many people didn’t catch it, that kind of renders the term “obvious” invalid.
An embarassment? To whom? I assume the people paricpating in this thread were doing it out of a quest to speak of a shared experience, and perhaps gain new insights.
Again, I agree, I’m not sure what the point is in arguing the storyteller’s intentions once he’s spoken about them. But, so what? I question your seeming need not only to be “right” , but to put down others who saw the story from another angle.
For one who waxes knowledgable about the art of storytelling, you sure missed the boat on the day they covered “irony”. Indeed, regardless of the director’s intent, he would have told a much better story had he told one in which the daughter * did not * knowingly choose blanks. I hope that doesn’t go over your head, Coppola :rolleyes:
Don’t have the energy or desire to repeat myself; see above.
I don’t have a concensus on how many people on the “she didn’t know” side of the fence watched it at home, and so I can’t speak to what the attention paid / knew they were blanks ratio might be.
What I want to know, is whether or not you, brickbacon know that you are shooting blanks…
As to the movie … I, in particular, did not like the bit with the HMO bitch and the man ineptly trying to advocate for his Dad’s healthcare. I know that HMO’s are easy pickins, and Lawd knows I got my complaints, but it doesn’t work like that. There are medical directors and formal review processes with committees of doctors if you got a complaint and/or want to appeal. The overlapping stories just didn’t click together enough for me and it all strained credulity too far to allow suspension of disbelief. Good fodder to start off discussion about each of our occult racist tendencies, but not a movie that I appreciate more upon more thought. The fact that people argue about the blanks question rather than othe meatier issues is good evidence that this movie wasn’t really of the usual best picture “caliber.”
She kept trying to talk her father out of buying a gun, then when he bought one anyway she said she wanted the red box and she knew what kinds of bullets they were. I knew she was buying blanks at that instant, when I found out later in the movie I wasn’t suprised.
The more we’ve been talking about this, the less I can even remember the scene in question. I’m going to make some time to rewatch this over the weekend, and this time pay particular attention to this part. Not because I don’t believe that she knew; I just want to see how I missed it the first time.
(I do still think it’d be a far more interesting story if she hadn’t known. )
I agree with DSeid that the whole HMO storyline was lame, in that anybody who’s ever dealt with one (which is probably most Americans) knows it doesn’t happen like that. But that part where she tells him her name and he says something like "Shaniqua; big fuckin’ surprise. . . " rang so true with me. I have heard that exact same sentiment far more than I care to think about.
