A poignant point one could muse upon after having first watched this movie is whether the leading character’s friend is a figment of his imagination or not; with there being no scenes where ‘brain’ directly converses with any other character.
It’s a strange phenomenon, how major actors/actresses’ best works are usually their introductions to the big screen. Stuff like Donnie Darko, Disturbia and Mr Robot are examples of this. As for Edward Norton and Emile Hirsche, they do their own thing.
I’ve decided to watch the DVD on my laptop to invoke some form of symbolic literary nostalgia. Against the will of my own scapegoated emotional state, this is the second viewing. Not for the lack of wanting to – it’s more about how impactful this film was and will be once more.
The saying that appearances can often be underestimated is something Brick brings to light from its onset. It’s likely one of the main points the creators wanted to make. Using a Rubik’s cube as a prop during strategic conversations seems self-referential.
How the protagonist regards finding his deceased girlfriend without immediately discussing it with anyone speaks to an individual grasp upon morality and the manner in which he’s going to go about things; however. The first scene itself combats any preconceptions otherwise.
The physical actions and social dynamics between the leading characters comes off as abnormal; leading me into thinking that Brick intended to make a point about audiences becoming conditioned into accepting physiological profiling as the norm – ala type-casting.
My initial watch was during a period of depraved insufflation and I reached its conclusion upon recovering slightly. In an ode to my hedonistic days, I wrote this between naps! There’s an equilibrium between beautiful settings and concise, plot-related content that makes Brick hard to replicate (in a manner difficult to articulate.)
The ambiguity of the leading character’s back-story/occupation is another element that makes it a possibility that he’s better connected than the operation he’s trying to infiltrate; given the fact that characters frequently invite him to embrace his prior lifestyle. Considering how he handles the situation; this is a likely conclusion – he responds in a calculated manner; not beholden to his emotions.
It’s evident that he’s driven into unrelenting cynicism regarding everyone’s intentions through such a devastating discovery, though. The film manages to capture the social dynamic of smaller locations with a generation desperately trying to maintain a grasp on their individual secrets.
With the protagonist, you sense it isn’t just the death of his girlfriend that make characters anxious towards him; but his general affiliations. This gives off the impression that the people in his locality were attempting to entrap him legally; alongside that one of them threw a house party immediately after the as of yet unreported murder – watching this a second time is worthwhile.
The females covertly advocating the main character’s investigation; even at risk to their own life speaks to how unnecessary the murder was – perhaps aware that either route was equally treacherous at that point.
How he doesn’t engage in unnecessarily sadistic violence to send a message is also a commendable element of the film; acknowledging that in some situations what one would regard as a warranted conflict would be one that resembled bullying to other characters in the film’s universe. It captures some of Dead Man’s Shoes’ story-line; but conveys the repercussions in a sophisticated fashion.
The flashbacks including conversations between him and his ex-girlfriend shows that he’s stepped in to deal with similar situations before and that she herself was frightened on accounts of the very people that murdered her. How he doesn’t react aggressively after this does show his acknowledgment of her feelings, impressively enough.
‘The Brain’ serves as a pretty unconventional device in this movie; avoiding orchestrating the main character’s internal dialogue in a formulaic fashion. The conclusion upon my first watch appears to have been true.
How the movie goes about moving through time is abnormally intense in comparison to a lot of movies moving in a linear fashion. How the brain often isn’t treated with much humanity during conversations (not following standard social conventions) lends some solidification that he is a personified metaphor.
The lack of anyone noticing the deceased girl for such a long period gives off the impression that film was disillusioned with investigative forces; although it wouldn’t be much of a movie had they imbued more power into such entities.
Brendan being out of any involvement with the streets could have been a reason his opposition deemed such a violation as feasible. The notion that he had a “calling card” prior and the strategies he utilizes in street fights are much more aligned with the severity of what transpired.
The way he behaves in respect to a crime that’s likely to be blamed on him makes it clear that he’s behaving both offensively and defensively in his pursuit of retribution. There are loads of subtle comedic moments that I don’t feel like ruining.
Here we go again!
Sedlo