I’m awesome. I wrote a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.
I’ll go on record as saying this probably the first time I’ve given away a movie that gave William Hurt an Academy Award and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay in 1985. I do realize the median age of some people who read this and know many of you were barely getting a grasp on the English language when this film was making waves.
Suffice to say there is nothing that can be put into meanigful explanation as to why this film works as well as it does when you consider the subject matter. The movie is grippingly intense, made on the kind of budget you would usually reserve for art house indies nowadays and made quite a stir when it was released.
I’ve got 4 to give away and, with regard to winning one, all I need to know is whether you’ve seen it or not. That’s it. Hopefully I’ll be able to give a couple to those of you who loved it a long time ago and a couple to those who need to see it for the first time. Shoot me a line at Christopher_Stipp@Yahoo.com.
For you newbies who need an explanation of the film here it is:
The film tells of the political prisoner Valentin Arregui (Raul Julia) and effeminate homosexual and statutory rapist Luis Molina (William Hurt). They share a Brazilian prison cell.
Molina passes the time by recounting memories from one of his favorite films, a wartime romantic thriller that’s also a Nazi propaganda film. He weaves the characters into a narrative meant to comfort Arregui and distract him from the harsh realities of political imprisonment and the separation from the woman he cares about.
Arregui allows Molina to penetrate some of his defensive self and opens up. An unlikely friendship develops between the two prisoners: the dreamer and the political activist.
As the story develops, it’s clear that Arregui is being poisoned by his jailers to force him to reveal what he knows. Molina, it seems, may also have ulterior motives.