It's inspiring how the film grabs pieces from characters' life to tell the story. It breaks the rules of scene sequences, instead putting together the most meaningful moments under the inner logic, which is still very engaging. It's a journey of the three building their relationship and searching for their direction. It's an example of how a filmmaker choose what to show the audience intentionally. Watching this movie, I feel that I don't actually need to see every part in character's life. It grabs the pieces of Willie's life only when his cousin Eva is present, but still gives us glimpse of his normal life with details and props, for example the vacuum cleaner under the bed, the cards and the TV dinner, so that the audience could make up his whole life in their mind. For Eva it's screaming Jay, and for Eddie it's the empty peanuts jar.Because of this minimalist structure, throughout the whole film, I don't remember at one single moment I have the feeling of “I got it, move on please.”
The “One set up covering the scene” concept is also interesting. It's much more challenging to hold the dynamic of a scene without coverage, without cutting. I was never bored, as the director has a good control of framing and staging. Every scene is about two or three minutes long, simple and essential, like a series of sketches. It's fun to watch this kind of movie. But it also makes it hard to be emotionally connected with the characters. It reminds me of the French New Waves movie , observing the character's life from an objective perspective. It's not a bad thing but I guess this kind of movie will fade away from my mind very soon.
View more about Stranger Than Paradise reviews
