Monday, July 25, 2011

"Undefeated" mini-review


Loved Stephen Bannon's Undefeated. Loved the way the story was told with chapters quietly announced by snow falling through what apparently was the dark Alaskan winter. Beautiful. A lot of quietly expressive use of sound and slow-motion home-movie imagery. Will have to watch it again when it opens in Chicago commercially. The wonder of Alaska was developed verbally and in mysterious visual ways. Surprisingly moving for me.

Also the conflict between Mrs. Palin and Murkowski was unexpectedly intimate. Murkowski's watery eyes and pasty complexion gave a close-up feel to his sensibility and physical presence. I was kept on the edge of my seat in all the footage of election night. Loved the touch about her "refusal to embrace the establishment".

Also sometimes when Mrs Palin is on FNC she gives such interesting answers that they get me thinking long after. But just as often I find myself distracted by her sense of freedom and I don't know maybe subtle hints regarding her frustrations and hopes going forward. I guess for me she is fascinating to watch, charisma-wise, so much so that I sometimes find it difficult to really listen to her careful answers. For that reason, the use of the Going Rogue audio book really nailed it for me. It allowed me to hear her and to follow the narrative. Great movie! Better than I expected and I was expecting a lot!