In John Milton’s Fall of Man dramedy Paradise Lost, Satan muses on his exile from heaven:
The mind is its own place, and in it self
Can mak...
In John Milton’s Fall of Man dramedy Paradise Lost, Satan muses on his exile from heaven:
The mind is its own place, and in it self
Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less then he
Whom Thunder hath made greater?
In short, he’s had a shocker, but he’s trying to look on the bright side. Getting chucked out of heaven is a profound bummer. This isn’t getting frozen out by Matt from sales because you didn’t invite him to your Great British Bake Off-themed fortieth; this is God asking you to leave His kingdom, and by all accounts He’s not a Huge One for self-doubt. There is no verse saying, ‘And lo, God felt that, on second thoughts, He’d been a bit hasty, so He said, "Adam, mate, at the end of the day it’s just a bit of fruit. It’s no biggie. I felt a bit mugged off by your missus, I’d been working a six-day week, I’m a little bit tired and emotional, we’re all new to this game, come back to the garden and we can thrash it out over a couple of tins"'.
A non-diegetic intrusion. A voice. Female.
‘Every story has to start somewhere.’
Fair enough. No argument with that. It’s a bloody reasonabl...
A non-diegetic intrusion. A voice. Female.
‘Every story has to start somewhere.’
Fair enough. No argument with that. It’s a bloody reasonable thing to say. In fact, throughout what follows, the film’s sustained, masterful use of first-person narration obviates the need for potentially protracted scenes in which important character motivation might be revealed visually. Instead the narrator, Old Donna – or, as she’s credited, ‘Donna’ (Gwyneth Paltrow) – simply tells us what subtext, if any, is not revealed by cutaways of signs and newspapers, expository flashbacks and the cast’s often varied facial expressions. If something about a character’s motivation or a particular incident is unclear, don’t worry; Old Donna will explain what’s going on. This is brutally direct filmmaking. And I welcome it.*
* If Orson Welles had had this gift, Citizen Kane might still be remembered today. He could have clarified that weird ending with a simple line of VO, saying something like: 'And that’s when I, Citizen Kane, realised how much I loved sleds'..
If you want to succeed, the film bravely asserts, put on a short skirt and go into the service industry! It won’t be long before you’re pick...
If you want to succeed, the film bravely asserts, put on a short skirt and go into the service industry! It won’t be long before you’re picked out for even greater things, like higher-paid work within the service industry! Because if you’re hot, you’ll reach the top! And if you’re a little heavy or have a squinty eye, maybe you can work behind the scenes, where you won’t spook anyone.
