The Piano, Phone Booth and tales of modern morality: the September update
Tales from the dork side of culture commentary, by thehaughtyculturist
Hello, thank you. If you’re reading this, you probably have a penchant for the stories we tell and how we make sense of them. In which case, you’re in luck. This month at thehaughtyculturist.com: unpicking the art of the modern morality story in Phone Booth, Red Eye, and Jane Campion’s dangerously beautiful The Piano. Happy travails!
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Culture commentary
1. The Piano (1993): decoding the many meanings of Ada’s piano
Rediscover Jane Campion’s mesmerising classic through an analysis of the film's "underwater lullaby" and dream-like ending.
“Ada’s piano is more than an instrument. It’s the heart of her, the thing she obsesses over – sometimes even more than daughter Flora”
2. Phone Booth (2002): tales of the city and monstrous morality
Exploring the medieval morality of Phone Booth, a tale about a brash New York publicist trapped by a mad man who offers him a terrible choice.
“There are echoes of A Christmas Carol in Phone Booth’s story of a selfish miser who repents after an encounter with “a ghost” of comeuppance.”
3. Red Eye (2005): terror in the skies, payback on the ground
A winsome hotel manager is trapped in a phone booth on a plane with a mad man who offers her a terrible choice. Yes, we had a thing for dilemma stories in the noughties.
“Red Eye makes mincemeat of ‘Chekhov’s Gun’. Along the way, it messes with movie clichés about heroism, and turns a mild mannered woman into a merciless killing machine.”
4. Columbo: Death Lends a Hand
Over in the Columbo corner, Death Lends a Hand is a hidden gem of the long-running detective series. Here's how it works.
“The episode’s other big surprise is that Columbo can play golf. Like, really play. As it turns out, Peter Falk was a keen golfer.”
Well, we're barrelling into review season, and I'm not sorry about it. New and coming releases include The Watchers, Outpost and It Lives Inside - all on the site soon. I'll also be heading to London Film Festival later this year, and really fancy the look of Saltburn. Write-ups to come.
See you next month … ?
Ruth / The HC
Pic credit: Alexander Andrews via Unsplash
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