Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Irony of Fate or Enjoy Your Bath, Pt II
The second half of Enjoy Your Bath seemed to be more romanticized than comedic. True, the similar comedic gags (physical confrontation, catchy wordplay) were involved, but they took a backseat to the storyline- oddly enough reminding me of a heavy Russian soap-opera. Indeed, more cultural reference and pro-pride messages came across. It was obvious to me that a clear-cut message the writers/director wanted in the story was that mistakes or sad circumstances have consequences. In that same message, however, it is also clear that they want those consequences to turn to fortune. The classic battle for the beauty involved Ippolit (typecast as a powerful yet easily-tempered man) and Zhenya (the loveable emotional "hero"). In true classic fashion, the emotional protagonist is the better man as opposed to the "powerhouse" type. I can see a metaphoric connection from a hopeful Russian writer's theatrical tale to a Cold War between waring nations.
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Hmmm, I'd never thought of the possibility of there being any potential analogies between what we see here and what happens on the international stage.
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with you that the film has a dark edge behind the happy ending. Ippolit and Galya must end thoroughly crushed and devastated by what has happened--in some ways they are almost the pawns of fate. It would be interesting, I think, to imagine an alternate version of the film told from those two characters' perspectives.