On P List of Movie Reviews
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Pleasantville (1998)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
10/15
10/15:
If you're white and live in a bubble, you'll enjoy Pleasantville.
Although I hate a couple of actors in the cast, all performances have been good. Nobody stands out. So, it's more of an
ensemble picture.
Pleasantly, the film isn't syrupy as feared, and there are good points being made. I like the idea of a world that's
literally black and white, and when changes are introduced, it becomes colorized. That being said, the best part of the
show is the cinematography. The use of color in black-and-white films started in
Rumble Fish and was continued with
Schindler's List. Now, they've found a clever story for Pleasantville to
exploit the technique to its fullest.
There was a character who mentioned the word of a particular color. How can that be if the concept doesn't exist in the TV
world? The makeup David applied on his fictional TV mother isn't convincing. On the other hand, the following
trivia is taken from IMDb: "Though many believe that the shot of Bud raising his arms up in triumph during a rainstorm is an
homage to The Shawshank Redemption, Gary Ross thought it was an original
idea [but] didn't realize the connection until after the film was released." Bullshit.
By the way, if bathrooms don't exist in TV, then how do real characters deal with the dilemma? There can't be any
soap or shampoo, either. Also, is David trying to replace his real parents with fictional parents? Now, that's confusing.
All in all, despite the heavy white feel, Pleasantville has been a cerebral and therefore enjoyable viewing
experience.