Review of Old Joy (2006) by Chads. — 02 May 2007
What happens at the hot springs, stays at the hot springs. Even we don't know. "Old Joy", a film that could be described as "Chuck & Buck Go Camping", wisely goes for the shot of omission after Kurt(Will Oldham) goes for Mark's shoulders.
Lucy knows. As Kurt and Mark head towards their car, Mark's clingy dog walks well ahead of the two men. Hmmm. In the opening scene, we see Mark(Daniel London), a Buddhist, meditating on his lawn.
About what? Hmmm. All those tracking shots of rural Oregon as seen through their moving vehicle isn't there for just scenery's sake. It's what both men are looking at as they're thinking.
There's sexual tension in all the objects that appear through the car window, and later, in the woods. I don't know what Terrence Malick has in mind when he shoots nature in close-up, but this filmmaker is telling a narrative about latent homosexuality through the use of sublimated objects.
That slug, that bird, not to mention, the trees(read: phallic symbol), are all used as foreshadowing to the moment when Kurt gives Mark a massage. "Old Joy" is not a peaceful journey into the country.
It just might be about the sham of marriage. This is scary stuff.
This review of Old Joy (2006) was written by Chads. on 02 May 2007.
Old Joy has generally received positive reviews.
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