Growing Ever Fonder Of Prot
Saturday, 5 February 2005
I watched K-PAX for the 3rd time, on this occasion with my in-laws. There's this certain magic about the movie which has captured my heart. Those of you who know me fairly well would be aware that I'm not really a movie person, so it's quite a big deal to me when there's a flick out there that sticks in my head for such a long time. K-PAX is, I think, one of the few gems of the silver screen, in the sense that it falls back to the very essence of entertainment--having a good story tell itself without the need for sexual tension, loud noises or flashy scenes.
My in-laws found certain parts of it slow-going and banking too heavily on conversation, but I felt that those were the scenes where one had the opportunity to grasp the depth of the two main characters in the show--Prot (Kevin Spacey) and Dr Powell (Jeff Bridges)--whom the directors have done well to portray and endear to the audience.
Here are some of the possible reasons why I am so enthusiastic about this movie (in no particular order):
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Prot's character which exhudes exceptional intelligence, and yet has the element of childlike, trusting innocence.
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Lines like this: "Let me tell you something, Mark. You humans, most of you, subscribe to this policy of an eye for an eye, a life for a life, which is known throughout the universe for its... stupidity. Even your Buddha and your Christ had quite a different vision; but nobody's paid much attention to them, not even the Buddhists or the Christians."
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The surprisingly succesful amalgamation of astrophysics, psychology, wit, the heights and depths of human emotion.
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Edward Shearmur's cool atmospheric soundtrack, which Jerry McCully described as "quiet, mystically introspective music that seems as uncomplicated--and yet innately profound--as an autumn breeze."
If you haven't already watched this movie, and you're in a mood for having your thoughts provoked, do try and get hold of K-PAX. It didn't make it to Malaysian shores, but we all know where to look for obscure titles now, don't we? 😉
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