A challenging film. As a child of the seventies this movie resonated with me. My childhood was ordinary for the times (the 1970s), but would be considered child abuse in the 21st century. Still, I don't agree with this "western societal viewpoint."
Madeline is all of us. When we are born, we immediately experience life in purely sensory terms. It's BRIGHT out there. It's LOUD. It's COLD. It STINKS of alcohol and other antiseptics. Anxious energy suddenly fills the room. How do we respond? We cry and scream and squirm and kick. We resist being pulled out of our warm home. We close our eyes to the unfamiliar.
It is only through the rigid and repetitive teachings of our "tribe" that we acquire language, manners, morals, ethics. Madeline's Madeline shows us how we might more effectively communicate, if only we could get the rest of the human race on board.
This movie is difficult. Discordant, dissonant. Musically and rhythmically atonal. At times it is an assault on the senses. But it is also a luminous visual portrait of a supremely talented young woman. I want to be her.
Madeline is all of us. When we are born, we immediately experience life in purely sensory terms. It's BRIGHT out there. It's LOUD. It's COLD. It STINKS of alcohol and other antiseptics. Anxious energy suddenly fills the room. How do we respond? We cry and scream and squirm and kick. We resist being pulled out of our warm home. We close our eyes to the unfamiliar.
It is only through the rigid and repetitive teachings of our "tribe" that we acquire language, manners, morals, ethics. Madeline's Madeline shows us how we might more effectively communicate, if only we could get the rest of the human race on board.
This movie is difficult. Discordant, dissonant. Musically and rhythmically atonal. At times it is an assault on the senses. But it is also a luminous visual portrait of a supremely talented young woman. I want to be her.