Okay, so this is a bit of a throw back because I came into the class late in the semester but I'm doing it anyway. I have very little negative to say about this movie(I say this because I tend to look at the flaws in the films versus the good things). Ever since I saw this movie when I was about seventeen I loved it. I've watched it many times since but I had to rewatch it with a critical mind this time and I did notice one flaw. Wouldn't Karen have to write all of Harold's realizations about him hearing a voice narrating his life? Why is it that only when he contacts her do their stories meet? A possible theory of mine is that when Harold is doing things to bring him closer to Karen she is writing the other characters(the boy on the bike and the woman who gets hired to drive the bus) back stories. Feel free to give your own ideas and thoughts about why this is. Other than that I have only positive things to say about this movie. I love the character development and how you can really feel the emotions of the actors. One scene that really hit me hard watching this time around was the scene where Hillbert tells Harold that he has to die for the story and Harold is devastated. "The hero dies but the story goes on..." This goes to show that Will Ferrell has the ability and skill to play an emotional and deep character. They made good use of imagery, dressing Harold in bright vibrant colors after he begins to discover himself and the contrast this makes in the office scene where he is just moving past everyone in their dull grey colors. This is another reason I chose the picture above, I never noticed it until about the third time I watched the movie but when Karen begins to talk about Anna the clouds begin to move. Subtlety is a great thing when used right. Something that comes to mind, maybe the writer of the film intended to kill Harold but decided it was too negative and changed it. While the film appears as a tragedy in many ways it has a lighthearted feel throughout, so maybe he was never going to die in the first place.
I also wondered about how Karen doesn't realize that Harold can hear her. It is especially strange because when he hears her and yells, her narration pauses, like she is expecting his reaction. Yet, she is astonished when she realizes he is real and finds her. Wouldn't she have known that all along because she is the author of Harold's fate? My only answer for this perplexing question is that Karen is not really an "all-powerful" author like we might picture her as from the beginning (in the scene where she in on top of the building). I think Harold has a large amount of free-will, and Karen is just giving him one path to follow, if he should choose to do so.
ReplyDeleteThat is an excellent question. I was thinking about that when we watched this during class, as well. My answer, which I am not saying is the definitive answer, is that what we hear of Karen's voice-over is only part of what she is writing. I believe that at least her original story was not what we saw on screen. I think only when his life overlapped with what she wrote did we hear her voice. I think that maybe what she rewrote is what we actually saw. Or something along those lines.
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