Monday, April 27, 2009

The Matrix


First of all, Hugo Weaving has an amazingly elastic and expressive face. I loved him in every role he's ever played. Also he has a great voice.

I'm watching the second Matrix on television right now. I am aware that this movie takes itself far too seriously and tries to fit a great deal of subtext and meaning in what would otherwise be an action film (though subtext is being really generous as the film really hits you over the head with it.) I think that because I saw the trilogy in my early teenage years, it made an impression on me, whereas I would look upon it with a far more jaded eye were I to see it for the first time now. It sometimes staggers me when I hear a line, being hit with meaning and depth that I didn't expect from a movie I've seen as many times as I have. 

"But, as you well know, appearances can be deceiving, which brings me back to the reason why we're here. We're not here because we're free. We're here because we're not free. There is no escaping reason; no denying purpose. Because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist."

I think my favorite part of the film is the scene with the Merovingian. 

"Choice is an illusion created between those with power and those without." 

I wonder, is this a statement I could even really contemplate as a person without power? I really enjoy the Merovingian as a character. A cool, collected Frenchman- stylish and manipulating. 

Now I'm rambling. Mostly, I love this movie. All of the Matrix films, actually.

2 comments:

  1. I like the second quote, but the first one doesn't strike me as particularly meaningful. Why do you like it?

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  2. I'm not entirely sure. I think a lot of the reason I like it is contextual.

    The fact that the Neo character is supposed to be able to break all of the constraints of the world, but is still held down by things like the need for purpose. He can fly, he can theoretically break the world around himself but he is bound by the same thing that binds everyone else.

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