Storytelling | | Cast : | Selma Blair | | Director : | Todd Solondz | | Studio : | New Line Home Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | January 01, 2001 | | DVD Released Date : | July 16, 2002 | | Language : | English (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | Unrated | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 15, 2005 | | Summary | Its not on the same level as Happiness or dollhouse | Content
 | I was excited to recieve my copy of Storytelling because i am a recent fan of Todd Solondz and wanted to get my hands on some of his more recent work. Having just recently watched Happiness and Welcome to the Dollhouse i really expected more from this movie. Reading other reviews i see people complaining about fiction but i thought it was the better of the two stories. I mainly feel this way because nonfiction couldnt have moved any slower or been more boring. Not even John Goodman and Paul Giamatti could save this story. I dont mind slow stories if there is more going on than whats just on the screen but there wasnt with this tale and aside from the little corks thrown in that seemed out of place the story of a loser kid with no ambition being presured to go to college by his rich parents has been told many times better already so why bother telling it again if you dont have anything to add? I cant imagine that nonfiction was actually based on any real events and if it was then he should have told it better because it creeped along at such a snails pace that i barely made it through it. Fiction was the better story imo mainly because it moved at a better pace and the acting was much better. Selma Blair and Leo Fitzpatrick were great were as the kids in nonfiction stumbled over almost all of thier lines. I also found fiction to be more realistic than nonfiction which may have been the point of the two stories with contradicting titles. At any rate, if your new to Todd Solondz's work check out dollhouse or happiness as they are much better films. I have not seen Palindromes yet but hopefully its more on par with his earlier work. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 04, 2005 | | Summary | I Dream of Solondz | Content
| Is this film supposed to be realistic? No, because reality would be far too drawn out and boring for any film maker to successfully render. Instead, Solondz finds nuances and exploits them to their fullest, and the result is astounding. Although "Fiction" is short, it has a lot to say about sexuality and self deprication, and the critique of teacher and students is priceless. The ridiculousness of the characters in "Nonfiction" is enthralling.
"Storytelling" is of course not for everyone, and I believe most people would be offended by it. I highly recommend it to those who seek a subtle shock and who appreciate dark humor. This has been my favorite movie since I first saw it. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 22, 2005 | | Summary | This Aint Reality, Idiots. | Content
| This film wasnt made to show all of you how a "real" university fiction writing class is, or how "real" a Jewish suburban family is. This film is less real than Sponge Bob Squarepants. It travels the same lines as Apocalypse Now, in that it encapsulates the graphic possiblities, and tragic surrealities of life and turns the amps up to ten. The situations in this film are extreme to further illustrate his undelying themes of non-hero's and how tragic hope can be. The characters fluctuate between being stupid, honest, demonic, blatent, obvious, and dangerous. He also creates points of focus in the film that are meant to lead our thoughts through his maze. We identify with the Cerebral Palsy kid, then Selma Blair, but then we see how their bad choices land them in scenarios that are grotesque. We suddenly stop identifying with them. Most of the characters are complex, except for obvious villians, like John Goodman, and the cold, callous, indiferent masochist 'teacher'. The boy in 'non fiction' is a good example of the multifaceted nature of Solondz's characters. We hate him, but why? He was raised in an indifferent family that doesnt prize humanity or kindness. He has his 'maid' fired because she wouldnt clean his juice up. He has no sense of humanity or compassion. Why wouldnt he? His family, whom he loves, has not shown compassion, or taught him about work or poverty. He is clueless. Watch this film closely. It is not a pop culture romp. And if you are looking for Napoleon Dynamite, dont look here. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 09, 2005 | | Summary | FICTION SUCKED | Content
| I would be giving this 5 stars but for some reason Todd Solodnz felt it necessary to throw in some weak side thing about some girl who has a retard boyfriend and gets raped by a big black guy. Non-fiction however was incredible (especially the little kid) When you watch this movie skip right past the fiction part. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 09, 2005 | | Summary | The deeply uncomfortable and FUGLY truth... | Content
| ...is what Solondz seems to excel in capturing in his movies, and if you have the stomach to sit through it, it's hard not to admire the man's sheer artistic ballsiness as well as his virtuosity.
Many of us come to a movie expecting to find clear distinctions between "good" and "bad" characters whom we are able to peg within the first five minutes, to be manipulated and cliched into identifying with the "good" characters so that we really care about the outcome of the predictable clash between them and the "bad" characters, as if the Happy Uplifting Life-Lessons-Learned ending was ever in doubt for even a nanosecond. That is, after all, what Hollywood spoonfeeds us 90% of the time---not only the cheesey action blockbusters but also the alleged "dramas" and "comedies" too...it's all been focus-grouped to death before the final cut. Make that focused-grouped to death before the contract to produce the film is even signed.
So it is no wonder that many people have a problem with a movie like this. It's basically one short, about a creative writing class, its freaky and mediocre students, its freaky and sadistic teacher who may or may not be another mediocre writer. As a veteran of many collegiate creative writing classes, I can attest that there are quite a few grains of truth here.
The longer second film is about a typically dysfunctional upper-middle class suburbian family headed by the venerable John Goodman, complete with exploited Latin American maid. Again, just like the vision of suburbia in his earlier film "Happiness," this one definitely rang more than its fair share of bells.
There really are no "good" characters---everyone is dysfunctional in their own ways, some more grotesquely than others. That's one of the most beautifully refreshing things about Solondz's work: he never cops out and inserts some easy-to-root-for lollipop characters but instead challenges us to work hard to infer some redeeming qualities in all of them, and makes us acutely aware of the difficulty of that work.
Yes Solondz's is a brutally dark and merciless vision of life and people in general, but I'd argue that it is a largely accurate one...if we are willing to strip away our comforting habitual delusions/cliches and see the spades for the spades that they all are. The only really obvious flight of fancy here is the Latin maid's revenge at the end, which I gather is more of a fantasy sequence than anything else, or perhaps prophetic and allegorical.
And Solondz never fails to infuse his films with plenty of jet-black humor, spontaneity and originality. You never feel as if he's beating you over the head with The Message (calling Steven Spielberg and Spike Lee!), or taking the easy way out, or copping out and dumbing things down for easier consumption by a wider audience.
In light of the films that are usually made, "Storytelling" (along with his other film, "Happiness") is nothing short of miraculous. Hats off to Solondz for refusing to take prisoners. |
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