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February 20, 2005
In Cold Blood
In Cold Blood (1967), Richard Brooks:
Wanted to see what this Robert Blake was all about.
The seemingly flat reenactment of such terrible events lets you observe them in something like a vacuum. While there's a little bit of pop psychology ("They could do together what neither one would do alone") thrown in and a few artistic flourishes, it's a bare minimum--definitely not anything that interferes with the operation of the narration.
Because of this, it's at times utterly fascinating and at others pretty boring. Its blade has dulled in the face of the lurid events and media of the present, suffing the same fate as Strangers on a Train. No matter how well crafted or nuanced its portrait of depravity, it can't compete with stuff today.
10/15
Posted by bing at February 20, 2005 09:53 AM