My favorite film of the
recently deceased Mike Nichols is CARNAL KNOWLEDGE.
It cuts to the heart of
a standard males of a certain generation felt they needed to live up to and how
the sexual revolution shook that up (in a bad way)....Jack Nicholson, Ann
Margaret, and Rita Moreno - all great performances. Candace Bergen and Art Garfunkel – less so
but they are adequate for their roles.
I saw it less about men’s
confusion and anger towards women more as a contrast between Jonathan (Nicholson)
and Sandy (Garfunkel)....Jonathan's anger is at women but also at changing
sexual mores that he doesn't get at all which leads to sexist bitterness....The
end scene with Moreno is amazing, a great finisher.
Nichols primary strength as a
director, one that was clearly honed by his time in theatre and on Broadway,
was how he framed scenes as standalone episodes rather than lengthy shots that bled
into each other. CARNAL KNOWLEDGE, through
each scene of interactions between the characters, establishes each scene of
being of great importance to the development of the plot and the audience’s understanding
of the characters. They are like a
series of corresponding photographs being looked at in order.
RIP Mike Nichols
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