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American Splendor (2003)

Posted : 12 years ago on 6 March 2012 10:07

This movie develops a particular narrative about the life and work of Harvey Pekar, a comic writer who rose to fame after revolutionizing the landscape of American cartoonists and establish a model of alternative comics. Under the title "American Splendor", Harvey moved to its own existence bullets putting reality to fantasy and mediocrity to hope. And with that look sour and gloomy, was drawn by various artists in the circuits "underground", through which managed to be considered a cult author. A comic book brought to life and in turn moved to the screen with this film that stand out, above all, his apparent lack of limitations in the approach and how it is exposed at all times with absolute freedom, without any aesthetic or tie formal.

"American Splendor" is a film undeniably different and independent film character can condition to a greater or lesser extent to the viewer, the little or great interest in this story will awaken as autobiographical, apparently very specific and reconcentrated in a given universe vital especially creative and personal. But I was pleased to note that far from being a story directed only at exclusive target, the script of this film outlines common everyday story ideas. Talk of loneliness, of misunderstanding, existential angst, skepticism and disappointment about impossible dreams, and so on. A universe of failures and routines that define a larger story than it first seemed. The protagonist of the film is the antithesis of the representation of a comic book superhero, a taciturn loner and does not inspire anything attractive or optimistic, but first-person posed a series of collective miseries reflect a very recognizable social fabric.

All surrounded by a chaotic atmosphere in which the language of the film moves between actors who made a remarkable interpretations, especially the protagonist Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis, and comic panels with a succession of snacks and labels that complement archival footage and admissions by Harvey Pekar. A considerable originality for a film that does not comply with specific genres and her documentary, biopic, animation and drama reflective and bittersweet live with a coherent sense of rhythm and entertainment.


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A very good movie

Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 31 January 2011 12:59

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I have it on DVD, I was really eager to check it out again. First of all, Back in the 90’s, Paul Giamatti was one of those guys you would spot very often in a movie, always playing a supporting character, usually delivering a good performance but you never knew his name and the guy was simply completely overlooked. However, it all changed with this brilliant movie. Indeed, for once, Giamatti had the lead and he completely rocked (a year later, he would finally seal the deal with another brilliant lead performance in ‘Sideways’). Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to be honest, I have actually never read the comic book but I still really enjoyed this movie anyway. Even though the acting and the directing were both pretty good too, in my opinion, the main quality was above all the fact that Harvey Pekar was a really interesting figure. I mean, he is not really a good guy, not really a bad guy either, just a rather average fellow who happens to be pissed off against the whole world, at least most of it. I don’t know, some people just don’t like this kind of cynical over-negative attitude but I really dig it and, in this case, it created a really hilarious viewing. When I was living in France, I used to live next to the public library and I would get about 5 comic-books from there on almost a daily basis. So, I read a whole bunch of those comic-books but I never read ‘American Splendor’ and I would really love to read one of those at some point. Anyway, to conclude, I really loved this movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


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