Comments on: Charlie Kaufman, Literalist of the Imagination

By: unreliable narrator

unreliable narrator — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:37:38 +0000

But the really brilliant thing about Kaufman’s use of this quotation is that the character who quotes it (played by Kirsten Dunst) is a young secretary really hoping to impress the doctor for whom she works (played by Tom Wilkerson), a much older man with whom she’s in love, so she ransacks Bartlett’s for impressive relevant literary tidbits and comes up with this:
Do you like quotes, Howard?
What do you mean?
Oh, you know, like famous quotes? I find reading them inspirational, and in my reading, I’ve come across some I thought you might like too.
Oh, well, I…I’d love to hear some.
There’s one that goes, “Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders.”
That’s Nietzsche, right? [mispronounced]
Yeah. And here I thought I could tell you something you didn’t know.
Oh, no. It’s…it’s a good quote. I’m happy we both know it.
Yeah. Oh, and there’s this other one I like. It’s by Pope Alexander, and it goes…
Alexander Pope?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, shit. It’s just that I told myself not to say “Pope Alexander” and sound like a dope, and then I go ahead and say it.
It’s no big deal. You’re such a sweetheart.
The world forgetting, by the world forgot. I think I just found my new tombstone motto.
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By: "noah freed"

"noah freed" — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:17:10 +0000

a) Pope is given as the author of the line in the movie.
b) It’s pretty rich that you just assume that Timberlake “unwittingly” recited the lines & had no idea he was in a good movie. Condescend to popular culture much?
c) Southland Tales is a terrible movie.
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By: Travis Nichols

Travis Nichols — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:00:46 +0000

I get the sinking feeling that you did that from memory, Don.
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By: Katie

Katie — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:09:42 +0000

Yes, decay! That was the word I was missing. Also, I keep remembering parts of the movie and have that strange early morning feeling that I am half-remembering a dream. Pretty neat.
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By: Don Share

Don Share — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:30:05 +0000

How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d;
Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;
“Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;”
Desires compos’d, affections ever ev’n,
Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to Heav’n.
Grace shines around her with serenest beams,
And whisp’ring angels prompt her golden dreams.
For her th’ unfading rose of Eden blooms,
And wings of seraphs shed divine perfumes,
For her the Spouse prepares the bridal ring,
For her white virgins hymeneals sing,
To sounds of heav’nly harps she dies away,
And melts in visions of eternal day.
excerpt from Alexander Pope, “Eliosa to Abelard”
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By: Aaron Fagan

Aaron Fagan — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:28:26 +0000

Not to change movies, but I am still shocked that–in light of Hollywood being anti-poetic along with poetry–there has been no mention made of the movie Southland Tales. Which had Eliot and Frost on the 2008 campaign ticket. It’s a truly great movie. Namely that you get the sense that Justin Timberlake and The Rock have no clue that they are acting in such an amazing movie.
What could be more beautifully dystopic than Justin Timberlake unwittingly reciting a re-engineered “Hollow Men”: This is how the world ends / This is how the world ends / This is how the world ends / Not with a whimper, but with a bang.
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By: john

john — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:47:12 +0000

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” is a line from a Pope poem. (I read that in some article; didn’t recognize the line, though I have read the poem.)
I’m all for people posing about poetry. More cocktail-party name-dropping please!
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By: Travis Nichols

Travis Nichols — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:59:45 +0000

The fear, of course, is that he’s just a pretentious imposter who likes to puff himself up by paraphrasing and nodding at poetry. The state of Hollywood movies is so anti-poetic right now (isn’t it? Dunno. Sounds good to say) that any old Dana Carvey show sketch writ large for the big screen will seem awesome, but I’m willing to take the plunge with Synecdoche, New York, and with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, both of which I think are minor masterpieces of a sort.
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By: Doodle

Doodle — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:51:05 +0000

Oh, dear. Not a very good paraphrase, is it?
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By: Aaron Fagan

Aaron Fagan — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:47:03 +0000

“I don’t really have anything against stories, but I just want to feel something happening. I read something that Emily Dickinson said that I’m going to paraphrase: you know something’s poetry if a shiver goes up your spine.” –Cherlie Kaufman in an Interview with Michael Koresky and Matthew Plouffe, Reverse Shot Online, Spring 2005
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By: Travis Nichols

Travis Nichols — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:32:31 +0000

When I mentioned Marianne Moore he broke into a smile and nodded knowingly, but I didn’t ask outright. After a few too many interviews with non-poetry people in which I ask all excited about what poetry they read and get only bewildered looks in response, I haven’t had the heart in a while. But I should have here. Next time!
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By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:01:51 +0000

Hey Travis, does he read poetry?
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By: Aaron Fagan

Aaron Fagan — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:15:36 +0000

Parts of Synecdoche, New York were filmed in Woodlawn, my neighborhood up in the Bronx. It was nice. Folks could pretty much walk right over and say hello to Mr. Kaufman and Mr. Hoffman like they were a couple of lads from the neighborhood. Although, hard as I tried to explain to some of my neighbors, no one really knew who they were. At the urging of my friend Mary, I even gave Mr. Kaufman a copy of my book. She said I would hate myself if I didn’t. He was really cool about it.
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