This "thing" is a central part, or at least an ancillary part of 99% of all films.
Films that don't have it organically almost always have it added somehow.
Midnight Cowboy does not have it.
And yet, it does have it, just in modified form.
And it is much more satisfyingly portrayed here than in 99% of the other 99%.
Its unique handling is what makes this a timeless film and a great film, in 1969 or anytime.
It's not a sled.
What is it?
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Sexual tension?
ReplyDeleteI guess to elaborate, I find that in movies there are always two characters who share a sexual tension, and very often it feels like a forced storyline, like it was added in during the filming process. Midnight Cowboy seems to me like a film that approached the idea of sexual tension in an indirect way.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably wrong. It's not cowboy hats is it? Because I don't think cowboy hats make a film timeless.
do you see cowboy hats in 99% of all films? 50% maybe, but certainly not 99%.
ReplyDeleteYea I was fairly sure the cowboy hat guess was wrong, but my sexual tension guess was my actual one. Since you didn't address it I'm going to assume I was wrong. Oh well, I'll keep thinking.
ReplyDeleteI want to say perversion. Or sexual undertones. I'll have to ponder this some more
ReplyDeleteThis is just the first thing that popped into my head, but could it be a "best friend" character? When you said movies may not always have it organically, it reminded me of Castaway and Tom Hank's best friend, the volleyball named Wilson. But the vast majority (basically all) movies that I can think of have a best friend type character to the main character.
ReplyDeleteIn this movie Ratso Rizzo really isn't a best friend, but its the best Joe Buck can do. This is just a theory, I'm eager to hear what the answer is
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ReplyDeletewoops- Hmmm Benny I like your answer. Mr. Bennett and his ambiguity never easy to solve.
ReplyDeleteI really am not sure. Possibly I would say something involving the flashbacks, but I can't formulate it exactly. It is something to do with the memory of the characters in it possibly? Probably not... I'm just trying to think out loud. Very difficult riddle, Mr. Bennett, I credit you with this challenging conundrum.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this thing could have something to do with editing or cutting, and the way that camera utilizes this in order to show the shots unusually, but using multiple camera angles more effectively. Just throwing ideas out, sorry if I sound like an idiot. I'm just trying to figure out a more perfect answer to a very unique question before the vivid memories of the film become somewhat dead to me.
ReplyDeleteNick and Benny, warm, James, cold. Arun, on another planet somewhere.
ReplyDeleteYay I was warm! Part of me wants to quit while I'm ahead, but that's boring. Since you said Benny was also warm I'm going to start thinking of how I can relate our guesses. Aren't riddles fun?
ReplyDeleteIs it a sex scene?
ReplyDeleteGuys, it's an "obvious" answer...haha im just kidding Mr. Bennett...but seriously my guess would be that it has something to do with Joe Buck and Ratso's relationship with one another. The whole movie so far has been about mixing homosexual and heterosexual together, and up to this point you don't know which each character is.
ReplyDeleteHahaha Mr. Bennett it was wild guess. Seems like everyone is making that same response nowadays
ReplyDeleteOkay guys it got it!
ReplyDeleteHold your horses, here it is:
"In 1994, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry."
Surely not every film can boast an acclaim as high as this?
Now, before all you rip me apart for the above answer, I'd like to make it clear that it was not said in all seriousness... hahaha
Although it would be quite ironic if it actually had something to do with the film's "cultural, historical or aesthetic significance" ;-)
But in all seriousness...
ReplyDeleteI would most likely guess that Midnight Cowboy seperates itself from 99% percent of the other films churned out by the Hollywood movie machine in that it displays an absence of the "traditional love story."
To elaborate, there is no specific girl with whom Joe Buck is madly in love with. (Unlike in the majority of movies where the protoganist's journey to win over the heart of his chosen lady is the main focus of the movie's entire plot.)
Although the male-female dynamic / "war between the sexes" is still there in terms of Joe's journey to get as much ass as possible by posing as a jiggalo, this is just set as the backstory to the movie itself.
The real love story is not between Joe and a female, but between Joe and life itself. By the end of the movie, Joe realizes that utter ridiculousness of the goals he set for himself at the beginning and becomes that much closer to finding his life's calling.