Feb 8 *
OK, first of all, there will be some spoilers here, but maybe I should just assume that many of us have already seen this? It came out in 2018. I don't know.
Anyway, yah. This movie is... interesting, but not even CLOSE to what you might expect, from the title. It is mostly very slow-paced, and thoughtful, and sort of haunting. The great Sam Elliott plays Calvin Barr, an aging former WWII soldier (the film is set in 1987) who spends a lot of time alone with his memories of his life. Some of those memories are of a lost love, a woman he loved but who died young somehow... I'm not quite clear on exactly what happened to her. Some of his other memories concern a mission he went on in WWII, behind enemy lines, on which he KILLED HITLER. Killed him. Dead. In our current, real timeline.
The idea is that he went far behind enemy lines, tracked Hitler down, and killed him. But, the Nazis just found some body double dude, and presented him in public as Hitler, to keep up appearances. And the US never publicised the mission, or its results, for reasons of their (our?) own. So, Calvin Barr was never particularly recognized in public, although in certain circles high up in the government, he is still remembered.
The thing is, Calvin really dislikes killing. He even feels bad about killing... well, killing ANYONE, even Hitler. He didn't really want to kill Hitler, or be famous. He just did what they told him to do, as a soldier.
There is a scene shown in flashback, where he is tensely given a shave, and shares a drink, with a Romanian Gypsy, who... I guess was supposed to be a barber?!?!? Something like that. There was some very significant-sounding dialog in that scene. I need to go back and watch it again.
There is also something strange going on with time, or perhaps Time. There are at least two, possibly three, watches and clocks with something odd about the way they display time. There is a Nazi wristwatch with a swastika as the hands of the watch; a clock in a barber's shop (not the Romanian gypsy's place, just his brother's barbershop. The brother is definitely a barber). Whoops, I lost control of that sentence. I meant to say that the clock on the wall in his brothers barbershop was made to run so it shows the correct time in mirror fashion, so it can be read correctly in the mirror by patrons getting their hair cut. Calin also has a clock on th wall in his kitchen that looked a little strange... if they showed that clearly, or explained it, I must have missed it. Got to watch that part again.
Anyway, in the "present" time in the movie, 1987, Calvin is approached by a couple of smartly dressed representatives of the US and Canada, and told a story about Bigfoot. Apparently Bigfoot is the carrier of some kind of extremely deadly virus, and someone needs to find him and kill him. They have reason to think Calvin is immune to the virus, and he has superior tracking and killing skills, so they want him to do the mission.
Bigfoot, or rather "THE Bigfoot," is presented as something scary and monstrous. He doesn't look like a noble savage, or Chewbacca, or Harry from Harry and the Hendersons. He just looks like a monster. He is a horror movie-style Bigfoot.
There are other things going on in this movie. At one point Calvin throws away a big box of letters from the woman he loved, letters that I would have imagined that he would have wanted to hold on to no mattter what. There is also another box, a mysterious box, which we never see the contents of. There is probably something significant about that box, but I don't know what it is.
I do not know what this movie means, but I'm pretty sure it means something. I feel like I felt right after watching Being John Malkovich.
Someone in a comments thread under a Youtube video, reviewing the film, was saying that Calvin's story is an allegory for America in the 20th century? Something like that. They thought the thing about the Bigfoot with the virus was a metaphor for communism, which had to be eradicated. They could be right.
As I said, I really can't figure this movie out. If you watch it, just keep an eye out for clocks and wristwatches, and try to think about what they mean. There is also a scene where Calvin takes down a painting on his wall, and looks at the patch of wall that had been under the painting. That appeared to mean something, but I can't figure it out. Also, keep an eye out for the mysterious box that we never see the contents of. Also, this might be a big deal: there is something going on with his shoe, or shoes. He keeps getting a small rock in his shoe, or something along those lines. He keeps getting irritated by something in his shoe. This made me think of (this is VERY disturbing, brace yourself):Angela Bettis in May, constantly being irritated by a tiny, tiny, tiny sliver of broken glass that had gotten into her eye at some point. She eventually get it out of her eye, sort of.... YEESH.
Also, listen carefully to the Romanian Gypsy, when he gives the young version of Calvin a shave.
So. Basically, I do not know what this movie means, but if I were watching it for the first time, I would pay close attention to the things I just mentioned.
One other thing: there is a little model of a dinoaur that seems to mean something. Calvin's little brother (the one who grows up to be a local barber) gives him the dinosaur as he is heading off to WWII. It appears to be some kind of a good luck charm. It shows up at least two more times in the movie, once on Calvin's quest to kill the Bigfoot, and a second time when he is watching a school play the local children are putting on, with his brother.
Whatever it all means, the movie appears to be a labor of love, and is probably worth spending time thinking about. Sam Elliott seems to take the role very seriously, and the writer and director clearly had something on their minds. The scenery is really pretty, too. Apparently it's in Massachusetts! But, by that I mean western Massachusetts, which is practically another state. I very rarely get out there, although this movie makes me wish I did.
So, there you have it. This movie is nowhere near what you would imagine, from the title, but it seems to have something to offer. I am still trying to divine what that might be.
Anyway, yah. This movie is... interesting, but not even CLOSE to what you might expect, from the title. It is mostly very slow-paced, and thoughtful, and sort of haunting. The great Sam Elliott plays Calvin Barr, an aging former WWII soldier (the film is set in 1987) who spends a lot of time alone with his memories of his life. Some of those memories are of a lost love, a woman he loved but who died young somehow... I'm not quite clear on exactly what happened to her. Some of his other memories concern a mission he went on in WWII, behind enemy lines, on which he KILLED HITLER. Killed him. Dead. In our current, real timeline.
The idea is that he went far behind enemy lines, tracked Hitler down, and killed him. But, the Nazis just found some body double dude, and presented him in public as Hitler, to keep up appearances. And the US never publicised the mission, or its results, for reasons of their (our?) own. So, Calvin Barr was never particularly recognized in public, although in certain circles high up in the government, he is still remembered.
The thing is, Calvin really dislikes killing. He even feels bad about killing... well, killing ANYONE, even Hitler. He didn't really want to kill Hitler, or be famous. He just did what they told him to do, as a soldier.
There is a scene shown in flashback, where he is tensely given a shave, and shares a drink, with a Romanian Gypsy, who... I guess was supposed to be a barber?!?!? Something like that. There was some very significant-sounding dialog in that scene. I need to go back and watch it again.
There is also something strange going on with time, or perhaps Time. There are at least two, possibly three, watches and clocks with something odd about the way they display time. There is a Nazi wristwatch with a swastika as the hands of the watch; a clock in a barber's shop (not the Romanian gypsy's place, just his brother's barbershop. The brother is definitely a barber). Whoops, I lost control of that sentence. I meant to say that the clock on the wall in his brothers barbershop was made to run so it shows the correct time in mirror fashion, so it can be read correctly in the mirror by patrons getting their hair cut. Calin also has a clock on th wall in his kitchen that looked a little strange... if they showed that clearly, or explained it, I must have missed it. Got to watch that part again.
Anyway, in the "present" time in the movie, 1987, Calvin is approached by a couple of smartly dressed representatives of the US and Canada, and told a story about Bigfoot. Apparently Bigfoot is the carrier of some kind of extremely deadly virus, and someone needs to find him and kill him. They have reason to think Calvin is immune to the virus, and he has superior tracking and killing skills, so they want him to do the mission.
Bigfoot, or rather "THE Bigfoot," is presented as something scary and monstrous. He doesn't look like a noble savage, or Chewbacca, or Harry from Harry and the Hendersons. He just looks like a monster. He is a horror movie-style Bigfoot.
There are other things going on in this movie. At one point Calvin throws away a big box of letters from the woman he loved, letters that I would have imagined that he would have wanted to hold on to no mattter what. There is also another box, a mysterious box, which we never see the contents of. There is probably something significant about that box, but I don't know what it is.
I do not know what this movie means, but I'm pretty sure it means something. I feel like I felt right after watching Being John Malkovich.
Someone in a comments thread under a Youtube video, reviewing the film, was saying that Calvin's story is an allegory for America in the 20th century? Something like that. They thought the thing about the Bigfoot with the virus was a metaphor for communism, which had to be eradicated. They could be right.
As I said, I really can't figure this movie out. If you watch it, just keep an eye out for clocks and wristwatches, and try to think about what they mean. There is also a scene where Calvin takes down a painting on his wall, and looks at the patch of wall that had been under the painting. That appeared to mean something, but I can't figure it out. Also, keep an eye out for the mysterious box that we never see the contents of. Also, this might be a big deal: there is something going on with his shoe, or shoes. He keeps getting a small rock in his shoe, or something along those lines. He keeps getting irritated by something in his shoe. This made me think of (this is VERY disturbing, brace yourself):
Also, listen carefully to the Romanian Gypsy, when he gives the young version of Calvin a shave.
So. Basically, I do not know what this movie means, but if I were watching it for the first time, I would pay close attention to the things I just mentioned.
One other thing: there is a little model of a dinoaur that seems to mean something. Calvin's little brother (the one who grows up to be a local barber) gives him the dinosaur as he is heading off to WWII. It appears to be some kind of a good luck charm. It shows up at least two more times in the movie, once on Calvin's quest to kill the Bigfoot, and a second time when he is watching a school play the local children are putting on, with his brother.
Whatever it all means, the movie appears to be a labor of love, and is probably worth spending time thinking about. Sam Elliott seems to take the role very seriously, and the writer and director clearly had something on their minds. The scenery is really pretty, too. Apparently it's in Massachusetts! But, by that I mean western Massachusetts, which is practically another state. I very rarely get out there, although this movie makes me wish I did.
So, there you have it. This movie is nowhere near what you would imagine, from the title, but it seems to have something to offer. I am still trying to divine what that might be.
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