his_spiffynesss (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
his_spiffynesss) wrote2012-03-02 11:19 am
his_spiffynesss) wrote2012-03-02 11:19 am
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Something you just don't see anymore
I caught Jaws on TV last night, it's been forever since I actually watched the movie. And one scene kind of stuck out at me. Roy Schrieder and Richard Dreyfuss' characters are talking to the Mayor after they had gone out and found the wrecked fisherman's boat. What I was noticing how frantic everyone was, and how they kept talking over each others lines, in much the way real people talk.
Watching it made me realized that particular kind of performance is really uncommon nowadays. Admittedly it was more often associated with Robert Altman and his films. One good example being in M*A*S*H when the doctors first arrive and meet the rest of the staff in the mess tent. Hawkeye and Duke find themselves in the middle of conversations between Col. Blake, Radar and Father Mulcahy.
Just lately I can't think of any movie I have seen that tries to go with that kind of naturalistic dialogue. It's much more staid and focused with the usual back and forth pattern. I wonder if this is something the studios just don't like, since they assume the average film goer is an idiot who couldn't follow more that one track of dialogue at once, or if it's just something that has fallen out of favor with creators.
Watching it made me realized that particular kind of performance is really uncommon nowadays. Admittedly it was more often associated with Robert Altman and his films. One good example being in M*A*S*H when the doctors first arrive and meet the rest of the staff in the mess tent. Hawkeye and Duke find themselves in the middle of conversations between Col. Blake, Radar and Father Mulcahy.
Just lately I can't think of any movie I have seen that tries to go with that kind of naturalistic dialogue. It's much more staid and focused with the usual back and forth pattern. I wonder if this is something the studios just don't like, since they assume the average film goer is an idiot who couldn't follow more that one track of dialogue at once, or if it's just something that has fallen out of favor with creators.