CINEMA — MYTHS AND MEANING🎥
When Life Goes Off The Rails
There’s only one option for me to ward off the blues
Put on the Ritz!!!
Okay, we’ve all had days like this. Lately, they seem more regular with the daily barrage of the bizarre and bellicose that comes our way in pandemic crazed hysteria. Sometimes it’s as if your on the bottom of a rugby scrum that just keeps piling on.
Stuff like, the water heater stops functioning, so you call in a technician which leads to an electrical issue and in turn, becomes a problem with building code. All courtesy of the lovely individual who was the previous property owner.
Then, you go to put your winter boots on only to realize they’re still wet, because of the hole that’s eaten through the sole.
To top things off nicely, you get in the car to go to the store for some groceries, and on your way there, your ‘check engine’ light goes on. Well, Isn’t that just dandy when you’re hanging on by your fingernails to keep up with the mid-COVID economy?
What to do when you start to feel blue?
Well, the first thing you should do if you have any of these problems as a first-world citizen is, remember you don’t have it nearly as bad as many. Then while you’re thinking about that, throw some non-perishable food items into your cart and drop them at the local food bank on the way to the mechanic.
Then, go home and get into some comfy clothes, make yourself a nice cup of cocoa, and find something to look at that will lower your temperature. A good comedy does the trick, and for me, only one film serves up the elixir to my woes when the chips are really down;
Young Frankenstein!
Nobody ignites hilarity like Mel Brooks, especially when Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman are involved. For fans of this 1974 comedy classic, there’s nothing like a little ‘Abby Normal’ to cheer your innards and lighten your mood.
Is it slapstick silly?
YOU BET!
Is it filled with childish humour and rakish puns?
DEFINITELY!!
Is it one of the greatest cinematic comedy creations of all time?
ABSOLUTELY!!!
All my troubles seem to dissolve while I follow the mad genius, Victor Frankenstein,
“That’s Fronkensteen!”
and his quest to create life from the parts of the dead, aided by his faithful switchback hunchback, Igor.
“That’s I gore!”
Mel Brooks has delivered a plethora of good laughs to us over the years, starting with his 2000 Year Old Man radio sketch beside Carl Reiner. Both comedians went on to become icons in the industry.
Brooks gave us other comic films like High Anxiety, his homage to Hitchcock’s Vertigo, but it fell rather flat.
Silent Movie was a scream, but no one heard it.
The Producers and Blazing Saddles are considered some Brooks’ funniest works, yet both would have trouble getting past the ‘politically correct’ police today.
Young Frankenstein separates itself from the pack partly because the script adheres to the famous Mary Shelley story. Mostly, this film works because equal attention is paid to cinematic excellence as is paid to the story, and the comedy.
Long before you reach that climactic scene when life is injected into that hysterical hulk played by Peter Boyle, and Victor Frankenstein screams maniacally to the heavens,
“Life! Give my creation life!”
you will already have been saying along with him,
“It…
could…
work!!!”
And, indeed it does work in so many ways. During an interview with Conan O'Brien, Young Frankenstein’s star and co-writer, Gene Wilder said, “The more real you can make a comedy, the more real it’s going to be.” What he meant by that statement is simply that, when the characters are portrayed genuinely, the comedy reveals itself better.
Who else could play the high-strung doctor in such a hysterical manner? The sheer fun that must have been had when making this film, is evident on the faces of every cast member as they murderously send up the classic Mary Shelley story.
As Wilder and Boyle cap it off with their delightful rendition of Puttin’ On The Ritz, very little in the real world seems to matter anymore. So…
If you don’t know where to turn to
when you’re feeling blue,
Why don’t you go to where laughter sits,
And Put On The Riiiitz!!!
After that, the only thing left for you to say is…
Dumps? What dumps?
If you haven’t figured out what the heck I’m referring to, then you really need to see Young Frankenstein. Enjoy!
As always, thanks for taking the time. You can find all of my pieces on the magic of cinema here:
