This past weekend we saw two movies: Sideways and Kinsey. Both were evocative and well acted. In Sideways one character was despicable and toxic; the other was pitiable but redeemable. One dealt with his world by thrill-seeking, conquests and avoidance. The other was driven by guilt, denial and borderline alcoholism under the guise of "wine connoisseur." I always love a road trip, even a vicarious one, and the wine-country scenery is spectacular. I need to see it again to remember some of the interactive moments between characters and to try to understand why these two fundamentally different people became long-time friends.
Kinsey was my favorite of the two. Usually in a movie, somewhere in the back of my mind, the actor's name and face surfaces--but not this time. Liam Neeson is Kinsey. I dropped right into the story and suspended any judgment and logic. I simply allowed the story to play out. I thought it was extremely well done.
I was a middle-school student in the mid 50's when the controversy, surrounding the publication of Kinsey's research on women's sexuality, erupted. The fundamental church my family attended at the time held special revival tent meetings to warn all its members against that evil book.
My husband volunteers at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science with Jerry, an 80-year-old man who was interviewed twice by Alfred Kinsey: once when he was a freshman at Indiana University where Kinsey was conducting his research interviews and a second time three years later when he returned from WWII. He saw the movie and loved it.
I'd almost forgotten the furor over the two books years ago but I can imagine that, even today, there will be ranting and raving against the movie. I loved it and would highly recommend it as an interesting, well-acted story of one man's life and career.
Another movie which we saw earlier last week was The Motorcycle Diaries. I don't know if I liked the movie more for its story or for the fact that the characters' route through Argentina, Chile and Peru re-enforced my recent immersion into the beautiful scenery of Chile. There is much to contemplate in the movie however and some similarity to the characters of Sideways. One character, Che, wants the trip to be a time of contemplation and self-discovery while his companion primarily wants to add sexual conquests to his personal list. I learned a lot about Ernesto "Che" Guevara in his younger years, as this story is taken directly from his diary/letters to his Mom. I'd also recommend this movie.
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