Tonight's movie was "Lucky", starring 91 year old Harry Dean Stanton in his final role before he passed away in September 2017. I heard about this movie through Grimsley, who recommended it to me, and I finally got it from The Libe after ordering it about a month ago. Like everyone else in the world, I've always liked Harry Dean Stanton and the weird, often solemn characters he has played throughout the years, and in fact he was in the episode of "Twin Peaks" that caused Grim to walk out last week (the brutal Episode 6). It seems that everything turns around in the world, because Grim had recommended "Lucky" again and again, and Stanton is in it, but then he walked out on "Twin Peaks" because of a scene that Stanton is in. Also, David Lynch directed "Twin Peaks", and in "Lucky" he appears as a character. So the art world turns around, and Grimsley walks into the theater to see "Lucky" but walks out of my apartment because of violence in "Twin Peaks".
Such is life. Grim has always loved Harry Dean Stanton, though, ever since "Repo Man", which was a cult classic in the early 80s.
HDS would've been in his late 50s in that film, but even then he looked like Death Warmed Over. He always had the look of a mortician; gaunt, pale, sallow skin, black hair, haunted eyes. He always looked like he'd seen it all, and in "Lucky", time finally caught up with him, in the movies and in real life. Now he looks like what you always thought he was gonna look like, and that is part of the charm of the film, in which Harry Dean is basically playing himself and telling at least part of his life story.
Lucky is independent, but very old. He lives alone in his house in a desert town, where everyone knows everybody, but Lucky keeps folks at at arm's length, even though he goes to the store and to the bar as part of his daily routine. He smokes cigarettes, which Stanton was famous for in real life. In the "Twin Peaks" episode he states, "I've been smoking for 75 years". In "Lucky", he lights up at the end of the movie as a point of pride, not because of smoking itself, but because of the idea of human independence as opposed to control by authority. I can't reveal the context of the ending, but if you see "Lucky" you will understand.
"Lucky" is a character based movie as opposed to plot based. It is almost like a stage play, with unique characters gathering in one place, in this case a bar, where they drink and make philosophical statements about life. In this movie, though, most of the well-drawn characters are just drinking, minding their own business and enjoying the slow pace of desert life, until Lucky walks in and starts pontificating. He is the philosopher of the story, and here I think that the director (the actor John Carroll Lynch, no relation to David) wanted to let Stanton loose to describe his own philosophy to the world, and it comes through in the dialogue between bar patrons, and in Lucky's other contacts around town.
The gist of it is this : Lucky is very old. He does crossword puzzles and believes only in what is Truth, but he cannot decide if there is an ultimate truth. He doesn't believe in God. He confides to a younger female friend that he has a secret : he is scared, he tells her, because he thinks that the Universe is just a black void, and that is where people go when they die.
I read an interview with Harry Dean about a year ago in which he espoused this same philosophy, so it is clear that the filmmaker was using that philosophy as a real-life dramatic creation, maybe as a tribute to Stanton, who made it to age 91 by living life his own way, and who believed - according to the movie - in the power of a smile, which is demonstrated also at a critical point near the film's end.
I enjoyed "Lucky" but I also found it somewhat depressing, simply because I have never believed - nor felt in my soul - that all that awaits us at the end of life is an Empty Black Void.
That was Harry Dean Stanton's philosophy in real life, and I find that very sad, because he was such a great actor, and a Cool Guy of the Highest Order. But his end-of-life philosophy is right there on screen, and it feels very lonely.
However, his interaction with all of the various individuals in the movie is what makes it a minor art house classic. David Lynch has some great scenes in the bar as a gentleman who has lost his pet tortoise. The critter has escaped his property, and he commiserates his pain to Lucky, who doesn't give a hoot, but listens anyway and tries to offer some half-baked advice.
Lucky is the ultimate curmudgeon (though he fought in WW2), but he finally comes out of himself by the end of the film, and again, this section is pure Harry Dean Stanton in real life. He sings a Mariachi song at a fiesta party given by his Mexican neighbors, and to watch him do this at the end of his life is very touching because it is so heartfelt, which makes it difficult to accept Stanton's beliefs. He is so full of soul, and yet he doesn't seem to believe that we have souls and that we continue on after our bodies stop working.
My own beliefs are the opposite of his, and without getting religious (which I could get), let's just say that I am certain of Magic and Miracles To Come.
Life, after all, is Magic. The SB knows this to be true as well.
And so shouldn't it follow that the Afterlife is even more Magical?
I think so, and in fact I know so because I can feel it. I feel it 24/7 as the flip side of this life. It's right there, you can't see it but you can reach out and touch it if you try.
So, that's just me, but I still give "Lucky" Two Big Thumbs Up because of the characters and the philosophy they engage in. There are a few great actors involved, some who are older now, including James Darren and Tom Skerritt, and others whose names you may not know but whose faces you will recognise. ///
Finally, I must say to Elizabeth : I saw your post this morning, and - Yep - that would be me, the guy who belted out "Summer Of '69" in the store with his kids. Almost, lol. :)
I am the guy who would like to belt it out in the store but who holds back until I get into the car, haha.
In the store I am humming it under my breath, but one day I will not be able to control myself. :)
Thank God I have a weekly "gig" at church.
Gotta sing (but I'll let someone else do the dancing).
See you in the morn, in the store or anywhere else. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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