Last night I happen to catch one of the gems of P. T. Anderson called Punch-Drunk Love. Those who have not heard about this film here is a brief synopsis. Punch-Drunk Love is a 2002 romantic comedy film about a Sherman Oaks based business man who is lonely, mentally repressed and happens to meet a girl and falls for her.
If you are interested here is the link for the screenplay:
People who know me would have asked — Whoa! What’s with this romantic shit?
If you are like me then there are a couple of things which makes this film different and worth your while:
1. The most important thing is it is a P.T. Anderson film.
2. The best film of Adam Sandler’s career. Period.
Adam Sandler is known for his zany comedies. Almost all his films seems similar, with same actors, similar situations and worse same performance from him.
Punch-Drunk Love is way different than any of his films. It really outshines him as an actor capable of handling a challenging role.
On the surface the film seems simple love story but being a P.T. Anderson film it is way deeper than that. Most important of all it is a psychological case study of how a repressed person behaves.
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is a gateway disease for all bigger psychological problems. Our protagonist Barry has an amusing OCD of buying puddings so that he can collect a million airlines mile.
A repressed mind is in constant motion and this is deftly shown in the film. There is such a huge sense of motion throughout the film which in a way represents the mindset of Barry. As Barry gets increasingly agitated the music as well as the cuts becomes faster.
Another important motif in the film is the color. Blue and red were important colors in the film. If you have watched closely even the titles had waves of blue and red. Throughout the film Barry wears a blue suit and Lena wears a red dress. This is a huge contrast because if you know a little bit about color theory you probably understands that blue is a color that represents serenity and red is a color of passion. However in the film both characters are opposite Barry is always agitated whereas Lena is always calm, serene.
Use of white light is another motif. Barry almost always enters his office from blinding white background. It almost feels like that white is a color that is bleak, almost punishing for Barry. His apartment is all white which is dull, lifeless.
If you are interested in understanding the mis-en-scene of the film then one viewing is way too less. This film is way too complex to comprehend in terms of spatial arrangements of elements.
However if you just wanted to enjoy the classic style of storytelling then look no further. This is without question storytelling at its best.
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