The Tempest
November 10, 2008 8:59 PM   Subscribe

Your goats? Do you dance with them?
posted by vronsky (32 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
"Amazon.com
A burnt-out architect (the peerlessly unhinged John Cassavetes) tries to get away from it all on a seemingly idyllic Greek isle in this extremely loose-limbed adaptation of Shakespeare's play. This pleasantly rambling, exquisitely lit portrayal of the middle-aged-crazies is rather broad even by writer-director Paul Mazursky's estimable standards, but Cassavetes's wholly unpredictable performance keeps the considerable preciousness from ever getting too thick. (He's aided by a uniformly wonderful cast, including Gena Rowlands, Susan Sarandon, Molly Ringwald, and especially Raul Julia as a wacked-out lech of a goatherd.) Not recommended for people trying to get out of reading the source material (for that, try the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet), but patient viewers will find plenty of rewards amid the schmaltz. --Andrew Wright"
posted by vronsky at 9:12 PM on November 10, 2008


This is all just a reference to the ancient origins of theater. My professor in college loved to reference the ancient fertility festival of Greece, where a goat would be sacrificed ("Or maybe they danced around the goat," he would say in a thick Police accent. "We just don't know.") After all, the word tragedy may be a portmanteau word combining the words for "goat" and "song," and an early translation for tragedy was "goat-men sacrifice song."

That's right. Raul Julia was simply reenacting the performance of the ancient Greek weirdos who created theater.
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:20 PM on November 10, 2008


Gene Wilder's really let himself go.
posted by Bromius at 9:41 PM on November 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


We hear so much about big box stores and how you can run out and buy anything - but can I go to Target right now and get Raul Julia and a goat? No. Tragic.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 9:46 PM on November 10, 2008


Ah yes, I snee what you are snaying , but I'm afraid I must decline clicking that link b-han... You see...

I have seen enough goat titties to last a lifetime, thank you very much.

And astro zombie -- I love you man -- but go easy dude,, some of my closest friends are ancient greek weirdos.
posted by vronsky at 9:48 PM on November 10, 2008


News Flash!! Can you dig it?
posted by not_on_display at 9:49 PM on November 10, 2008


Polish accent, not police accent.
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:02 PM on November 10, 2008


Goats he chasse.
posted by tellurian at 10:02 PM on November 10, 2008


In some places, they are one and the same.
posted by louche mustachio at 10:04 PM on November 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


“Every civilization sets quite arbitrary limits to its tolerances. The play is about a family that is deeply rocked by an unimaginable event and how they solve that problem. It is my hope that people will think afresh about whether or not all the values they hold are valid.” Edward Albee
posted by sluglicker at 10:07 PM on November 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


Polish accent, not police accent.

Methinks, Astro Zombie, too much Polish vodka may have muddled one's mind tonight?

I say "pota-tow," you say "pota-toe."

You said "Police," I say "Polish."

Let's call the whole thing off.

Ah, but don't forget about Poland!
posted by ericb at 10:12 PM on November 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


er ah uh... how does this pass as a post?
posted by PostIronyIsNotaMyth at 10:19 PM on November 10, 2008


Needs more goat-bell.
posted by Abiezer at 10:22 PM on November 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


...wow, that drove Mr. F away from my laptop with a quickness, and he's the one with the Vastly More Serious Film Degree.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 10:24 PM on November 10, 2008


I thought this was going to be about Kaldi and how coffee came to be. But it was neat- Raul Julia is missed, absolutely.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 10:26 PM on November 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


wait, isn't "polish" pronounced exactly the same as "police?"

(groupies help me - with miss marlow, miss cynthia p. caster, goldie glitter, chaz, iris... :)
posted by vronsky at 10:34 PM on November 10, 2008


I didn't click your dancing with goatse SLYT. Should say NSFW!
posted by keijo at 10:35 PM on November 10, 2008


B-han :)
Yes, I guess, or maybe like that scene in that Bunuel film set in the slums of Mexico -- where the wolf's head flashes just for a moment, floating over the slums.
posted by vronsky at 10:35 PM on November 10, 2008


But what of mountain goats: genuine badasses or mockers of Nature's holy laws of gravity? you decide!

(now with extra! fluffy! goat! action!)
posted by concreteforest at 10:37 PM on November 10, 2008 [3 favorites]


We need an alliterative term like Flash Friday, since I guess Monday has become the "Post really weird stuff on Metafilter" day.

Messed up Monday?
posted by Caduceus at 10:43 PM on November 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


Just another manic monday? That's my fun day?
posted by vronsky at 10:44 PM on November 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


concreteforest, a lot of people talk about the Bald Eagle, but yeah, the Golden Eagle is the one to watch out for. Seriously, great clips.

My brother used to date a woman who kept goats. She had a pickup truck and and rode around town with one or two of them in the cab with her. She was known as the "goat lady". But I'll tell you what, the milk is delicious, the cheese is great, and you don't have to mow your lawn.
posted by sluglicker at 12:41 AM on November 11, 2008


Gene Wilder's really let himself go.

But Oliver Reed is looking uncharacteristically sober.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:27 AM on November 11, 2008


After all, the word tragedy may be a portmanteau word combining the words for "goat" and "song," and an early translation for tragedy was "goat-men sacrifice song."

Aha! That explains that Beckett play. You know the one:
"Waiting for Doe Goat."
posted by Floydd at 6:24 AM on November 11, 2008 [1 favorite]


the word tragedy may be a portmanteau word combining the words for "goat" and "song

Interesting. That explains Goatsingers, the name of Harvey Keitel's production company.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:54 AM on November 11, 2008


It's funny you should bring that up Floydd. Years ago I saw a documentary featuring Beckett, and he pronounced the name of his play as GOD - oh, not guh - DOE, but whenever I try and correct people about this, they stare at me like I am mad. It makes me so angry.
posted by vronsky at 9:17 AM on November 11, 2008


The Twangies El Negro Zumbon
posted by vronsky at 4:24 PM on November 11, 2008


- Schulfest Gymnasium Walsrode
posted by vronsky at 4:29 PM on November 11, 2008


twangy shadows - sleepwalk
posted by vronsky at 4:38 PM on November 11, 2008


Puerto Rican men, FTMFW but there's been nobody like Raúl Juliá --and I say this knowing that the mantle has been to Benicio del Toro.

Don't get me wrong, I would let Benicio do things to me that only Pier Paolo Passolini could dream of, but Raúl was DA MAN. I will forever love him as a goat heard, creepy monster daddy or on the down low incarcerated radical.

Seriously, Puerto Rican men ... Le sigh ...
[a comment brought to you by this very Puerto Rican woman ;) ]
posted by liza at 5:33 PM on November 11, 2008


I had forgotten about about Kiss of the Spiderwoman! He was so good in that -- and I have always had a soft spot for William Hurt, although he hasn't been in anything interesting in years he really was great once. Nickyskye is related to him somehow. Cousin, or stepbrother?
posted by vronsky at 7:11 PM on November 11, 2008


WTF was that???
posted by aacheson at 8:48 PM on November 11, 2008


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