Stroke me like the rain: On Velvet Goldmine (1998)

Velvet Goldmine is nothing short of gaudy, extravagant, and over-the-top. Glam rock isn’t something you can bullshit, and Velvet Goldmine did not disappoint. The way Brian Slade’s life was presented was so intricate, eloquent, and well-thought-out. There are so many elements of the film that bring out different sides of me—the journalist, the communication major, the philosophy enthusiast. Despite this, I can say all parts of me thoroughly enjoyed the film. Here’s what I loved about the film’s storytelling:

The film’s choice to narrate Brian Slade’s life in the form of flashbacks experienced by journalist Arthur Stuart’s interviewees was crucial to the way the narrative progressed. This gave way for the “headliner-worthy story” perspective on the whole phenomena that is Brian’s life, his staged death, all the works. However, while Arthur was also very immersed in the whole glam rock scene, I personally felt the way the narrative was presented detached Arthur from the rest of the storyline, and that his character wasn’t fleshed out enough. Arthur felt more like a mere plot device, rather than a character with a story of his own. My journalist self tells me it’s because he needs to remain impartial, and that he shouldn’t color his story with his own emotions. However, my communication major self says I wish the film had unpacked his character more.

This also brings in the question of whether Brian Slade is real or not, and who he really is. This is going to sound very philosophical in nature, because the film is always told in first person, just by different people, based on whoever Arthur is interviewing—and because of this, we only get glimpses of how different people viewed Brian. We never see Brian from a totally objective point of view, or Brian from his point of view. We only see how he came across to several characters. We see all of his outward actions, and how these are interpreted by other people. As Levinasian as this sounds, we only see how other people make sense of the other that is Brian Slade. We only see these imposed understandings of him, and there’s this whole other side of Brian that is never explicitly presented—the raw, genuine, human side of him. We only see him as a mere memory, and as Bertrand Russell states, our senses are highly fallible. We all know these interpretations of Brian, no matter how valid—because, of course, we’re all entitled to our own feelings and opinions—can be incredibly flawed and inaccurate. My journalist self would also state that there’s no such thing as completely unbiased news. I guess there’s no way we could find out who Brian Slade really truly is, we only see him for how we want to see him. And I guess this has its own merits. It’s quite paradoxical that we never truly get to know who Brian really is, despite him being the focus of the film. That very sense of mystery is what keeps the film going.

In line with all the interviewees, it’s only logical that Arthur would interview people closest to Brian, which means you’d be listening to stories of the very few people who see Brian as more than just a rock star. You hear from Cecil, who knows what Brian was like when he was just starting out as a rising star. You hear from Mandy, who’s seen Brian at his lowest and most vulnerable. This is interesting because most people only see rock stars like some sort of god, like a higher, ethereal being. But these dark sides of Brian are what reminds us that he, too, is human like us. Sure, he’s presented in such a way that we don’t get to know who he truly is, but we do know that he’s hurt people, and that he wasn’t as perfect as most people thought he was. And maybe that’s human enough for us.

The production design of the film was excellent—there were so many crazy costumes, hair and makeup looks, and set designs. The frequent interspersion of musical numbers even made it feel like a two-hour long music video, which makes the movie really stay true to its glam rock focus. I think the very vibrant presentation of the movie through its production design, with all the glitz and glamour, presents an exceptional juxtaposition when coupled with the complicated subject matter. Not everything that glitters is gold, and this very juxtaposition only highlights the very artificiality that comes with being a rock star. We never really know who Brian is beyond the flashy looks.

There are so many layers to Velvet Goldmine, and the film’s gorgeous and elaborate storytelling is sure to captivate anyone who sees it. Velvet Goldmine definitely makes my list on the most enthralling films of all time, and I can only hope to tell stories as great as this one day.

My Own Private Idaho (1991) – Visualizing Isolation (part 1)

Among the activities I love doing while I have free time in Ateneo is visiting the Arete Art Gallery to look at the paintings and sculptures, and what made them interesting every time I observed them is that they do not necessarily narrate a linear and progressing plot line like the movies. Instead of telling “what happens,” it presents “what is it” and it makes me wonder if motion pictures can do the same. Initially, it seems unlikely because they “move” in the sense that characters must do something and go somewhere to make a story, but the more I think about it, the more I realized that it perhaps can tell “what is it”, or to be more accurate, “who is he,” and one film could have done that: My Own Private Idaho (1991)

Of the films that we have viewed so far, this is perhaps the most difficult to comprehend. Its ineffability lingered in my mind for a more than a week since I have viewed it in class, and I needed to hear more insight from the class discussions, as well as research more on the so-called New Queer Cinema genre that the film took part of. Two key ideas stood out: loneliness and avant-garde, as explained in a review by Desson Howe.

“This exquisite, cinematic poem is about the eternal search to belong somewhere, and the lonely landscape of the soul. It draws from a limitless palette of enigma, feelings and images. It replays in the mind as a painting — a complete story, yet also frozen in time.”
Desson Howe, Dream State: Private Idaho (1991)

Alienation seems to be a key theme in films centered on queer characters of the period, and for unfortunate reasons such as conservationism, HIV/AIDS pandemic, among others. But here, the film displays mostly on the effects of such castigation than their causes to the point that their sexual orientation is almost a mere side note. This portrayal also makes characters like the protagonist Mike more human in the sense that his isolated being has different dimensions to it, and such are presented with idiosyncratic film making methods, from nostalgic cinematography to a missing plot structure to the countryside setting.

A peculiar key story element utilized is the narcoleptic episodes of Mike when they vividly show childhood memories of his mother in a vintage style. Perhaps the usage of 1960s or 1970s videography aims to portray how very aged and suppressed these memories are which presents how long-term memory works, as explained by psychology. The film exemplified the retrospective, episodic memory fueled by sentimental emotions.

Mike’s alienated character was vividly shown to have been built upon the lack of a usual plot structure, a quality of most avant-garde films, to focus more on the character’s vulnerability than a progressive story of redemption; hence, giving the illusion of being “imprisoned” in a hustler’s lifestyle. Furthermore, the countryside setting of Idaho also “helped” in portraying the alone and static character that he has become. The roads seemingly go on endlessly with no destination, the hills and plains are vast and distant from each other, among others. All these elements have Mike at the center of it all to portray how small and lost he is.

These make My Own Private Idaho, therefore, one of the quintessential examples of avant-garde. While it does center on a message or theme, it does not necessarily tell a story needing to go from one point to another; rather it is a visual, representative “painting” of one’s state of mind.

Yours truly,

JoMar Fernandez a.k.a JMCthefilmystan

Goldmine of Velvet

“Velvet Goldmine” was a movie that gave me the theatre/musical feel. It reminded me somewhat of Bohemian Rhapsody or at least the vibe reminded me of it. The first few minutes immediately caught my attention with the fake murder scene. The name of the guy who faked his death was Brian Slade. My initial thoughts were somewhat how rock bands back in the 70s, 80s and 90s look like with the crazy outfit and outrageous style. When Slade was supposedly killed, I had a feeling it was staged since they showed his body and there was no blood or at least I did not see any blood visible on his body. It then transitions to a guy named Arthur Stuart who is a British journalist trying to found the whereabouts of Slade. Arthur talks to people about Slade and what they remember about him and things such as his sexuality and bisexual rock stars at the time allowed him to come out Rock shows and its fashion contributed to how the culture of the youth was at the time. If it was one thing that gave me strong impressions while watching the movie was the emphasis on homosexuality. There were several sex scenes and kiss scenes between gay men which showed me the the culture and how homosexuality was viewed. Today everyone is so sensitive about the topic whether it is about gays, lesbians, bisexuals and even straight people so to see the movie having many scenes about it seemed something new to me. However, I personally haven’t seen many movies that have homosexuality as part of the plot so it is a new experience for me. I’m not saying that I am against movies that include homoexuality if that is what you are thinking. It was actually quite nice to see a different perspective about the very sensitive topic of gays, biexuals, lesbians etc. I have to admit that some of those kiss scenes made me feel a little bit uncomfortable but it was nice that homosexuality was used to start a campaign of sorts of homosexuals and rock music. Even if the movie was about finding what happened to Slade, it didn’t feel like the entire movie was just to find him. Rock music and homosexuality played one of if not the biggest role in this movie. I wouldn’t say it was a movie about finding someone but rather about rock music and homosexualities at that time which contributed to the culture in Britain. It just so happened that the movie was focused on finding out what happened to Slade but in my opinion it was so much more than that.

Overall, Velvet Goldmine seemed to be a classic movie for its time. Like I said, it was a whole new experience for me and a very enlightening one at that. To see how homosexuals and rock music shaped the culture of Britain, it was a nice feeling that it gave them the opportunity and bravery to come out as homosexuals. Today, homosexuality is a very sensitive topic and to see a movie that involves that topic was eye opening to me.

My Own Review of My Own Private Idaho

My Own Private Idaho tells a story of two young men both in search of something that fulfills them and how this leads them to an emotional rollercoaster of a journey.

First of all, I would be lying if I said that the movie did not have a slow start. The starting scenes of the film weren’t the most exciting; in fact, I found myself trying to keep my eyelids from crashing down at times. Majority of the film was shot in an avant-garde style and though I realized I found the film quite enjoyable, I could not appreciate the style very much during my initial viewing as I couldn’t completely understand certain scenes. Though I did not pay much attention to the plot, I at least understood that the protagonists were on a goose-chase to find one of their mothers, which leads me to my favorite aspect of the film: Mike and Scott.

The main characters are both complex, but aren’t so complicated that they lose their relatability. It’s important to have both of these traits in a main character as complexity allows the character to be unique and memorable, while relatability allows the character to be more likeable. I find that many films are challenged to have main characters that are equally complex as they are relatable, as both counteract each other to an extent, yet My Own Private Idaho accomplishes this in both of its leads. The characters themselves were portrayed rather excellently by their actors as it felt like they just melted into their roles.

Mike fits into the “pauper” character stereotype. He’s a street hustler with family and trust issues who’s willing to do anything (and anyone) for money. What makes this character likeable, and at the same time incredibly tragic, is that he’s just so flawed and it feels like nothing really goes his way. He tried to track down his mother through the use of clues, yet ultimately nothing came out of it. He also confessed to his best friend, who didn’t return his feelings. He even had to witness that same friend fall in love and run off with a girl whom he only just recently met, abandoning him in a foreign country. As a boy of the streets, he never really knew what it felt like to have someone to rely on; a home. He tried to look for that in his work, his mother, and his best friend and just couldn’t find it. He’s a tragic character because he could never find his “own private Idaho”: a place or person that would love him.

Scott is Mike’s foil character. I’d consider him a “rebellious prince” type of character as he comes from a life where everything is handed to him yet chooses to be a street hustler out of choice rather than necessity. Instead of searching for acceptance like Mikey, his motivations for becoming a street hustler stem from his desire of fulfillment and enjoyment. His transition from street hustler to the “crown prince” is an eye-opening development as with this, Mike has once again lost his “own private Idaho”.

Overall, I found the film to be very quirky and unique, but undoubtedly carried by its interesting and unique lead characters.

My Own Private Idaho

My Own Private Idaho is a film that stars one of my favorite actors of all time – Keanu Reeves. Seeing him in the role he played as Scott, the best friend of Mike, whose perspective we see the movie through, was very different from the usual roles that I have seen him in. Despite this, I feel like he was able to show that he truly is one of the best actors in Hollywood as he was able to perform his role as Scott very well and show that he’s more than just the action star that I perceived him to be in his roles in The Matrix and John Wick.

Aside from this, I feel like the movie was also very different from what I expected. Based on the movie poster that I saw from searching the movie before class, I thought it was going to be some kind of action film that revolved around gangs in Idaho and gang wars for territory. However, the film was able to set the tone immediately as one of the first scenes was Mike prostituting himself to an old fat man after showing his narcoleptic episode in a highway that would be shown several times in the film as they travel around.

To a certain extent, the film revolved around Mike’s narcolepsy. One of the recurring themes in the film is Mike seeing a flashback of his childhood and his mother every time he experiences a narcoleptic episode. I think this is able to show and emphasize the importance of Mike’s mother to him and how it might have affected his life. The movie, unfortunately, ends tragically as Mike puts so much effort into searching for his mother – even travelling to Italy, only to unsuccessfully find his mom and even lose his best friend Scott.

I felt like this film is able to embody the saying “it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey” because that is what the film essentially is – a journey. Throughout Mike’s tragic journey to find his mother, he experiences many different emotions. He fell in love with his best friend Scott, only to be turned down and be even more heartbroken as he witnesses his best friend fall in love with another. I feel like this moment in the film was one of the crucial plot points that made the movie great. The scene was able to make me empathize with Mike and almost feel his heartbreak as if I were him in the film itself. We were able to witness the only person constant in Mike’s life, Scott, who was not only his best friend, but also someone he fell in love with, fall in love with someone else and effectively become a stranger to Mike. I feel like Mike was very dependent on his interactions with Scott and I could see how he might have seen his mother in him and tried to fill the gap that his mother left through Scott. Seeing Scott fall in love with the Italian girl and effectively abandoning his old life and all of his relationships, which included his relationship with Mike, really hit it hard. It made me feel so depressed and sad for Mike, which I feel is one of the great moments in the film because you know the film was able to successfully portray Mike’s feelings when the audience can almost feel if not completely feel what he felt at that moment. Unable to reach his destination and goal of finding his mother, Mike was only left with the experiences of his journey, which was a very tragic one. The film could have made us feel good and make Mike and Scott end up together, but I feel like that would take away from the greatness of the film. At the end of the day, Mike’s journey led him full circle towards the gang he and Scott used to belong to again, but only this time, his best friend Scott was no longer there.

Futureless Things

Futureless Things was a film that piqued my interest, but at the same time confused me as well. It plays out differently from the usual love stories that K-dramas that I have been exposed to as well as Train to Busan, which is the only other Korean film that I have seen. The everyday feeling from the setting mainly be in the convenience store made me expect something crazy or wild to happen. At one point in the film, where the DJ had a supernatural experience with the lady with the box, I thought that the film was going to turn into some sort of horror movie. However, what happened was the opposite – the film highlighted the different mundane experiences and interactions between the clerk on duty and their customers while being able to show bits and pieces of their personalities, problems and aspirations at the same time, which allowed me to somewhat relate and empathize with them.

What I found the most interesting in the film was the different characters shown and how in the bigger picture, they could be considered the futureless things that the movie is titled after. This can be seen in the clerk that missed his audition due to having to man the convenience store would be stuck in his job as a clerk instead of reaching his dreams as an actor, the North Korean lady that was discriminated and harassed, and even the clerk that was simply trying to converse in English. These clerks are trying to achieve their dreams and become more than what they currently are. However, the movie shows that being a clerk is not something that is so easy that you can do it while trying to achieve your dreams. In fact, it can even hinder you from your dreams. (i.e. the guy who was unable to go to his audition because he had to man the store).

I feel like to a certain extent, the film is able to humanize the characters and show that the clerks we usually do not mind and interact with have their own dreams and aspirations. No one really wants to be a clerk, but it is something that is necessary for convenience stores to run. Because of this, people who need money or cannot find a better job apply to be clerks whist they still try to work towards their dreams. Even if it was not the film’s main intention or point, by showing the different interactions and problems of the clerks, the film was able to open my eyes and make me feel more and understand that these clerks usually have their own dreams that is outside of being a clerk. Unlike other service industries like restaurants or hotels, where the servers might stay for a long time in an attempt to reach a more executive position like becoming the manager, being a clerk is usually capped at that – being a clerk. Because of this, I think there is a similarity in the fact that people also usually go in and out of a convenience store quickly, and the fact that the clerks might also simply go in and become a clerk for a time until they are able to find something better to do. Maybe that’s why the film is titled Futureless Things – there is no future in being a clerk in a convenience store, it is simply capped at being a clerk in and of itself.

My Own Private Idaho

The film My Own Private Idaho tells the story of life and unrequited love between two street hustlers in Portland, Oregon. It is the type of movie that a person would reflect on after viewing it because of its realistic portrayal of life in that kind of environment and how love given to another person may not always be reciprocated. The very first scene of the film showed Mike Waters on the side of a road at loose ends that he claims he’s been to before. I found that this scene really helped set the tone and chart the course of the film.

The medical condition of narcolepsy was seen in the film through the character of Mike Waters and it showed the difficulties of living in a state of uncertainty since he would just fall into a deep sleep whenever he gets anxious or stressed. Despite this, I felt that the film romanticized narcolepsy and that it didn’t delve deeper into the condition. Throughout the entire duration of the film, I couldn’t help but feel pity for Mike as he had no choice but to turn to the job of trading sex with men in order to get by. Mike’s narcoleptic episodes would constantly show a picture of his mom and him during his younger years which may be the reason why he found so much comfort in Scott since he took care of him. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Scott Favors had to drag Mike away since he was unconscious. Instead of just leaving him on the side of the road, he laid him down on the grass telling him that he’ll be just fine. It felt like a foreshadowing of the events to come particularly the adventures Mike and Scott would have together. That scene marked the beginning of a beautiful yet tragic friendship between the two and I was curious as to know how their journey would end. I found it odd that there were so many setting changes in the film — from Oregon to Idaho to Italy. I found myself asking questions like “How did they get there so fast?” and “How did they get money to travel to these places?” It was also very sudden to me how Scott just casually eloped with Carmella, a woman from Italy who he had just met and hooked up with a couple of times. The scene wherein Scott told Mike that he was leaving him found me feeling heavy hearted since it was the last time that they would speak to each other again.

It seemed to me that Scott was so detached from everything around him before he got his inheritance. Scott left Bob Pigeon — the man who accepted him and served as his father figure when his own father couldn’t. It was also so easy for him to abandon Mike, knowing that Mike truly loves him and that he had no one else but him. The only thing constant in Mike’s life was Scott but in a sense, he found his path while Scott remained stuck at the crossroads which was the very place he was at the start of the film.

Satellite of love (and loss)

First, a standard disclaimer: I am not a glam rock enthusiast. I do not know anything about that era in the history of music, and the history of Britain, for that matter. That being said, this film completely gripped me and sparked an interest in me that I could not shake off even a full week later. Velvet Goldmine represents an era of music that pushed boundaries, and as a film, it does the same.

There’s something about the performance of it all. I believe this is a film that heavily relies on its visuals as much as its music. These components elevate each other to create a spectacle that is palatable and highly entertaining, without neglecting to focus on humanity, and never failing to evoke emotion. The costume and set design was enough to hold your attention, but the concept and application of every song that was performed was unique in their respective ways, symbolic of different triumphs and struggles that the characters experienced.

Among the main characters, Arthur is the only one who is a spectator in the glam rock scene. This is a crucial role, for it allows the viewer to look deeper into the life of a rock star. What do we find? Not only is rock not as glamorous as it appears, it can also get very lonely and miserable.

One scene that really stood out and grabbed my attention was the first performance we see by Curt Wild. If this was the norm for glam rock performances, I thought, I have no idea why I failed to get into it earlier on. I completely resonated with Brian Slade’s reaction. He was perfectly shocked, eventually letting out a tiny smile and failing to contain his absolute pleasure in taking in the sight of Curt Wild’s bare torso and stage gimmicks, which included unabashedly touching himself, sprinkling glitter all over his body, and even completely taking off his pants at one point. A lot of emotions were going through Brian Slade’s seemingly still face: envy, admiration, perhaps even attraction. Although, the morning after, all he could say was: “I wish it had been me. I wish I had thought of it.”

For me, these two scenes were a microcosm of Brian Slade’s larger goals: to make an impact on the music industry, to become the biggest names in rock history, and at the very least, to be liked by audiences. And to an extent, he did achieve this. But why did it all go south?

Perhaps it all rooted back to a hunger for fame, or a loss that could not be filled. Underneath all the glam and glitter, the heart of this film lies in a relationship built on mutual respect and a passion for music. When otherworldly individuals find each other, they will either collide and soar to newer heights or they would cause destruction. Unfortunately for Brian and Curt, it was both. The world is not as cosmic as they wanted it to be, even if they had descended from the stars.

the road home for Mike Waters

Written by Emerson Enriquez 170819

The idea of “home” is and has always been something fragile for me. For me, “home” is something, somewhere or someone that has a comforting familiarity to it that any one person keeps running back to. This rather cheesy definition of home comes with bearing the fact that we aren’t always connected to it at all times, and that separation from it only makes us yearn for it even more. For narcoleptic gigolo Mike Waters, he gets visions of his home whenever he’s about to pass out during an episode. Images and scenes of his mom taking care of him in his childhood cloud his mind every time he’s about to lose control of his wakefulness. Running home to mama was something he held unto in his rather frivolous lifestyle of street hustling.

When Scott comes into the scene, everything gets wonderfully gay and at the same time, a little bit more fragile. I appreciated how initially, they were set out to be best buds who would help one another with their familial issues and endeavors – with the occasional threesome coming into play when needed. Although the rather soft scene by the campfire, where Mike confesses that he actually has fell in love Scott dented that platonic relationship for the both of them (coming from my personal expert homosexual opinion, you never really go back to being “just friends” after one side has harbored feelings – but ANYWAY that’s besides the point). Scott’s involvement in Mike’s narrative shows how he was gained an association as “home” to Mike, since he now has an affinity for him, and for a sex worker, that is not common.

What got to me in the whole 100 minutes were Mike’s constant efforts to find his mom, selling his body and going through haywire circumstances all for the sake of finding her. The film gives little context to what happened between the time that Mike was a toddler being cradled by his mystery mom and the point where he prostitutes himself for money. There’s slight explanation when Richard tells Mike that he is not his real father, but this proves to still be a little vague when trying to understand what really happened to Mike as a teenager, and how he developed his attitudes now. One can maybe infer that he has grown to have “daddy issues”, being disconnected with his father/s and often finding himself in steamy relations with men older than him. Admittedly, this is a random way to judge his character, but it contributes to a certain point though; that at the end of it all, Mike is really just yearning for a sense of family.

With Scott, Hans, his mystery father and even Bob, Waters had a tough time trying to figure out where he belonged or where he came from. The film starts off and ends with him on a road, and throughout the story he seems to “teleport” from place to place through his narcolepsy. It seemed like Mike was jumping car to car before fully knowing who he really is – and as cliche as that sounds – his lack of identity feeds the assumption that in his life, his journey on the road started abruptly, and he might not really know where he is actually going.

“I’m a connoisseur of roads. Best tasting roads. This road will never end. It probably goes around the world.”

Being a connoisseur of roads is not necessarily something one aspires to be. Mike uses this metaphor to show how he’s literally been on the road all his life, and how he unknowingly and helplessly remains to be there with no sense of direction. His wanting to “get home” has him trekking on an endless road of feeling painfully lonesome and lost. The sense of familiarity he is on the hunt for is a fleeting feeling, with things like being told his mom isn’t actually in Italy and that his best friend who he has fallen in love with doesn’t feel the same way (OUCH) serving as roadblocks. In the end, the film ends with his body being abducted by who knows who, going who knows where. It’s likely that he never actually made it home, getting himself confined to his lifestyle of passing out and waking up somewhere new.

Home is more of a concept, or rather, a feeling, more than a tangible thing. As Mike was in pursuit of these, he had to go through a whole lot more sensations before he eventually was not able to fulfill his nostalgic endeavor. Albeit the film had shaky transitions and rather hazy plot lines, what it achieved for me was that it got through with it’s message. The road to home is paved differently for everyone, and for Mike Waters, it seemed like it would never end.

Seized Property

Futureless Things (2014) started off as what seemed to be a slice of life movie that was centered on the conversations held in this enclosed setting. What I thought to be a light-hearted film turned into yet another version of Schizopolis (1996) with the incorporation of a cardboard box that captured one of the employees and an out-of-place dance number at the end as the true cherry on top for another mind-boggling movie.

Similar to my experience watching Schizopolis, I got so excited over the slight chance of me finally understanding the movie, but the next scenes proved that maybe I didn’t get it after all. When the first set of people with succeeding shifts started reiterating lines from the previous one, I thought this was the pattern I had to look out for to understand the movie. It may have been the string that stitched all of these unique stories together; one that would lead everything to a greater goal or end. I was unsure if I should perceive the stories in a particular sequence in relation to previous ones or treat each new shift as as fresh start. While there were elements that carried over to the next shifts, they were still never enough to completely comprehend the direction this story was taking.

If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s how the setting was the perfect choice to hold such bizarre interactions. It was interesting to see what the director and writers decided to do with the confined space. The convenience store was small enough to make interaction, and even eavesdropping, unavoidable. It’s also not that busy of a store so anything that anyone coming in does is seen by the employee stationed at the register. Both the camera and the cashier followed the customers around the store because they pretty much had nothing better to do (that is, unless they were painting their nails or learning a new language) and could not lead their attention elsewhere. You’d think a setting like this could only do so much with its little moving parts and extremely limited number of objects either the customers or employees could interact with. Oddly enough, I imagined it to be like a Sims game and thought what possible options could be given to the player in a store like this; it wouldn’t be a lot. This thought traces back to how I saw a convenience store job to be pretty “mechanical” in nature where there’s not a lot to it besides people doing it for a wage. The employees were obviously constrained by the rules set by the store manager so they couldn’t do anything too out of the ordinary. In my own experience, convenience store workers seemed pretty detached from their work; they simply go to work to get paid and leave it at that. Some develop bonds with coworkers, but other than that, convenience stores seem to be a void of anything exciting. That’s especially true if we compare it to other establishments like restaurants, arcades, cafès, and even clothing stores where [usually] more interaction between clerks and customers happen. It was pretty clear that the creators of this movie saw that characteristic of convenience stores and played around with it as they heightened action in various scenes and mixed in fictitious details to keep it a bit more exciting. A store of this kind doesn’t take itself too seriously. Unlike an office or a classroom, the atmosphere is a bit more relaxed and flexible. It’s why some employees slack off too much and rake in even more debt for the store. It’s also open to anyone and everyone, so there’s that aspect of uncertainty as to what kind of story will be introduced and to what extent it will be told and expounded on.

Convenience stores are a place where people generally don’t stay too long in. They come in with purchasing something in mind and leave at once to do other things. This kind of fact from reality was able to come into play in the story’s main gimmick as it was able to host multiple stories with people coming in and out of the store. There was always variety in the conversation topics with each new customer and that paired with a new personality manning the cashier made for even more unique interactions. Because no single character stayed too long in the store, the viewer cannot fully attach themselves to anyone. Character development is very limited; we can only assume what the people are really like with their brief replies, actions, and reactions. The only thing constant was the store itself. I guess it’s why I felt a great deal of grief when the store was robbed and everything was disheveled. Despite not being able to explore any character in great depth, I was still able to empathize with the man that was scanning all the items post-robbery. He was ridden with too many problems, most of which were because of the store and its employees, and it all just came crashing down on him towards the end to the point that he killed himself. It was heart-wrenching to see the store the way that it was in that scene after the viewers were shown all of these stories that took place in that same space. Although, these emotions were short-lived because one valid interpretation of this whole sequence was that it was all dreamt by the last employee.

The last scene spiralled back to the very first scene with the two students dropping by the convenience store, imitating how the clock just circles around with no definite end. In that way, there was no real future to be seen, hence, futureless. I’d say this movie explored job alienation and the senseless passage of time that comes with it. It is laudable how the creators of the movie turned having a mechanical job like manning the cashier of a convenience store into a story (or stories) worth telling. It was refreshing to look into the daily interactions that happen in a convenience store because they’re one of the many interactions we don’t necessarily think about. We go in convenience stores not really feeling the need to interact with the cashier or anyone else in the store for either a long period of time or in great depth, but this movie gave us the opportunity to spend more time thinking about these exchanges—for what they are and for all their absurdities. Obviously, there were instances that were too out of the ordinary to happen in one’s local convenience store, but it’s not that impossible if you really think about it. Having one’s soul captured by a box would be one of those things, but with little witnesses, who knows what really happens at convenience stores! Most interactions in this space are, for the most part, brief and shallow so while they do establish a quick connection from person to person, it’s all just something that will be brushed off within the next minute or so. It’s a cycle of nothingness. This is not to say that the people’s lives and stories were nothing, but they were told in a space where it didn’t really matter. This thought was taken to the extreme towards the end where the guy labelled the employee that hung himself with “seized property”. The man had problems of his own, but with his story being set in a commercial establishment, his humanity and his problems were ignored; he was treated like a now-worthless commodity.

Through all of this, I still wouldn’t put this movie in my favorites, but it is definitely a movie worth talking about. It has a lot of elements that left me pondering for weeks, and like most of the movies we’ve watched in this class, I don’t think I’ll ever get to understand it fully. At the end of the day, it did make for both a great experience and a mind exercise that forced me to reflect on alienation and our mindless daily interactions (whether it was what the creators intended or otherwise).