One of the most common themes I've seen when it comes to people commenting on the film is that it's not as weird as some are saying. But I've seen that more than I've seen people actually saying how weird it is. I think there's some nice cinematography but I don't think it's trying to do anything especially weird and out there. The story itself is told in a pretty direct manner.
I think that the film has had a (relative) boom in popularity for a couple reasons. First, those scenes you mentioned went kinda viral. The bathtub and grave ones did because they're quite visceral and I think the Murder On The Dancefloor dance scene became a bit of a TikTok trend with people dancing through their own homes? I don't use TikTok but I saw a few things about that. The other factor is this happened at a time when the film moved to streaming (at least it did in the UK, appearing on Amazon Prime) around about Christmas making it accessible during a period when people had a bunch of free time. So you combine those two factors and word-of-mouth spread. No idea if that's the reason but that's my own theory anyway.
I don't think it's the deepest film but I do think it's about something, namely that very British obsession with class. Like Elspeth thinking that Common People was about her is funny. And it's also about the desire that comes from being on the outside looking in. I don't think it can be said that it's got no substance at all.
I'm not saying you have to find it amazing. Like I said it wouldn't be one of my absolute favourite films of last year, just one I enjoyed. But we're at a point where a lot of the movies that get put out these days really aren't doing much beyond being the latest entry in franchise or a reboot of some property from decades past. And, even worse, the general audience's appetite for something a bit different seems to be at an all-time low. So while something like Saltburn might not be totally groundbreaking it is at least trying for something. So maybe it is "baby's 1st beautifully shot weird movie" but if it gets people to dip their toes just a little deeper in the pool then that's not a bad thing.
Love the post man, kudos for actually trying to engage in a discussion in contrast to the sheer majority online
Agree on many points friend, it's just that...what i mentioned is a personal peeve of mine - I hate when people shit on something (generally speaking) but then love something that falls into the same category as the thing they shat on just cause it's now "cool", it goes "viral" or gets hyped by the spineless media/influencers for whatever reason therefore rendering it the "cool thing of the month".
As a couple of examples , 20+ years ago I recall some peeps saying that anime was shit and yet, when Kill Bill Vol.1 came out they were the same people shouting " DID YOU SEE THE ANIME PART IN TARANTINO'S LATEST FILM ? AMAAAZINGGggggG ! ".
It's the same people that shit on anything slow or slow burning citing Nolan's Inception as the "deepest" film they've ever seen, people just discovering Korean/Japanese /Asian cinema saying it's "amazing" and yet, if you told them 20+ years ago to watch some T.Miike/Shinya Tsukamoto or Park Chan Wook's trilogy "Sympathy for X vengeance" they'd have labeled you as a "hipster", it's this shit that gets my titties in a twist, imagine now if you have to throw some Tarkovsky into the conversation
...
Anyway, back to Saltburn : it really wasn't anything special and its sole gimmick was how "provocative" and edgy it was and , again, the sole redeeming points were its cinematography (which still didn't hold a candle to Korine's or Refn's) and Keohgan's acting, that's it.
Talking about Keohgan, dude is brilliant and definitely one of the best actors of this new generation, he's been good in every film I've seen him in.
I'd rather whatever Refn film (in all their pretentious glory
) to Saltburn, then again, it's just.my personal taste so...
Take care friend, cheers
