So I’m more confused now. I went from a skeptic to a believer to now I suppose I’m agnostic. 
I finally had some time to watch the Subtext Writer’s Room regarding this thread.
I’ve come to these conclusions about the movie (and movie series):
- The movie has abrupt subtlety, “hoping” viewers to catch on, “knowing” readers will.
- The movie uses too much screen time to set up the series form at the above expense.
- The subtle context for the first movie is available only in the full series or from the book.
- The throughlines, over the set of stories are so crazily tightly woven analysis is hard.
- Thus, the movie, as Jim said, is actually a mess.*
Ultimately, I think these discussions have significantly helped me understand how much detail a writer can actually get into with descriptions and scenes in a novel versus a film, and what it may cause under scrutiny. So, thanks for this: It was extremely helpful.
*This is something I actually agree with, thinking back on my first attempted watch. Jim said the movie fell flat or felt boring or something like that, which encapsulated my original sentiments, until I watched the entire series. (Though, I suspect that is still messy, too…)
2 Likes