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Post by llminnowpea on Dec 1, 2021 18:49:35 GMT
Why did he put on a suit? In the book, all the rich people/ranchers used to get dressed up and go into town in their fancy suits (it was a display of wealth). Phil only ever went into town to get his hair cut (and his suit fit badly, but he always wore it) and the way it was described, well, it wasn't his favorite thing to do (the description made it seem like he was uncomfortable). I assume he got dressed in his suit because that is just what you did. Work clothes are for work and dress clothes are for town. (The book also went on to explain that he needed the suit later - for the coffin). The suit George gave the undertaker (in the movie) was the same one Phil was wearing when George drove him to town. Perhaps this was meant to imply that Phil understood he was dying? If so, that is a bit beyond me (and my head canon is set on him not knowing that he was murdered and being too sick to realize he was dying because I can't deal otherwise).
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Post by queenzod on Dec 1, 2021 20:17:23 GMT
I had a flash that Phil knew what Peter had done when he was walking along with George following in the car and Phil drops the rope, but I’m choosing to interpret that as he was too sick and out of his mind at that point to know what he was doing. That part just tore me up - I think he really was attached to Peter by then and so desperately wanted to give him this thing that he’d begun to make out of anger and spite but ended with a different motivation, a possibility blooming in his mind.
Poor Phil!
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Post by roverpup on Dec 1, 2021 21:53:26 GMT
Just saw TPOTD and we loved it! Loved the tension, the slow but steady tension and how remarkably faithful it was to the book (allowing for cinematic differences of course).
BC was perfect as Phil. Complete embodiment of this tragic, toxic person.
The rest of the cast was superb too. Love all aspects of JC's filmmaking in this movie.
It ranks right up with Richard III and Patrick Melrose for me. I finally found my top three!
Dan really enjoyed it too but said he was glad he read the book ahead of time because in the condensing that has to happen in films it might have been a bit confusing in spots if he hadn't read the book.
The thing that felt funny was that until they shaved Phil's face while he lay in the coffin I never once thought of BC being on screen. Then they showed his shaved mug and I cried out "There's Benedict Cumberbatch!". Lol!
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Post by queenzod on Dec 1, 2021 22:16:27 GMT
I read somewhere recently (prolly Twitter) that this is the best literary adaptation EVER and I’m coming around to that viewpoint. It carried the weight, intent, and sense of the book completely. Usually the book is vastly superior to the film but here I can’t tell that there’s really much of a difference! That’s an amazing feat in itself.
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Post by mllemass on Dec 1, 2021 23:29:01 GMT
Something that has lingered with me even though it seems nonsensical - the cook's story about how they found that the dead woman's blonde hair had kept growing after death, except for the gray hairs at the end. Was that just to show the kind of ridiculous conversation Rose has to put up with? Or were we supposed to find more meaning in that? After watching it again, I noticed another weird conversation they had earlier in the movie. On Rose’s first morning at the ranch, she went into the kitchen and the maid and cooked stopped speaking. Rose told them to keep talking, as she dried the dishes and put them away. But the maid and cook just stared at her in silence. Before Rose gets to the kitchen, though, we hear the cook telling the maid something about the basement flooding when there’s a heavy rain, and so all the rats float to the surface, and they have to send down the lads to scoop them out. Ha! I’m thinking that between this story and the corpse-with-growing-hair story later, that cook just likes to tell gross stories. I’ll bet that Rose regretted ever telling her to keep talking when she was in the room with them!
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Post by queenzod on Dec 1, 2021 23:40:26 GMT
Also the fact that the hair-growing after death story was just ignorant nonsense. It speaks to the fact that there’s Ivy League educated people sharing space with uneducated, easily misled fools.
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Post by mllemass on Dec 2, 2021 0:03:40 GMT
I just watched it on Netflix for the first time. There was no need to worry that the distraction of being at home would interfere with the experience! At one point, I wanted to turn on a lamp, and I did so without looking away from my tv. I then walked backwards back to my chair to sit down, where I remained on the edge until the movie finished. I literally sat on the edge of my seat to watch it! Ha!
I have to say that the two hours flew by. The movie seems to get shorter each time I watch it. Once again, I found that I was holding my breath for the whole cigarette scene. And I barely noticed the music - but in a good way. It just blends into each scene, and it would be weird if it wasn’t there.
I have closed captioning turned on, so there were lots of background conversations spelled out that I just hadn’t caught before. I also got a better look at Bronco Henry’s shrine. I had noticed before that he died in 1904, so he was with them for only 4 years. But now I saw that he was born in 1854, and I did the math: he was 50 when he died, and was 46 when he got to the ranch in 1900. So the age difference between him and Phil is pretty much the same age difference between Phil and Peter.
And just like every time I watch it, I wanted to scream at Peter to give Phil another chance to redeem himself! He really, really wanted to change! He would have been nicer to Rose! But poor Phil never got that chance.
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Post by queenzod on Dec 2, 2021 1:16:37 GMT
I think BH was with them for a lot longer than 4 years. Phil was talking about the first cattle drive he and George went on, 25 years ago. But since BH taught them to ride, they’d known him for a lot longer than that.
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Post by prudence on Dec 2, 2021 1:17:21 GMT
Yes, I agree that BH predated the 1900 first ride.
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Post by mllemass on Dec 2, 2021 2:49:49 GMT
I think BH was with them for a lot longer than 4 years. Phil was talking about the first cattle drive he and George went on, 25 years ago. But since BH taught them to ride, they’d known him for a lot longer than that. Is this from the book? I don’t remember, and I don’t see where it’s mentioned, or even suggested, in the movie.
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