Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Murmor of the Heart

This is topic Murmor of the Heart - Louis Malle in forum The Afterlife at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 10-24-2007, 06:06 PM:

I'm suprised that the FEDs, FBI, etc have not arrested key people at Turner Classic Movies for airing this obvious kiddie porn film that includes underage sex with a prostitute, mother-son incest and a pedophile priest. - unless the actors were of age?

K

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 10-29-2007, 12:00 AM:

Yah, you think that is bad, try Bertolucci's LA LUNA with Jill Clayburgh for underage mother-son insest. So damn graphic I nearly turned it off. Nearly. But then I figured, it's Bertolucci....it must be art. And it was in a foreign language....it REALLY must be art. Except for the one scene, it really is an engaging movie. It even has one scene that is almost a direct copy of a scene in CINEMA PARADISO. Get them on DVD and find the scene. When stuff like this happens, they call it an homage. When the lawyers see this stuff, they call it copyright infringment.

For example: Watch the sequence in WAR OF THE WORLDS ('53 version) with the flashlight sequence and the first closeup of the martian covering his face, the girl and the martian scream and the martian runs off thru the cornfield. Then watch the flashlight scene in Speilberg's ET when Eliot discoveres ET, shines the flashlight in his face and they both scream and ET runs off thru the cornfield. Practically frame for frame.

Same with the attic scene in WAR OF THE WORLD where the girl is in closeup, looking off frame left and the martian hand comes into the frame from the right and grabs her shoulder; she turns around to see him. Then in ET, exact same shot of Eliot facing frame left, ET's hand comes into frame and grabs Eliot's shoulder, Eliot turns around to see him. They could have been using the same script just changing the character's names. No doubt this is homage, not plagerism since Speilberg obviously was just in love with WAR OF THE WORLDS as a kid (as I was) seeing as he went on to make his own WAR OF THE WORLDS, albeit not nearly the stunning ground-breaker that the George Pal classic was.

Posted by Jeffry L. Johnson (Member # 453) on 10-29-2007, 01:19 PM:

quote: Frank Angel
Except for the one scene, it really is an engaging movie. It even has one scene that is almost a direct copy of a scene in CINEMA PARADISO.

Hmm, which was first? _Luna_ in 1979 or _Cinema Paradiso_ in 1988.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 10-30-2007, 03:31 AM:

You're right; I'm dyslexic -- just flip 'em.

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 10-30-2007, 03:11 PM:

I think the actors are of age. Regardless, I dont think it is worse than Pretty Baby or even worse, Sweet Badasssss by Melvin Peebles where he forced his 13 year old son to act in a graphic sex scene.

Remember, the actors are not related in Murmur. The actor is at least 16, probably 18. I saw Volver last night and was surprised by an early scene until I realzed the 15 yr old daughter was played by a 21 year old.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 10-30-2007, 08:37 PM:

Technically, Federal law defines Child Pornography as any depiction of sex involving a child, including even animations.

So I assume the only way these movies mentioned don't count is that they were made before the law was put in that way.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 11-01-2007, 10:07 PM:

Animation too? I thought the anti-child pornography law was passed because it enabled child abuse of the actual underage "actors" involved. How does that apply to animation?

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 11-20-2007, 09:17 PM:

After reading Will's excellent review I knew I had to check this one out of curiosity. While there's a scene simliar to what happend in Pretty Baby with Brooke shields (nudity of a child), other than that the film is rather tame and of course simulated. Whether it's all morally wrong is not for me to judge, kids smoke, kids do it, there's pedophile priests by the dozens these days, so nothing in the film was really that shocking. It was a great film I thought and I really enjoyed the brother's interactions with the maids, that was hilarious.