It is an effect clearly recalled by Solondz’s experiment—serialized adventure drama form with provocative topics and ripped-from-the-headlines content.
Getting his stories from the newspapers has created a broad commentary on our political environment, which Solondz thinks is fertile ground for storytellers of all stripes, saying “if you were Stanley Kubrick and were making a movie about 9/11 you would cast George W. Bush as the president. It’s so rich that it’s almost hard to understand how people could have trouble finding ideas.”
Solondz understands that his film will engender many types of response, saying “There are people who tell me it’s my best, there are other people who tell me it’s the most vile thing. It has no meaning for me.”
Somewhat strangely, for a writer/director so obsessed with making his characters’ undergo humiliating, painful and scary trials, Solondz asserts, “I’m not a masochist. I don’t ‘google’ myself…I wish it could be masturbatory. It’s just a little depressing.”
Even more frustrating to Solondz is when filmmakers he respects lose their integrity in pursuit of a wider audience. While discussing his favorite filmmakers, Solondz raised writer/director Mike Leigh’s recent movie, “Vera Drake,” in which Imelda Staunton gave an Oscar-nominated performance as the titular abortionist, as an example of when great filmmakers go bad. Solondz takes pains to praise Leigh’s talents as a “masterful filmmaker, the actors were beautiful, it was beautifully shot and it’s a wonderful indictment of a patriarchal system and so forth.”
“But, I want to scream,” Solondz continues. “‘Would it have been a crime for her to get paid for a job well-done? Does she have to be sanctified?’ Because of course, what happens is the audience all become martyrs,” he explains. “I respect him so much and yet, the idea that we’re all martyrs for the good fight, that’s no examination of the moral nature of any of this.”
It is the easy sentiment of the provoker; those who do not confront the audience with equal vigor have betrayed their talents to the desires of the mass.
‘THE UPSIDE OF MISERY’
But is it any better to overwhelm? Walking out of “Palindromes,” it is hard to feel anything but numb. Solondz’s confrontational tactics produce a viewing experience unlike any other modern American director and it is not for everyone, but provocation is effective. Seeing the group of sickly and discarded children sing Christian pop as The Sunshine Singers is an experience that’s hard to forget. The central device, even when it fails, fails in interesting ways that are worth seeing.
If you can stand being a part of Solondz’s world, this movie is worth seeing for all its faults. Just remember, that when I asked Solondz, in light of all the unhappiness rampant throughout his films, “What brings you joy?” he refused to answer. Instead, he replied that only “joy is so much more keenly experienced the greater your misery has been… that’s the upside of misery.”
—Staff writer Scoop A. Wasserstein can be reached at wasserst@fas.harvard.edu.