(i know there were threads before, but seeing as it's just come out on dvd, i rekon we could squeeze in a new one)

well, this is easily the best film i've seen in a long time, but instead of just going on about how good i think it is...(and i really do....i can't get it out of my head. watched it twice in three days and could easily go again)...i just want to talk about my interpretation and see what y'all think.

so, basically, i think it is (obviously) just about the relationship between two men....with the key being that they are more similar than the audience would first believe....and the similarity in their character and nature is what draws the beauty and emotion from the pairing.

i think they are essentially just both lost souls, trying to find meaning in life. quell is told, 'you can't take life straight' at the end, in reference to his boozing. and i think that is the same for grant. he's created a heady fantasy world for himself, that others just happened to follow. he's obscuring the realities of life with the cause, in the same way quell does with the booze.

grant has the charm and the social skills and the education to turn his loneliness into an entire organisation that others will happily follow (until it looks like he is beginning to be tripped up by his own internal logic towards the end), where as quell, not helped it would seem by his experiences during the war, scuffs around and rubs up against people until grant sees something in him.

yeah, i dunno. i'm not sure what i've just said is even that interesting really, i just haven't seen anyone talk about the men being very similar, so i thought i would see what you think.

what do you think?