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There is something disconcerting about watching a 60-something man making love to much younger woman. It’s coupled with an edgy excitement which is not entirely pleasant. And Elegy is about that very feeling—the societal conditioning that makes us disapprove of such a match. Indeed, the film about an aging professor’s (Ben Kingsley) tumultuous affair with his student (Penelope Cruz) seems to be strangely uncomfortable with its central theme. The voyeuristic camera is an emabarassed intruder in the bedroom of the lovers. As they make love you squirm in your seat, waiting for it to end—sex in Elegy is not to be enjoyed but to be endured so that you can go back to the greater thrill of judging the characters.
Maybe that’s the problem with Elegy (which is based on a Philip Roth novel). It invites you to judge the characters without giving you the opportunity of connecting with them.
The film unfolds from the perspective of a man who can be best described as an incredibly selfish rake who has a juvenile habit of intellectualising his sexual escapades. His love nest is a stark, dimly-lit apartment with crumpled sheets strewn all over. His son is a despaired, unsure young man who is in the process of destroying his life because he cannot come in terms with his father abandoning him. The object of his lust, Penelope, is wispy, brittle presence, who has no business falling for this man’s easy charms. Together, they alienate you to the point of hostility. Their love affair, is predictably troubled— he can’t bring himself to meet her family, she needs some sort of commitment.
And the world that these two inhabit is a suffocating, dank one of academics and college professors which in a way justifies their need to break barriers. Yet, as Ben Kingsley’s character reveals his inner feelings through unnecessarily verbose monologues, you realise that there are no convictions behind his decisions. He mourns all the wrong things making his self examination seem merely narcissistic and actually, quite pathetic.
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hot girl in indian
This is one heck of a movie, but unlike any semi porn movie, it lacks conviction. Our man 'gandhi' is genuinely old but hollywood actresses like penelope cruz are in and out of it. Hollywood is big time, from an indian perspective, even a thorough brained individual cannot draw any parallels. There is a lot of sensationalism but hollywood is like the bride laid bare. the american concept of hollywood, and i have been watching them for ages, portray a completely differently view. One thing is for sure, you will live and think differently. Hollywood unlike Bollywood are in totally different worlds. Like the two north and south poles. I am a journalist from goa and have been watching hollywood films for ages. What we have been seeing and living for would work for ages. Ours is a concept similar to that of an orthodox world where our childhood beliefs and the way we are brought up reflect on our social upbringing in a big way. Convent education is the key to apply minds differently
Penelope's sister, Monica Cruz, is going to be in a film coming out later this year called Iron Cross, also staring Roy Scheider. She is seriously good-looking, some people even say hotter than her sister. The trailer is out online if you do a little google-searching, and it looks really good!!