Author Topic: Three Billboards...  (Read 5085 times)

Bondo

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Re: Three Billboards...
« Reply #10 on: November 25, 2017, 06:30:22 AM »
Somehow they have Kerry Condon (who is a week older than me) somewhat convincingly playing a 19 year old?

1SO

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Re: Three Billboards...
« Reply #11 on: November 25, 2017, 07:39:47 AM »
Kerry Condon plays the adult who works at the billboard rental place. The 19-year Old is played by Samara Weaving (Age 25). I’m clearing this up because I’m recommending Weaving for a Filmspot.

Bondo

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Re: Three Billboards...
« Reply #12 on: November 25, 2017, 10:48:53 AM »
Ah, so pixote’s use of the Dinklage quote should be “Penelope said begets?” Not Pamela?

pixote

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Re: Three Billboards...
« Reply #13 on: November 25, 2017, 12:51:02 PM »
Ah, so pixote’s use of the Dinklage quote should be “Penelope said begets?” Not Pamela?

Oops, fixed. I knew better, too.

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Will

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Re: Three Billboards...
« Reply #14 on: November 26, 2017, 05:30:35 AM »
I said it once and I will say it again and again: now THIS is a superhero origin story. Eat your heart out, Marvel/DC!!!

Will

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Re: Three Billboards...
« Reply #15 on: November 26, 2017, 05:42:20 AM »
There was a shot early on from the house to the signs.

Two things bothered me :
1) With a rapist / killer still not found, the sheriff of all people leaves his two little girls alone and out of earshot on a riverbank.


I think the film is making a point that Willoughby doesn't care as much about the rapist as Mildred did. Or he's just under the impression that it's a one time thing. I think the whole point of the film is that men aren't as sensitive to rape as women are - there's a subplot about how Mildred was sexually abused by her ex-husband that many characters brush off.


2) Also that guy's appearance in the gift shop leads nowhere. What was that about?


I think this movie - and McDonagh's films/plays in general - follows thematic logic rather rather than narrative logic. The scene in the gift shop and the subsequent scenes with this other rapist shows that there are men who not only sexually assault women, but enjoy flaunting the fact around people. I wonder if there's any American businessman currently in power that is just like that...


Corndog

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Re: Three Billboards...
« Reply #16 on: November 27, 2017, 07:41:51 AM »
Kerry Condon plays the adult who works at the billboard rental place. The 19-year Old is played by Samara Weaving (Age 25). I’m clearing this up because I’m recommending Weaving for a Filmspot.

I figured Weaving was Dixon's mom (who turns out to be Sandy Martin) when I saw the FYC. That would be one I could get behind, but not Weaving.
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Osprey

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Re: Three Billboards...
« Reply #17 on: December 23, 2017, 03:39:58 AM »
Eh, one of the things that bothers me is that there's little to suggest that Willoughby isn't right . He's past the point of needing to score political points, nothing about what he says to Mildred when he explains what happened to the case is ever really challenged as being untrue.  I'm not sure what Willoughby was supposed to do differently, all of Mildred's suggestions were quite unhinged. 

There was a shot early on from the house to the signs.

Two things bothered me :
1) With a rapist / killer still not found, the sheriff of all people leaves his two little girls alone and out of earshot on a riverbank.


I think the film is making a point that Willoughby doesn't care as much about the rapist as Mildred did. Or he's just under the impression that it's a one time thing. I think the whole point of the film is that men aren't as sensitive to rape as women are - there's a subplot about how Mildred was sexually abused by her ex-husband that many characters brush off.


2) Also that guy's appearance in the gift shop leads nowhere. What was that about?


I think this movie - and McDonagh's films/plays in general - follows thematic logic rather rather than narrative logic. The scene in the gift shop and the subsequent scenes with this other rapist shows that there are men who not only sexually assault women, but enjoy flaunting the fact around people. I wonder if there's any American businessman currently in power that is just like that...



iQuanah

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Re: Three Billboards...
« Reply #18 on: December 30, 2017, 12:26:57 AM »
However, I still struggle to overcome the vapid nature of the film's intent. What is the arc of these characters? Where does the story go after the film's conclusion? What do the characters learn? What do we learn?
This is easy for me. We're so used to a film with a premise like this being about vengeance, but it's actually about healing, about moving on and making peace with the fact that the dead are dead and any unresolved issues are likely to remain unresolved.


Two things that I keep coming around on.

1. How come we never learn what happened to the daughter's remains? Was she buried or cremated? Is there a plot or a final resting place? I ask that because the billboards become her memorial, and we see that with Mildred bringing fresh flowers to the billboards and her conversation with the deer.

2. Isn't it interesting how close the Billboards are to Mildred's house? And how we don't get that information until the film is almost over, when Dixon shows up with the results of the DNA test? Why do you think McDonagh did that when there could've been shots of Mildred watching the signs go up from her front porch. We could see her watching Dixon learn about them.

I don't think either of these decisions are bad, they just show McDonagh making a different type of film.

I think it goes deeper than McDonagh making a different kind of film. I think the film was really about Mildred and Nixon being validated. Mildred wants to be supported as a mother who lost her daughter to murder and wants the law enforcement to continue investigating. Nixon wants to be supported as a police officer, who in spite of his poor judgement and unruly behavior, has the capacity to be a good person. By act three Nixon reads a letter from Willoughby that confirms the idea that he is a capable person who needs to grow beyond his fatal error. And Mildred, well, she gets support from Nixon (even though he's no longer a police officer at this point) in the investigation even though he comes up empty handed.

Even though the last scene appears to cut away before something critical will happen, I think the film ended perfectly. Both Mildred and Nixon have forgiven one another. Nixon has forgiven Mildred for his injuries, and Mildred has forgiven Nixon for being an investigative dingbat. As they contemplate whether or not they are going to commit murder, we the audience see for the first time a sense of peace on their faces. Essentially, the idea they are going to kill this guy because he raped and killed a girl at some point (probably while overseas) is a red herring.

philip918

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Re: Three Billboards...
« Reply #19 on: January 08, 2018, 02:58:42 PM »
Love wins out over hate.

I thought the entire point of the movie was the opposite. Two hateful, vengeful people grasping for any reason to hold onto that rage, partner up on a foolhardy and potentially murderous mission because they steadfastly refuse to let go of the past.

It made me think of Memento. No answers about her daughter's death would stop her from taking her rage out on anyone around her. She will always find a new target. No matter how tenuous.

 

love