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Posted: |
Feb 6, 2017 - 7:25 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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Just rewatched Sincerely, F. Scott Fitzgerald and dashed off these jumbled impressions of what I saw. I'd better summon the ghost of Maxwell Perkins to whip this draft into shape:
Sincerely is a big improvement over the nauseating and inexplicably-accolade-riddled Winter Dreams, which consists mostly of now-ancient women from New York and Alabama who oohed and cooed over Fitzgerald because they were young schoolgirls at the the time. They also overstate their view of Zelda as being so ahead of her time, whereas those Southern Belles are most definitely not.
These rose-tinted reminiscences about Scott and Zelda are fine in small doses, but when they receive more screentime than the words from Fitzgerald’s work; it’s repetitive, dull, and ultimately frustrating that the filmmaker relied on those obviously still-lovestruck women.
The Beeb did a swell job with the cinematography and in its use of George Gershwin's music for this documentary. It's somewhat reassuring to know that New York City is still, pardon the use of this overused word, "iconic." Going from the views on display in the Scott's doc, NYC has kept one of its many nicknames, "Gotham."
This documentary is the only one I've seen in which photos of Scott's Hollywood screenwriting years are extensively chronicled--and they even show photos of him with a mustache.
Sincerely relies primarily on Scott’s written correspondence and quotes generously from the author’s books. It, does, however, continue the penchant documentaries have for romanticizing and glorifying Scott’s life and work. It’s as though Scott retrospectives must match the timbre of their subject’s work. Though to be fair, brief mention os made of Scott’s physical abuse of Sheila Graham. It’s difficult not to feel sympathetic towards Fitzgerald, as his letters are often witty, charming, and made of the same beautifully-crafted words as his novels.
Sincerely can convince the viewer that Scott the author and Scott the man aren’t much different from one another, and should anyone ever forget that, the film will pelt the viewer with yet another swelling excerpt from George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
Ernest Hemingway, to whom Fitzgerald will forever be compared, rarely receives such kid glove treatment. Perhaps that’s due to Hemingway’s tough, prickly, and largely unsentimental style. Critics grudgingly accept Hemingway’s brilliance, but loathe his treatment of others, which I feel they allow to taint their view of his writing.
The second half of Sincerely, which chronicles Scott’s late-1930s Hollywood screenwriting career, is stronger than the first half. It’s fresher material than the oft-trodden 1920s Lost Generation period. Notable are Scott’s relationship with Sheila Graham, but best of all are the letters Scott wrote to his daughter, Scottie (who was a spitting image of Zelda), for whom the author attempted some long-distance parenting advice. These letters are more revealing when viewed as Fitzgerald trying to advise himself in the midst of his own well-documented alcoholism.
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Posted: |
Feb 13, 2017 - 9:42 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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"Ernest Hemingway has a cocktail recipe for days when you’ve had just enough of the world"
https://qz.com/889794/ernest-hemingway-has-a-cocktail-recipe-for-days-when-youve-had-just-enough-of-the-world/
"Death in the Gulfstream", a cocktail personally created by Hemingway. I, too must try this.
I've had it; it is very good, but it needs to be made with Hendrick's Gin.
mgh, I thank you for the Hendrick's recommendation. You are a gentleman among score-hoarding nerds.
From everything else I've read about the "Death in the Gulf Stream", it is supposed to be made with Holland Gin, but I'm sure if our "Papa" had imbibed this Gin most fine, he would smile approvingly, and pour us--and of course, himself--another.
Viva La Quince Brigada,
Phelps
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Posted: |
Feb 13, 2017 - 10:07 AM
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By: |
mgh
(Member)
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"Ernest Hemingway has a cocktail recipe for days when you’ve had just enough of the world"
https://qz.com/889794/ernest-hemingway-has-a-cocktail-recipe-for-days-when-youve-had-just-enough-of-the-world/
"Death in the Gulfstream", a cocktail personally created by Hemingway. I, too must try this.
I've had it; it is very good, but it needs to be made with Hendrick's Gin.
mgh, I thank you for the Hendrick's recommendation. You are a gentleman among score-hoarding nerds.
From everything else I've read about the "Death in the Gulf Stream", it is supposed to be made with Holland Gin, but I'm sure if our "Papa" had imbibed this Gin most fine, he would smile approvingly, and pour us--and of course, himself--another.
Viva La Quince Brigada,
Phelps
Thank you, Jim. I recommended Hendrick's because it is hands down the best gin I have ever had. But, of course, it is all a matter of taste (so to speak).
To another gentleman,
L'chaim
Mike
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