Written on the Wind

Written on the Wind (1956)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049966/]

The Gist:
I have to say up front that this wasn't a movie I particularly cared for, one of those "I can appreciate it" sort of vibes. Essentially it's a fifties melodrama with all these extreme stylistic flourishes that slowly build a subtext throughout the film, and in fact the enjoyment of the film exists largely in digging up this subtext rather than reveling in the histrionic characters and the uninspired plot. Some film people relish in this sort of enjoyment, in seeing all this hidden, "smuggled" artistic merit in some upper class over the top piece of dramatic hyperbole. For me, I love it when a film has fascinating subtext, but I want to be able to engage with the film on all levels. To have one layer of the film rub me the wrong way ends up trumping the fact that I can see that it's all a clever little critique on the "American Dream" et al.