July 16, 2003
Atlantic City (1980)
[2 - OK]
Louis Malle (My Dinner with Andre (1981), Au revoir les enfants (1987)) was quite a masterful filmmaker. A curiosity about his movies and a recommendation drove me to watch Atlantic City (1980). Starring Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon the movie tells the tale of an old man who once had some dealings with the Mafia but is now reduced to running errands for a rich old lady and the young casino worker he falls in love with.
Atlantic City is as much about a city that was once vibrant and young and is now aging and cracking as it is about the love of the two title characters. Lancaster, old and searching for a way to add meaning back to his life. Sarandon, young and wanting to start hers. The opening scene to the movie has Sarandon washing herself at the kitchen sink and looking sexier than she ever has. There is a scene later in the movie where the two lovers leave the city and Burt's character admits it is the first time he has been outside of Atlantic City. Those two moments somehow encompasses most of what this movie is about.
Posted by Leopoldo at July 16, 2003 10:20 AM | TrackBack
