Read the script to On Golden Pond and nobody prepared me for what a brutal, genuinely painful work it was. Ernest Thompson uses these nice old people to show the absolute brutality parents can inflict on their children emotionally and the pain that sometimes never gets resolved. It’s heavy stuff. - ThreadSky

untitleduser.bsky.social • 29 days ago

Read the script to On Golden Pond and nobody prepared me for what a brutal, genuinely painful work it was. Ernest Thompson uses these nice old people to show the absolute brutality parents can inflict on their children emotionally and the pain that sometimes never gets resolved. It’s heavy stuff.

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rantogethernow.bsky.social•29 days ago

Still remember it was WAY too much when I saw it. Made a heck of an impression.

untitleduser.bsky.social•29 days ago

Yeah it’s an absolute beast of a work. It’s why you MUST read the classics. Because you might find yourself in my shoes reading a work you’ve been told is nice and sweet and get hit by how painful it is. Thankfully this is the highest praise I can give it.

rantogethernow.bsky.social•29 days ago

Exactly this.
I got caught out by a film described as 'feel-good' and have been a lot more careful since.

untitleduser.bsky.social•29 days ago

Yeah. If I was thinking it was going to be feel good, I at least knew there was some weight, I would’ve been furious. I had to go into Anora with serious preparation

2tired4this.bsky.social•29 days ago

I liked the movie when it was released. Now that I’ve had therapy and I’ve become aware of the ways I was abused, I wonder if I could get through it.

untitleduser.bsky.social•29 days ago

Which I think is what makes it so fascinating. Norman is a subtle abuser. It’s not until the very end where you truly grasp what a monster he was. I’ll bet you couldn’t.

spectreman.bsky.social•29 days ago

I’ve never read it, but I know I should. In your opinion, how well do you feel the screenplay was translated into the movie?

untitleduser.bsky.social•29 days ago

I’ve never seen the movie actually. That’s what’s interesting. I think if I had I would have expected it.

spectreman.bsky.social•29 days ago

But you plan to now? Would love to hear your thought on that.

untitleduser.bsky.social•29 days ago

In a few months. Yeah. Let it sit

untitleduser.bsky.social•29 days ago

This is when I also call the script an absolute masterpiece. It feels remarkably fresh. The way Thompson plays with “nice” language to show how people can be aggressive is fascinating. He also allows nuance. There’s good and darkness in Norman Thayer. He’s human. We like him and we don’t.

untitleduser.bsky.social•29 days ago

I can’t imagine how Henry Fonda and Jane Fonda made this movie. It’s panic attack material on the page. Now imagine acting it. Now imagine you’ve actually lived a complicated dynamic in real life and you have to play this work with the same person.

untitleduser.bsky.social•29 days ago

This is why you read the classics. Because if they’re actually good, they cut across time. On Golden Pond is just as emotionally raw as Anora. I can learn just as much from it.

untitleduser.bsky.social•29 days ago

One big thing: Thompson reveals a key detail in one moment. It changes the whole story. It makes you understand everything. And it’s maybe a few lines tops.

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