Wednesday, February 17, 2016

year 5 day 77

movie:About Adam
starring: Stuart Townsend, Kate Hudson
genre:Drama
year:2000
format:TV Edit

plot: A young man seduces an entire family

You have a character who you know after the first five minutes is going to be the bad guy, only he ends up being less the villain and more the hero. Even though he willingly and on purpose seduces an entire family. Starting first with the youngest daughter, then the middle sister, the brother, the mother and finally the oldest sister.  He tells each a completely different lie to make up his history, half of which they believe and half which they don't. Two of the sisters catch him cheating but do nothing about it.

There were some odd similarities to Dracula. There is a scene where they are actually at a stage version of Dracula, and the second sister begins comparing Victorian women to some of the situations they were themselves in, identifying the Townsend character to that of the fictional count. This is expressed later on when the two are having sex and she becomes liberated by the very notion that the story of Dracula was trying to help express.
Later on at the end of the film, the youngest sister, the character of Lucy, is about to get married and is wearing a headdress similar to that of the character Lucy in the 1992 version of Dracula. The youngest sister is the first to be seduced (just like in Dracula) but is also the most wild to begin with, already having many men to chose from (again just like in Dracula) Both stories are about the sexual repression of the main "family of characters" and how one man draws them out of themselves. Including a parallel to the whole Dracula/Renfield relationship between the character of Adam and the one brother.

This surprisingly has a "happy ending". With Lucy and Adam declaring their acceptance to each other and agreeing to be willing to allow the other their secrets.  It made the ending feel over the top and sadly too hollywood for me.

what did I learn? What you see isn't always what you are getting.

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