Word: sartrean
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Lyne had intended to produce a damning critique of contemporary culture, then he has fashioned an existential horror story of Sartrean proportions. The film reflects how Lyne and much of contemporary society have come to view human relationships--they are merely another item at the checkout counter...
...nervous distraction with his mouth gaping open in a permanently dazed expression; this guy is so neurotic he's got sweat coming out of his ears. And the acting by the supporting cast also is fine, especially by John Rabinowitz '85 as a guest who points out the Sartrean dilemma of being and nothingness by throwing himself down on all fours "to pretend to be a hyena"--a cameo that culminates in Rabinowitz taking a chunk out of the leg of a fellow guest. Kudos to Fitch for giving Rabinowitz several chances throughout the play to reveal his amazing repertoire...
Israel's construct is simple. He manipulates his characters and the plot to set up the pure existential, choice, a Sartrean quandry-cum-Kafkaesque absurdity. Does Rick shtup Tracy, the modern-day Aphrodite, at the party, and lose his marriage, or does he stick to his goes for a set of out-dated moral strictures that Israel effectively shows are no longer relevant...