Lizard68591All The King's Men - 3 Clocks
October 22nd 2006 00:00
All The King’s Men chronicles the birth of a politician in the truest sense of the word. It exposes the transformation of a man from humble beginnings as a “hick” into a product of the corrupt system he set out to salvage. In an outstanding performance, Sean Penn brings to life the character of Willie Stark, all the while never once truly revealing the man behind the politician. And while it is true that this once principled man was manipulated into the game, it was not long before he learned how to play.
By far the best part of All The King’s Men was the narration, delivered by Willie Stark’s right hand man Jack Burden [Jude Law]. Through his narration, the audience is made aware of Jacks inner struggle with his own life path which ever day lead him further away from his roots in Louisiana’s high society. Not surprisingly, the most striking passage was taken verbatim from Robert Penn Warring’s original novel on which this movie, and its predecessor, was based.
“The Friend of Your Youth is the only friend you will ever have, for he does not really see you. He sees in his mind a face which does not exist any more, speaks a name—Spike, Bud, Snip, Red, Jack, Dave—which belongs to that now nonexistent face but which by some inane and doddering confusion of the universe is for the moment attached to a not too happily met and boring stranger…The Friend of Your Youth is your friend because he does not see you any more.”
In the end I guess the point is that we all change, some more than others I suppose. Jack changed just enough that he was able to work for a man like Stark while Stark changed to the point where anyone who knew him in his youth would find it difficult to recognize the man that he had become.
By far the best part of All The King’s Men was the narration, delivered by Willie Stark’s right hand man Jack Burden [Jude Law]. Through his narration, the audience is made aware of Jacks inner struggle with his own life path which ever day lead him further away from his roots in Louisiana’s high society. Not surprisingly, the most striking passage was taken verbatim from Robert Penn Warring’s original novel on which this movie, and its predecessor, was based.
“The Friend of Your Youth is the only friend you will ever have, for he does not really see you. He sees in his mind a face which does not exist any more, speaks a name—Spike, Bud, Snip, Red, Jack, Dave—which belongs to that now nonexistent face but which by some inane and doddering confusion of the universe is for the moment attached to a not too happily met and boring stranger…The Friend of Your Youth is your friend because he does not see you any more.”
In the end I guess the point is that we all change, some more than others I suppose. Jack changed just enough that he was able to work for a man like Stark while Stark changed to the point where anyone who knew him in his youth would find it difficult to recognize the man that he had become.
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