Sunday, September 15, 2013

1908 - The Husband


The Husband tells a story of the saddest guy ever.  His wife, a teacher, has slept with one of her teenage students, and while off to jail has left him alone with their newborn child (when exactly did this affair take place, given how young the baby is?... was it before?...).  On top of that he's being further emasculated at work by younger employee.  It's just a shitty situation for this guy.  So we're programmed to have nothing but empathy for him... except I didn't... and that's what I bumped up against in this film.  I'm not against the choice of having the main character seem pissed off the whole time 'cause of the shitty situation he's been dealt - I get that - but the film has made the choice to make him... well, unlikeable.  I should have had nothing but empathy for this guy - but I didn't and I'm trying to figure out why.  Mostly it's probably because the choices the guy made - he just kind of ... acted, without and kind of a plan - and when we seem him trying to break out on his own career-wise, well, he just doesn't seem all that good at his job.
I really wanted to like this film, and there's some good elements going on with it, but I really had a hard time finding an in with the main character.  From the reviews I read, I think there's an audience for this type of film, and likely it just wasn't the right fit for me at the time I viewed it.  Please, though, if it seems interesting to you at all, please give it a shot and judge for yourself!

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