the arrangement, starring kirk douglas and faye dunaway, was directed in 1969 by elia kazan and is based on his novel of the same name. it is the story of a successful advertising agent who has had an affair and the subsequent surreal turn of events that leaves him questioning his life. he is confused, angry, in a sort mournful state. he sees his present life rendered like a cartoon. he falls into a frenzy mixing recent and ancient past with manic depressive gusto. yipee!
the film is shocking, beautiful on the eyes, both stupid and smart at the same time. the design is very west coast pop, and the structure is complex in its arrangement (ha) of edits. the movie sort of beats on and on hysterically, shifting backwards and forwards in time. and it really is quite a melodramatic downer. at the same time, it’s kind of fun to watch. there were several times when i thought “this is terrible,” but i found that i could not take my eyes off of it. and now that i’ve watched it, i can’t stop thinking about it.
film stills from here
THE ARRANGEMENT
