Melabee in color

Yes we are still grinding our way through The Canterbury Tales & I am really really hoping this was the low point.  I am also taking a deep deep breathe & plan to revisit it-yes, I really do & all because of The Cook, the Thief, his Wife & her Lover.

I actually like (it is hard to say enjoyed) this movie.  I did even the first time I saw it.  As E***** described "I do not really care for movies with brutal rape scenes but in this movie it would have been a kind of relief".  I understand it now has an X rating; when I saw it, it was just flagged "Foreign" & the guy at the movie theater who sold us our tickets made sure we were absolutely clear there would be no refunds.  A*****, E*****'s daughter, swears the movie is about color & I think she might be right.  I caught that it worked with color that first go-round but that it might actually be about color makes sense too.

That is almost all I want to say about that, except I think Melabee is another one of those stories that is about something else.  First, there is the surface story which is an excruciating discussion of why Melabee cannot exact revenge on those who have wronged him (by assaulting his daughter & wife, too, I think-it was hard to stay alert).

Not so very far underneath that are two competing themes.  The first a parody of the husband as head of the house & the second a sort of 14th Century version of People magazine, in that randomly attributed spewings are all rehashed in an "if you do not know who this is you should not be here" kind of way.  Neither one of these interest me much;  I only read People magazine when I am at the allergist getting my shots & now that Jon&Kate cannot seem to get off the cover, I mostly just look at the walls.

But I think there must be something else, right?  Gratuitous violence should be easier than this.  The wounds to the daughter (& wife, I think) are just so oddly placed.  Also, I think there might be coded messages in the order that philosophers are referenced.  Maybe it is like Hamlet, & it turns out the whole thing is based on actual history, right down to the carnage.

I am convinced it cannot be quite so black & white as it appears.