You pulled out what I sensed was in this movie somewhere and just couldn't place it. It really felt like a trip back in time- recent enough to not suspect anything would change, but long enough ago to realize the differences are actually quite vast.
Interesting review, although it doesn’t make me feel like watching the film.
I noticed that Saltburn, like Brideshead Revisited, puts its lower class protagonist into an aristocratic circle by accident (at least in appearance). I assume that it is possible to fall in with such a crowd if you are good looking, charming or rich enough. It must be more comforting to believe that the chasm cannot be bridged, rather than understanding that one has been judged and found wanting.
The review also makes some strong points about the present day, where upper middle class and middle class types get thrown into an all-encompassing “white” group. The rich and connected white young people will always be fine, but the unfortunate young person who wishes to
emulate the successes of his parents or simply move up in life will now find the path to success much narrower. It turns out that the middle classes were better off with the old elite.
Finally, I also enjoyed the comparison of the present UK with the DDR. I spent a year at a British university a generation ago and I already saw the similarities when looking at the brutalist university architecture and the horrendously overpriced, second rate electronics on sale. But at least back them then there was still something of an expectation of freedom of thought and expression, even if it was sometimes not met. Now we have truly reached new depths of grim uniformity.
Incidentally, if Britain is now the DDR, that must make the USA the new USSR, Canada the new Cuba, Western Europe the new Warsaw Pact, Australia the new Cambodia and New Zealand the new North Korea. It works surprisingly well when you think about it...
You pulled out what I sensed was in this movie somewhere and just couldn't place it. It really felt like a trip back in time- recent enough to not suspect anything would change, but long enough ago to realize the differences are actually quite vast.
Interesting review, although it doesn’t make me feel like watching the film.
I noticed that Saltburn, like Brideshead Revisited, puts its lower class protagonist into an aristocratic circle by accident (at least in appearance). I assume that it is possible to fall in with such a crowd if you are good looking, charming or rich enough. It must be more comforting to believe that the chasm cannot be bridged, rather than understanding that one has been judged and found wanting.
The review also makes some strong points about the present day, where upper middle class and middle class types get thrown into an all-encompassing “white” group. The rich and connected white young people will always be fine, but the unfortunate young person who wishes to
emulate the successes of his parents or simply move up in life will now find the path to success much narrower. It turns out that the middle classes were better off with the old elite.
Finally, I also enjoyed the comparison of the present UK with the DDR. I spent a year at a British university a generation ago and I already saw the similarities when looking at the brutalist university architecture and the horrendously overpriced, second rate electronics on sale. But at least back them then there was still something of an expectation of freedom of thought and expression, even if it was sometimes not met. Now we have truly reached new depths of grim uniformity.
Incidentally, if Britain is now the DDR, that must make the USA the new USSR, Canada the new Cuba, Western Europe the new Warsaw Pact, Australia the new Cambodia and New Zealand the new North Korea. It works surprisingly well when you think about it...