Harry and Tonto, written by Josh Greenfeld and
Paul Mazursky, directed by the latter
9 out of 10
Notes and
thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and http://realini.blogspot.ro/
Even if not
spectacular or complicated, Harry and Tonto is without a doubt one of the best
comedies ever made.
It is in
fact on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list:
Art Carney,
the magnificent actor in the title role has deservedly won both:
-
The Academy Award for Best Actor in
a Leading Role and
-
The Golden Globe in the same
category
Tonto – my understanding
is that the actor- cat had the same name as its character- deserved some awards
as well.
After all, I
think I have seen only once a person with a cat in a leech and the tomcat that
has one of the leading roles is brilliant.
Harry is a
retired man in his seventies, with a great sense of humor, combative attitude
and a zest for life.
-
Harry is a role model!
-
Happy with his past life and yet
ready for new challenges, he drives or is driven from one side of the USA to
the other
Friendly and
talkative, open and funny, resilient and loyal, wise and well read, this is the
ideal companion.
He quotes
from Shakespeare and he rightly says that the genius was the best writer ever,
when there are challenges…
One scene
in which he refers to William Shakespeare takes place in one of his sons’ car,
after being evacuated:
-
You know, Lear had to leave his
estate…it ended up badly…I think there were words to this effect
This is a
good comedy, with jokes on so many aspects, from the “capitalist bastards” that
demolish Harry’s building to the… panhandler:
-
“Panhandler: [knocks on car window]
Have you got 35 cents?
-
Harry: Why thirty-five?
-
Panhandler: I wanna' buy a mink
coat.”
Once he
leaves New York with his cat, Harry meets a wide variety of people: a second
hand salesman, a sixteen year old girl that may be younger, and a hooker who
has sex with the hero on the way to Las Vegas.
Issues like
drugs- from peyote to heroine-old age, sex, Tibetan meditation, yoga and the
vows of silence are discussed.
Harry has a
few too many drinks when he enters a casino in Sin City and takes Tonto along
with him, with the result that he has to urinate.
He is
arrested, because he did that at the entrance in the hotel and in jail he meets
another colorful personage:
-
Sam Two Feathers is a Native American
who “uses good medicine on good people and bad medicine on bad people”
He is
actually arrested for practicing without a license, but he is very good at what
he does and we have a scientific explanation.
-
Sam Two Feathers has a calling, he
says himself that he “loves his work”
Psychology studies
have revealed that there are three groups of men and women in each domain, with
one category working to get paid, a second doing it because they see it as a career
opportunity and the most privileged are those who have a calling.
There are
evidently moments of sadness, as when his communist friend dies, or when he
meets his third son, Eddie.
Larry
Hagman, famous for his role in the Dallas soap opera series around here, has
the role of the depressed son.
Eddie is
left without money, but with the profile of a “playboy „as his father puts it
and starts crying over his failures.
Wonderful
film.
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