We watched Saltburn last week when it came on Amazon Prime, and I’ve not enjoyed a film so much in years. A Ripley-esque working class young man infiltrates a snooty English family. Shock follows shock follows shock. The final scene is delightful. All the scenes are delightful. It’s amped-up class drama on a cinematic stage, and I wanted to scream “amen” several times. I don’t care if it felt derivative. Shakespeare used to steal from other artists all the time.
Afterwards, we Googled the reviews and the critics hated Saltburn. They all had their reasons, but the bottom line is, I don’t trust critics. My wife and I both served in the role of movie critic during our journalistic days. You got free tickets to a movie with a bunch of other “passholes” and afterwards, wrote up your review. The temptation was to show how clever you were by spotting a reference or an angle nobody else did. But you also felt like a jerk if you were mean. People spend years working on these projects and you’re like Cesar. You show up and put your thumb up in the air. It’s all about consolidation of power.
It’s been since before Covid that I went to a movie theater. In England we call them “cinemas”. Having a two-year-old means it’s too costly to go, really. Although in February we’re springing for a babysitter (which is, like, $150 by the time you’ve got their Uber home) plus dinner and then seeing Eddie Izzard do Hamlet. That’s a $500 Friday night, and will blow our entertainment budget for 2024, but hey. It’s Eddie Izzard doing Hamlet. Meanwhile the streaming services are so up to date on the new releases that we keep up with film. I have a Mubi.com subscription for the artsy movies, too.
Saltburn may be unoriginal—and I’d contest that, too, actually—but it’s certainly gripping to view. The actors are fantastic. The commentary on the class system strikes a chord with me. It’s been decades since Pulp sang Common People but the truth is, I get reminded of class prejudice all the time. I love England for its music and comedy and theater and art. I am quite happy to leave it behind for its petty class snobbery and vindictive policing of such things. A film that lays bare the traumas inflicted by such a system is going to rank high on my list.
In New York, you’re British. Nobody cares which specific postal code you grew up in. They’re more prepared to judge you based on the effort and energy and results you deliver. Not whether you happen to pronounce your t’s and h’s in a certain way. It’s the huge blind spot in British society and continues holding everybody back to this day. If you want to rile me up, ask me about the British class system, as you can tell.
Like class, film criticism is also very much about the Emperor’s New Clothes. Critics decide some actors are good and some are bad. It’s the same with directors. As far as I can see, these consensuses emerge partly based on how much money the movie studios spend on spin. Yes, Judi Dench is a good actor. But she’s terrible in the James Bond movies. There’s also nothing interesting or original about the movie Oppenheimer. But it’s directed by a man who once cast Harry Styles as a World War II soldier and had a go at one of the Batman’s. Ergo, we’re supposed to find it fascinating. Go see Barbie or Saltburn instead. Or The Holdovers. I liked that a lot. It dealt with repressed emotion, mental illness and…class prejudice. I guess I’m a sucker for certain themes. I also love that the Internet makes film criticism more democratic. The streaming services thrive on popularity, not snobbery. There’s room for both.
Have you seen anything good at “the pictures,” lately? And what do you think of critics? Did you like Saltburn?
