Another movie that is not talked about much. Its a drama about a race car dirver , bobby deerfield , played by Al Pacino. When i started watching this , what i expected was a two hour peek into a racer’s life with action packed fast moving circuits and how his life gets affected by a lady he meets. But to my surprise it is a very deep movie. I am not sure if i totally understood what the director intended but i feel it was it was about a man whos a loner. He is not amused by the very sense of life … excitement surprises and tries to find the thrills on race tracks. He meets a woman hwo is really eccentric. At first she seems to be a maniac but as the movie progresses , you kinda get the feel of the character . You begin to understand why the character was shaped in the way it was … it perfectly compliments the metaphor behind the story. She is a terminally ill patient and the eefect she has on bobby deerfield’s life looks abstract but when you try to think the purpose behind the story , you understand the beauty of direction. There is a scene where she tells Pacino to follow a hot air balloon and Pacino replies ,” How can we follow the balloon. We dont know where the balloon is going. The man in the balloon doesn’t know where the balloon is going.” She replies ,” The balloon got away.”
It was very powerful scene for me. According to me the drector here is talking about following life. The very person who lives his own life has no idea where its headed , the fate , the destiny and after a while its gone!!The idea behind the woman’s character is you dont have to worry about the starts , the process , the fate or the result. Just live the moment as it goes , try to experiment and experience.
There are couple of other scenes too that are powehouse. As always theres no doubt about Pacino’s histrionics. Sometimes i wonder why did he stop doing films like Bobby deerfield , And justice for all , Scarecrow. These are the kinda of movies that are very blanch superficially but if you can grasp their meaning , you can watch these over and over again. Still i some where feel i havent really understood this one completely… gotta watch it again to find out if i can understand the message better. Especially the scene where Pacino stops by some place where a guy is gardening. He goes there and after a small conversation just sits there silently. The guy asks him if he wants water. Pacino relies , ” I just want to be with someone. I dont want to talk. I just want to be with someone. Highly recomended if you like watching off-beat dramas. Not for mass-audience looking for entertainment , its a parallel cinema. The dialogues between characters are scripted beautifully. Pacino’s potrayal of the character is really amazing.
