Carnal Knowledge
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Movie Reviews of Carnal Knowledge
Movie Review: "Would You Rather Love A Woman Or Have A Woman Love You?"
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the most controversial movies ever made, this early 1970s' masterpiece cemented the reputations of Jack Nicholson and Mike Nichols, proved that Art Garfunkel can act, gave Candice Bergen her big break, and turned Ann-Margret into a serious actress. Initially, "Carnal Knowledge" was greeted with mixed reactions, but over time has been considered groundbreaking in its frank portrayal of sexual relationships between two womanizing friends over a nearly 30 year period.
The film starts off in college, where two friends name Jonathan (Nicholson) and Sandy (Garfunkel) are roommates who dote on sex and nothing else. When Sandy meets Susan (Bergen) at mixer, he is immediately smitten with her, as is Jonathan, who takes her under his own wing. A few years go by as we see Sandy become involved with Jennifer (Carol Kane). Finally, Jonathan falls in love with the beautiful, and, yes, busty Bobbie (Ann-Margret, who deservedly got an Oscar nomination for her role). Their relationship becomes rougher as years go by, culminating in one of Nicholson's greatest fits of rage ever, matched by Ann's emotional breakdown as she begs him to marry her. The film seems to be very crowded, but the plot unfolds so smoothly, you never get a sense of "gosh, I wanna shut this off because I don't understand it", since every storyline in it grabs you and never lets go.
The performances in this film are perfect. Nicholson gives one of his best performances ever as Jonathan, while Ann-Margret gives what may well be her single greatest performance of her career. It was great to see these two perform together, as Nicholson is my favorite actor and Ann my favorite actress. The two play off each other so well that they make the film watchable for their chemistry alone. Garfunkel was a perfect choice to play Sandy. Everyone may know him as one half of Simon & Garfunkel, but watching him play the part, he embodies it so well you can't imagine anyone playing the role. Though she leaves the movie pretty early, Candice Bergen did a superb portrayal of Susan, and Carol Kane was great as Jennifer. Rita Moreno does not appear until the last scene, but she really does the make the most of her screen time.
"Carnal Knowledge" is a cinematic masterpiece that belongs in any dvd collectio. Do not hesitate in purchasing this movie. It is a must have.
Movie Review: So Unsentimental It's Scary
Summary: 5 Stars
When this movie first came out, a contemporary labelled it a movie about two guys who confused liking women (...). That was true.
But oh, it's so much more. Nicholson delivers one of his best, if less well-recognized, angry outbursts. He's so good at rage-a-holism that you cannot help but admire him. More than that, though, he shows the terrible emptiness of a man who only knows relationships as transactions and who believes that to give of yourself risks not getting as much back - and that the only people who do that are chumps.
Art Garfunkel's character - and his performance - are way too easily eclipsed by Nicholson's. But it offers so much: he is a doctor who's self-absorption is so extreme that you wonder how he could manage the spiritual demands of medical practice. And he lusts for Candace Bergen, a woman portrayed as either frigid or just non-responsive because she's preoccupied by her feelings for Jack.
So, you have a pretty volatile mix: lust, sex, betrayal, high levels of emotions such as anger...
Told in a clinical cinematic style which is amazingly apt, given its sharp contrast. Much of the story is told via static, unmoving head shots. For most of the movie, even non-head shots are done with a mounted, fixed camera. People leave the frame, are away for a while, and then come back into frame.
The "boring" camera underscores how Mike Nichols wants us to see his characters: in a dispassionate way, as though we were observing an ant colony with detached irony. God, it's a good thing that these awful, bankrupt people are nothing like WE are...
Of course.
And then there's the last sequence. Rita Moreno demonstrates acting life after being Maria's best friend in West Side Story...playing a prostitute, she executes a script written by Jack Nicholson which Jack now requires, to the letter, in order for Jack to reach climax. "It's in the air," she says, with an indescribable facial expression of professional satisfaction and delight, as though the world can now go on because Jack, in a pre-Viagra day, can achieve an erection.
Thank God we're so much better now...we have Viagra.
Watch this movie. Learn something about yourself in the process. Beware of stepping on ants, too...
Movie Review: Very Intresting
Summary: 5 Stars
Carnal Knowledge, when released in 1971, was very controversial and was one of the first films to be about sex. There had been movies before it with sexual content, but not a movie that was about sex and what we do for it.
Although looking at it now, this film can't hold a candle to other sexual films around nowadays and it's a bit dated with the times but it's still a ground-breaking piece of filmmaking and it's a really good movie. It's not for everyone though, not just because of the subject matter, but because it's about people and conversations. The film isn't dialogue, event, dialogue, event, dialogue, big event. The film is instead; setting, dialogue, setting, dialogue, nudity, dialogue...It plays almost like a play, rather than a movie but it somehow works. Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel play two college roommates named Jonathan and Sandy. When we meet the two men, they're both virgins and talk graphicly about what they desire in a woman. About the same time, at a party, Sandy meets a woman named Susan (Candice Bergen) and falls for her. But, Jonathan begins dating her simultaneously (hiding it from Sandy) and ends up losing his virginity to Susan before Sandy does. Jonanthan, out of guilt, hastily breaks up with Susan and Sandy stays with her. Jonathan never tells Sandy what happened. Instead, the story moves on with Jonathan falling for a woman named Bobbie (Ann-Margret, who was really hot). Sandy doesn't disappear, but his character is downgraded from here. The movie is 98 minutes and Sandy is probably in it a little over 30 minutes. Anyway, that's all I can really say about the plot without telling you everything. All the actors are spectacular, but as usual it's Nicholson who gives the best performance. There are scenes in the film where the camera will hold on an actor for a long period of time and have the actor recite a long monologue. Everytime this happens with Nicholson, he knocks it out of the park. Anyway, this is an innovative and highly interesting film; As I said, it's not for everybody...But it's definitely worth checking out.
GRADE: A
Movie Review: This film tells the truth. Controversial at its time.
Summary: 5 Stars
This film tells the truth. Not such an old film, the mature adult situations are still happening today even in this decade. Very controversial film of its time. Almost was not released and could not be shown on Network TV at all. Finally in the mid-1980's it was finally allowed to be shown on the then-independent KTLA Channel 5 Los Angeles tv station. Hard-hitting drama about two male roomates. One man (played by Art Gurfunkel as "Sandy") is more sensitive to woman while the other man played by Jack Nicholson feels so macho he must have more than tweleve women a year. When Art falls in love with Candice Bergen (she plays a virgin) it starts as a good friendship until Jack Nicholson buds in. He secretly makes a phone call to her without Art knowing. Jack dates Candice and she loses her virginity by the macho man who can get any woman he wants anywhere, anyway. (So why, Candice?) When Jack talks about his "girlfriend", Art dos not know it's the same woman he loves. When Candice decides to break it off with Jack, Jack becomes a cad and thinks he can break it off first. Well, Jack now has to keep his mouth shut whenever Art and Candice are in the same room together with him. Jack finally comes to the realization that he is getting older and can't get as many woman as he used to. He feels bad when he sees Candice and Art together (metal break-through finally!) Then, the sizzling Ann-Margret enters the picture. Who becomes the more mature man? Who is given LOVE, not just LUST & LEAVE. Some men will find this film a bit hard to swallow. Some women who see this film will say "AMEN!" by the end of it. There is a lesson to be learned here. Get the message of the film. Carol Kane and Rita Moreno are also in the cast. No special features on this DVD. Wide-Screen and Full-Screen available on either side of DVD.Movie Review: Excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
Mike Nichols was on a roll after "The Graduate" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" "Carnal Knowledge" is his most intimate film, and one of the most daring of the 1970s. Its frankness in dealing with young men's sexual psychology has not lost its edge after thirty years. On top of it all, it gives us Nicholson's first truly great performance. The early scenes between him and Garfunkel are fresh and sincere. Spanning some three decades of their friendship, we see how their attitudes towards sex, and women in general, shape their lives. Both actors do a fine job of communicating the gravity of those years, and the most devastating scene is the one where Jack delivers a long and furious tirade at Ann-Margret. "I don't want a job, I want you," she says, to which he replies, "I'm taken...by me!" Brutally honest, yes, but because we've seen what comes before, it's perfectly logical. These men are still affected by the innocence of their younger years, but that innocence is violently clashing with their adult understanding (or lack thereof)--the understanding that the personality is in perpetual motion, and that it becomes difficult to keep up. The movie is often bleak in its settings and its subject matter, but the characters are very real--they challenge you to challenge them. Their dysfunctions may enlighten you, and there is nothing bleak about being enlightened. Oh, and Ann-Margret achieves bombshell status with this movie, playing a woman who at first seems to be the answer to all of Nicholson's fantasies. "Bye Bye Birdie" it ain't.