On The Last Lullaby, Jeffrey Goodman in a manifesto-like statement expressed his desires to stray away from modern cinematic norms and trends. He called for a seemingly nostalgic return to when film actually mirrored its society in a relevant fashion. Its an honest sentiment and one that I find both intriguing and troubling. On the one hand, looking back through the eyes of history one can easily associate periods of time with cultural artifacts such as film in this context. But the trouble I see is whether or not this is indeed simply “nostalgia” at work or possibly the presence of a larger historical scope to look back on.
Its hard to say whether or not cinema for better or worse, does or does not mirror our own contemporary society today. Surely film has indeed become somehow more rapid, sporadic, and pointlessly styled with little forethought. But it is hard to state whether this is not somehow indicative of our modern perceptions in a more holistic context. Life and temporal perception have indeed become more rushed, mechanized, and rather chaotic thus possibly for better or worse, film has still retained a certain accuracy in social reflection.
Regardless, Goodman does indeed make a great effort to stray away from huge Box office hitters like 300 or Crank which literally bombarded the viewer with an almost orgy-astic attack of excess. The Last Lullaby is anything but, and is indeed a refreshing diversion away from the over stimulation of these recent films. Goodman’s debut is if anything, a refreshing break from the quite literally tiresome fare at the box office of recent years characterized largely by senseless visual style.