ramona flowers

it's the way to ME that sofia is just so emblematic of everything in 2022 that a lesbian should never be. she is scheming. she is obsessive. she tries to lure katya away from her good christian het relationship into a world of sin. in the context of the 1973 film, she is a perfect example of the oversexualized clutching-at-pearls lesbophobia of the time. but rewatching it now in 2022, i cant help but sympathize with her. after surviving the orphanage fire, the streets, clawing her way up to find even a scrap of beauty, of love, of tenderness...wouldnt you be obsessed with it too? wouldnt you do anything to keep it with you? wouldnt you want to eat it too? anyways sofia apologist now and forever, i LOVE problematic lesbian rep <333

Marvel fans will try to tell you that nothing happens in the famous "Brighton Beach Banya/Bathhouse" fight in Martin Scorsese's Goncharov, but it it's all due to modern movie brainrot. "It's just two guys in towels talking about nothing." But Scorsese doesn't need to have three inserts to tell you that Goncharov still has Ilya's stiletto in his towel. Rybak (David Proval) has a similar towel, which might be concealing something, but the audience has the same amount of information as Goncharov, and you can see it in De Niro's face. He's trying to suss out if this is a hit, using the same "scanning" motion of his eyes he employed while playing cards. Rybak and Goncharov last parted on bad terms, but Goncharov clearly can't bring himself to murder an old partner based purely on suspicion and a few insults. And it's clear from Proval's body language that he knows that De Niro is supicious of him, and may be either looking for relief or an opportunity to attack him. So the stone-faced Proval never, literally, shows his hand, calling back to Luglio's poker night- he is the only player whose hand is never shown. And as this confrontation is happening, both sides are manipulating the steam, further obscuring each other's vision, and possibly making for an opening to strike. Recall also the use of the Platter's Smoke Gets in Your Eyes in the wedding scene, and the smoking "tell" used by Verna Bloom when Kateryna lies. In the same sequence, it's clear that Luglio doesn't just "disappear from the film," but was disappeared by Goncharov's crew- the whole scene was escalating misdirection leading to a final pay off. It's just that no character actually announces the plan.

Yeah sure everyone’s finally talking about Goncharov but it’s really disheartening to see everyone ignoring that it had been considered lost media till 2006 due to the actual mafia tracking the distribution to make sure almost every reel got destroyed. Please consider looking into the absolutely batshit history behind that, and then tell me that’s not just as interesting as the actual cyclical ending of the film! 

gaslight, gatekeep, goncharov

goncharov 1973 dir. martin scorsese might be a mafia movie to sigma male film bros but to me she is like if a traumatized russian mercenary who dreams of a quiet house on a hill but cannot escape the blood on his hands was my girlmutual

I mean read a movie however you want but honestly it's pretty laughable people read Katya and goncharov as romantic when the movie is pretty clear how distant they are from each other and how much it's a marriage of convenience more than anything else. Katya sitting up and waiting for goncharov in the study really reads more as accusatory than concerned and I think people overplay the anguish of her character when she is, in fact, truly self-sufficient from goncharov, a point scorcese really drives home. to paint her as doting or even at a baseline willing to sacrifice her way of life for goncharov is a disservice to the character and the writing. something to think about

btw the first time i watched goncharov (1973) was also the first time i tried edibles and let me tell you. the clock symbolism??? the experience of watching a three and a half hour long movie haunted by the passage of time all while high as balls in a windowless room??? PERMANENTLY altered my brain chemistry