Uh, Craig absolutely did not choose to live in the body of Maxine's child. He had no idea he would be diverted away from Malkovich. The last thing he says on the turnpike before the Seven Years Later is "I'm going to go right back and kick Lester out of Malkovich, and then you'll love me again." He was trapped, and his ending is a tragedy, not a stalker choosing to creep on his estranged family.
It's just so sad when you realize he can't leave the body of the child and he's forever watching them be happy together, wanting that for himself again, but he just can't ever leave, and he has to watch the love of his life be intimate with his ex wife, dancing and hugging each other. He can't look away because even though he wants to and cries out "Look away! Look away!" The child is unable to be controlled by him like John Malkovich or any adult so he is forced to watch it for all eternity and all his cries are for naught.
It's so easy to pretend to be someone you are not. We do it all the time and feel justified at times when doing so. This movie LITERALLY shows someone BEING someone they are not to gain the love of others. When you see in it this harsh and outlandish context, it's easy to see that 1.) It's foolish (Maxine always rejects the real Craig) and 2.) It's dehumanizing. I think it raises the question for the viewer: Would you rather be who you are, embrace that, and find someone who loves you for you, or, would you be someone your not to gain the love of someone who doesn't truly love you. Not to mention the many other themes of consciousness, sexual identity, immortality, etc.
Spike Jones started by directing skate videos, I know this is unimportant to people who don't care about/follow skateboarding culture but its important to note that Spikes videos are some of the most memorable and rare of all time. He is a legend in skateboarding and wouldn't have become a director without that past. Love Spike, he is the best.
I was a kid skateboarding around the same time Jonze was putting out videos and I subsequently grew up to be a pretentious film nerd. And yet until just now, I had never considered just how much Spike Jonze alone has defined my artistic sensibilities. I can still remember most of the videos coming out at that time were trying to imitate the CKY trend and then one rainy day at the skatepark, someone said, "You wanna see something REALLY cool?" And I've been a fan ever since.
I think that fact that John Malcovich is more popular now than before proves he was the perfect choice plus i can't imagine any other actor to be the host
Hi Ariana, great analysis. I just watched this movie again for the first time in over a decade, although even still I always have said it's one of my top favourite movies. I think I agree with your main theory, I've always felt the same especially since there are so many reference to puppets. I wondered if you might be interested in my understanding of the movie. I think that on top of the movie being about control, it's especially about the control of a parent to a child. There are lots of reasons pointing to this, the first being the many references to parenthood in the movie. For example the movie starts with Lotty badgering Craig to have a child, as well as Lotty's obsession with keeping animals something that is often seen as a replacement for feelings of parenthood. Also Lester follows Malkovich's life, the wall is almost the wall of a proud father. I'm sure there are lots of other examples as well this is just a couple. Probably the most striking and critical to my understanding of the movie, is that it ends on the child of Lotty and Maxine, and that Craig is trapped in her unconscious. What I have always taken this to mean is that people who are generous and let their "children" live their lives, such as Lester, will live on in the childs memory and inform the child's actions. In this way it truly IS a path to immortality, just perhaps not one that matches our classical idea of immortality being surviving in the corporeal body. Craig on the other hand is the counter example to this, he wants to control Malkovich and make Malkovich live the life that craig secretly wanted, much like a controlling father. We even see that when he completely controls Malkovich, that Malkovich ends up with all the same problems that Craig had. He's in a loveless marriage, he let's his appearance go, his wife is having a baby that Craig doesn't really want. We see at the end where this kind of controlling parenting ends, with Craig being subsumed to an unhealthy unconscious neuroticism of the child, and Craig essentially being forgotten. Well that's about the gist of it, thank you if you've read this far, and I would love to hear what you think about my analysis.
10:41 "Real control isn't dictating how or what gets done, it's the ability to be secure in yourself and the confidence that comes from it." That's actually quite profound and I've never thought of it like that.
He doesn't DECIDE to live in Emily's mind. He gets diverted into Malkovich's daughter, when he tries to re-enter Malkovich's mind after midnight (becuase he doesn't know about about the "before midnight on the vessel's 44th birthday" rule). You even hear him impotently trying to tell her to NOT keep looking at Maxine and Lottie. How can you not know that? It''s right there in the film!
@@Theclasshole No. Obnoxious would have been making derogatory comments about the author (like calling their arguments obnoxious maybe?) It is entirely legitimate to question their familiarity with the source material. Particularly given that they based one of the main contentions around an incorrect plot point. People shouldn't make video essays about other people's art unless they know what they are talking about, and knowledge of the work should be the starting point.
omg i love being john malkovich, its one of my favourite movies and one i couldn't stop thinking about for months after i first saw it. its so weird yet so smart and fits into my favourite movie genre which is "makes me question my own existence" i love film and thus im subscribed to a lot channels like yours that discuss and dissect film, so back when i saw being john malkovich i went looking on all my film channel subscriptions to see if anybody had talked about this weird ass fucking movie and no one had. i looked on general search and frankly there was nothing about it, it baffled me that no one was talking about this movie bcuz there was just so much going on and so much to discuss but i digress. my point is im really glad you made this video! i love your insight on films, you have a great perspective on movies+shows and the deeper meaning, overall meaning and explanation of them. and honestly i needed someone to prove that this movie wasn't just a fever dream i had.
Love this video and this movie !!!! Just a have a slightly different take for the end is that Craig is doomed to live in the childs mind as the child is the next "new vessel" because he tries to re-enters Malkovich but he is past 44 years old at that stage and Craig in unaware of this rule when he tries to re-enter. This means he is trapped as prisoner in the new vessel without any control. From a thematic point I view it as if you spend your life trying to be someone else you become unhappy and lose the control you thought you had as you can't find inner happiness and trapped watching the people close to you become distant
nice work. i enjoyed this, and i'm not usually a fan of people putting their interpretations out there to be viewed! you're a good detective. keep it up!
Really well developed ideas and deep dive into the cinematic value each offer. You clearly do your homework and provide some really quality insights. Keep up your fabulous work!
This unlocked something else for me: you alluded to how Kaufman was almost showing a desire to use a “rich and famous” person as a surrogate for becoming successful with your own creativity. That almost directly echoes Charlie’s jealousy/resentment of his twin Donald in “Adaptation,” who took the easy route of capitulating to mainstream success. That further works with your other claim that Kaufman mashes up two different ideas almost as if he’s two different writers.
According to other sources Craig goes into Emily Maxine and Lotte's daughter because he tried to re enter Malkovich but failed because it was after midnight and Lester and company already were settled into Malkovich and Emily was to be the next host of the portal. Craig is actually trapped inside Emily and forced to live forever inside Emily and forced to watch Lotte and Maxine live happily.
Something I've been curious about is the secretary. She has a terrible hearing problem but doesn't recognize it. Why? There's an angle there, but I can't figure out its meaning.
Hi, Ariana! Thanks for such a great video and a great analysis. Hope you and your loved ones are doing great. I just watched the movie a few days ago for the second time; the first one was 20 years ago and I was in my early teens, so it's almost as I had never watched it before. A few days before that, though, I was reading an interview with Jan Svankmajer, a Czech artist who directed a stop motion version of "Alice in Wonderland" in the 80s (I don't know much about him or his work, but this one stuck with me), and he said something that came back after watching BJM: he said that, while the Disney/Tim Burton versions of "Alice" follow the guidelines of a fairytale, his was more like a dream - the difference being that fairy tales have a message based on moral values and dreams are pure expressions of one's desires, never bound by moral. I think it came back to me because I felt BJM's characters were driven by their desires to the point of becoming blind to almost anything else, be it the consent and well-being of others, be it their own happiness or self-preservation: Craig is so infatuated with Maxine that he becomes dangerous towards his own wife and , in the end, decides to spend the rest of his days just watching other people live, without any of the control he once had over Malkovich; Lotte crowds their apartment with animals she rescued and tries to kill Maxine after being rejected; Maxine becomes instantly invested in the use of the portal for profit even though she barely stands Craig and rejects Maxine, and her genuine affection for her, immediately after realizing how much power she could have over Malkovich via Craig (and right after hearing that the woman she loved was held in a cage); the elderly are so obsessed with living forever that they take Malkovich's body, and the movie's final images show their future, helpless host; and, finally, Malkovich lets Maxine into his life too many times out of fascination and pays the price for it. I don't mention that out of any intention of contradicting your analysis or anything, specially since, unlike you, I did zero research, but for the opposite reason: your video got me even more excited about the movie and the numerous ways it allows us to interpret it - indeed, a Rorschach test. Just subscribed. Cheers! :)
Saw your post on r/kaufman and decided to check this out. GOD DAMN its well made! Are you gonna review "I'm thinking of ending things"? When it comes out, I plan on reviewing it on my channel
hey!! i loved your balance of how this movie is important to you with the analysis!! it made this essay more fun to follow & personal? honest? idk!! but i think we all try to be too serious!! & little fun facts like “bc i had a crush” as an explanation is cute!! keep up your wonderful self-driven work love!!
I was a kid skateboarding around the same time Weird Malkovich was putting out videos and I subsequently grew up to be a pretentious film nerd. And yet until just now, I had never considered just how much Weird Malkovich alone has defined my artistic sensibilities. I can still remember most of the videos coming out at that time were trying to imitate the CKY trend and then one rainy day at the skatepark, someone said, "You wanna see something REALLY cool?"
Just about the best explanation I think there could be. Really impressed with this video; which will make a rewatch more enjoyable at some stage. Thank you! P.S I think it’s important part of the pathos that he has not decided to be in the child’s body but trapped there unable to take any control having unknowingly entered probably just moments after midnight at the time of the host switch over - all explained by his boss when revealing the bizarre ‘portal manual’! 😅
Great video! I love this film because it means everything and nothing at the same time. Your analysis on the basis of control was really intriguing to hear as there are SO many interpretations of this utterly fantastic film. I'm wondering your thoughts on the idea that Jordan Peele's Get Out is a sequel to BJM. I really love both movies and I'd like to hear your thoughts. Cheers!
It is done in an incredibly elaborate way, however I believe the main thrust of the film is the way that rejection of desires drives people to extremes. When a person alleviates their personal loneliness, they are no longer available to alleviate yours...and this hurts.
Hi! I'm writing a paper about this movie and I find your analysis really useful and interesting. Could you please tell me the source of the analogy between this movie and the rorschach test? Thank you in advance
Hi Ariana. Have you considered why one gets to be John Malkovich for only fifteen minutes at a time? Consider the prophecy of Andy Warhol, who predicted that in the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes. So, in a sense, if John Malkovich is famous, those who enter the portal become famous, for exactly fifteen minutes. When Warhol spoke, people interpreted his remarks as meaning the dilution of celebrity fame through ubiquity. They did not realize that vicarious fame could also satisfy Warhol's prediction.
Who would come up with this stuff? I remember asking myself that question when I was on set of a movie called "Sub Zero", with Linden Ashby, who played Johnny Cage in the original Mortal Kombat. Sub Zero had nothing to do with fighting. It was a low budget "Cliffhanger" ripoff, about mountain climbers. Meanwhile, it has "Johnny Cage" actor in it. I bet someone in a pitch meeting said: "You know what this movie title reminds me of? Some other film that I know an actor from." And that's how he got hired. I've been in pitch sessions, where a whole bunch of people play basketball with a concept until it either grows into something interesting, or falls apart. Anyone who has an association with the topic can contribute whatever's on their mind. And if it's something done on a Friday, over a few drinks, then sometimes ideas drift and drift, till you end up with something no less weird that Being John Malcovich.
I really enjoy and agree with most of this video young lady, but, I do disagree with your thought that John Cusack's character wanted to be in Maxine's child, he ended up placed there because he missed the window of time to achieve that re "takeover" of Malkovich, according to Lester's profiling of the outcome, which Swartz realized and "hated" at the end of the film. Love the insight:) Thank you
i'm sorry, i thought spike jones was the musician who performed such beloved hits as "the merry-go-round broke down" and "open the door, richard" some time in the early 20th century
@@sammystoolpigeon He's got a book coming out in July called Antkind and he wrote and directed an adaptation of I'm Thinking of Ending Things which should come out this year on Netflix too.
Great video but the one mistake u made was Craig tries to go into malcovich's head so he can fool maxene to be with him but he didn't know about the 44th birthday rule so he ends up getting trapped in maxene and Lotte's child forever having to watch lotte and maxene live happily where he is trapped there forever.
@@odmblogs he can't cause he's stuck there because of the 44 after midnight rule which is if someone gets in after midnight they will get stuck in a child's body and can never leave. Craig yells to maxene that he is going to go back into malcovich and seduce her again but it is after midnight and he gets stuck in maxene and Lotte's child and is punished to forever look at max and Lotte whilst he pines over maxene.
the real reson this movie is a cult classic is because it offered us a fantasy story of people living for ever through malcovich, a rich, successful? actor. :P
