Brewster McCloud (1970): Donnie Darko For The 70s?

Brewster McCloud (1970) was excellent, but at the same time it's a weight I have to get off my chest before it fucking crushes me. The movie is rich to the point where I won't be able to discuss everything I'd like to in this post and I'm sure there is a lot I missed, but after seeing it twice I can scarcely bear to write this post, let alone watch the movie again.

But somehow, I find myself watching it again.

The movie's tagline was "THIS MAY BE OVER YOUR HEAD", which is pretty apt considering that the movie never comes right out and explains to you what is going on beneath the surface of the film's perspective.

"Welcome to the party life. Welcome to the 70s."

Brewster McCloud initially presents itself as a rather typical comedic teen drama, but gets progressively darker and touches genres like crime drama and portrays the classic struggle between good and evil with a lot of heavy-handed symbolism. . Robert Altman was a big enough asshole to add a upbeat soundtrack, applause, and subtle laugher to the final scene, which happens to be the most gut-wrenching scene in the movie. Afterward, as the credits roll, there is a parade (seriously). Part of the creepiness of this movie is that even though it gets so very dark, it never really releases its grip on the style of movie that it appears to start out as. When you notice this as you watch it for the second time, the whole thing is just end-to-end sinister.

The nearest thing I can compare it to is Donnie Darko, and I'm even inclined to think that Donnie Darko was inspired by Brewster McCloud. Insofar as both movies exist in seriously fucked up realities, I can also compare it to the animated Perfect Blue, a movie that I saw when I was like fifteen and don't really remember too well.