A MARRIED COUPLE (1969 documentary)

 
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PostPosted: Sat May 04, 2013 9:47 pm    Post subject: A MARRIED COUPLE (1969 documentary) Reply with quote

Trying to remember who Allan King was, I found that I’d recently seen his documentary, Warrendale. In A Married Couple he serves up another documentary, this time following a married Toronto couple, with whom King spent seven weeks.

Billy and Antoinette seem conscious of the camera, and the movie felt especially awkward to me. In fact, it made me squirm, as if I’d been obliged to look through a keyhole at a couple’s intimate moments. They are shown in bed, having fierce arguments, getting abusive, and swimming naked.

What kind of prurient curiosity keeps someone like me watching such a movie? I can’t imagine, but I didn’t turn it off. I kept thinking that at the time when this film was made (1969), I was primarily a stay-at-home mom like Antoinette, and yet there was no time or energy for the kinds of activities Antoinette indulges in: fingernail polish, trendy fashionable clothes, and endless discussions–usually arguments–with her husband about (guess what?) the Car. Or her planned purchases of (a) a redesigned kitchen, (b) a harpsichord, (c) a grand piano, and (d) I can’t remember what else.

Their 3-year-old, Bogart, seems sad and bewildered. As well he might. He lives in pretty spiffy surroundings but he’s not a happy child. Mom doesn’t seem to be spending much time with him. As for Dad, he’s so impressed with the idea of himself as The Breadwinner that he has little time for much else.

And where is little Bogart when his parents are having one of their knock-down-drag-out fights–with Antoinette humiliating Billy by harping on the jobs he was fired from? We don’t know but we have a pretty good idea that he’s cowering in his bed, covering his head with his pillow and wishing with all his might that the screaming would stop.

There’s something very sad about a couple who would allow their unraveling life to be filmed. I learned from prowling around that their marriage lasted until 1971, when they separated, divorcing in 1972, after having a second child, a daughter–and that in 1995 Billy was killed in an accident.

I don’t think this movie should have been made. But if a couple is willing to let the camera intrude on their private lives, and if someone with a camera wants to make some money filming them, who’s to stop them?

The Edwardses are clearly believers in the “let it all hang out” philosophy that was popular at the time. They’re contemplating an open marriage, and they believe in appearing naked in front of their children and one another without any attempt at modesty. They’ve apparently proudly raised their child to use words like shit to describe fecal matter. I’m not saying that their approach is wrong-headed, but I do wonder why they’d be willing to let quite as much hang out in front of moviegoers who are complete strangers.
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