We need to talk about [American] hustle
First, I should start with a shamener (it’s an opener but when I shame myself for skipping this regular writing exercise last week). This is a reminder to myself that I, Katya, slacked last week. I justified it as “not in the mood” at first, then came the usual “no inspiration” and last nail in the coffin was “I’m not obsessed with anything this week”, all of which were either a lame excuse or simply untrue.
I always need to get something off my chest. This week in “3 things I can’t stop thinking about” obsessions is all about my love for David O. Russell’s American Hustle.
#1 It’s the perfect movie [for me]
I watch American Hustle at least once a year for a few reasons. First one we’ll skip because it’s a dead end for any conversation (“I fucking loved it and no one can change my opinion”).
#2 It’s a feast of life
Joie de vivre that this movie washes you with almost instantly is the second and a more substantial reason. I can’t put my finger on one specific thing that does it for me. American Hustle is like a great expensive niche perfume — it has many equally exciting layers and leaves you in a long-lasting cloud of happiness. The music, the acting, the costumes — to me, they are perfect.
Maybe I would have been better off in the New York of that era, but we’ll never know. What we do know is that I would like to own all of Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence’s outfits, thank you very much.
#3 It brings the real hustle back
This one is both a good reason to watch it and the reason this movie resurfaced in my obsessive mind last week. American Hustle reminds me what hustle actually means during the times when it got a little twisted if not perverted by the culture. It’s not the 5 to 9, it’s the other thing which I call a creative art of determination to make something out of nothing, out of every circumstance. Or, in the words of Christian Bale’s character, “The art of survival, is a story that never ends.”
I come from the city where this specific definition of hustle was born (do not argue with Odessans over this, not only you won’t win but you’ll be lightly beaten with a dusty Isaac Babel hardcover) and this movie puts the spirit of survival on a beautiful pedestal. I grew up with some weird magical knowledge that being from Odessa gives you a certain super power elsewhere, kind of a secret society you belong to and I felt the familiarity in my bones watching American Hustle. It took some growing up and history lessons to realize that survival for those hustlers I heard so much about was painfully real and not just a fun way to pass time, but I’ll dig into the history of Jews in Ukraine some other time. Which is why it came as no surprise for me that Mel Weinberg, the real person who is so wonderfully portrayed by Christian Bale, traces his roots back to Eastern Europe of those glorious hustler times. The whole story is somewhat crazy and partly real, but it almost doesn’t matter.
Here’s to joie de vivre and more good movies that make us all feel something.
Bonus listening is another obsession of mine. It’s no surprise that this movie looks this good — its Director of Photography Linus Sandgren has a beautiful eye and gave us many more visually stunning movies since then. I hope that we can see his latest works No Time To Die and Don’t Look Up on a screen size they deserve later this year. In the meantime, listen to how he approaches creating cinematic worlds in conversation with Roger and James Deakins here.
