Tim’s Old School
The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
Tom Hanks, Melanie Griffith, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and many other well-known faces are part of this classic story of excessiveness of the 80’s.
Directed by Brian de Palma (Untouchables), it’s a movie that has it all; scandal, racism, social status, ethics (or lack of it) and back stabbing.
Yes, this was the 1980’s, but it could’ve just as easily been a movie filmed in today’s time. It shows us how humans seem to be creatures of habit and in most cases bad habits which are relatively constant over our long history. We all seem to have agendas that split our society instead of uniting it, all the while sacrificing human decency and common sense.
I love these movies that build up, show you a glimpse of the ending and then do an unexpected U-turn, similar to the missed turn-off that got Sherman McCoy into this mess and started this intriguing story.
There are some memorable lines in this movie which due to the words used I prefer to not quote. I suggest you watch the movie as they are well worth hearing. They will bring a smile to your face or provoke a deeper thought. In a time that we seem to watch long Netflix series this movie encumbers it all in a little more than two hours.
We see how man’s greed has no colour and how no one is innocent in this indecent world. We all know what decency should be, we have seen it, been taught it and know how it feels but for some reason the world has many times taken its own wrong turn and followed the easier path, which is often the wrong way.
This movie also shows us how painful it is when you fall from being on top of the world and fall all the way down and how when you are at the bottom you can unexpectedly find yourself on top. However for how long only God knows.
Being on top and having everything means nothing if you lose your soul to get there.
Losing a lot but finding your soul is in many ways the route to self-fulfilment.
For anyone who loved Shawshank Redemption this movie is lighter and less intense but still highly recommend with a similar DNA.
Conclusion, Find your soul by practicing decency and you will be on top of the world for the rest of your life.