I haven't bothered to do any research as to any exact dates, but something tells me that things like call waiting and pagers and cell phones exploded in popularity right around the time that Skyline was released in 1983. I doubt very much that this relatively small film played a truly significant role as much as the increasing laziness of society (especially American), but the end of this movie really makes you want to scream out to poor Gustavo that he has a call on the other line.
(spoilers) Skyline starts out remarkably slowly and is talky and slow moving throughout, but by the end of the film you have become so involved with the character and what he is trying to do that you are literally on the edge of your seat when an agent is trying to get through to Gustavo to tell him that he has been offered a series by Life magazine, one of the two magazines that he had been seeking a position with throughout the entire film.
On the one hand, it's easy to see that this is a movie about the broken dreams of people who come to America, the alleged Land of Opportunity, with dreams of obtaining wonderful employment and basically making it to the big time. Gustavo was a photographer from Spain who had a sufficient living in Spain but came to America because he felt that he had progressed as far as he would be able to in Spain, and wanted to do even more. But when he gets to America, he finds that his brand of photography is old news and no one wants to hire him for pictures that have already been taken over ten years earlier.
It's strange that this film is listed as a comedy on the IMDb as well as on the movie box itself, because while there were certainly parts of it that were genuinely amusing (several of which have to do with butchered Spanish and American accents as well as the languages themselves, which is a cheesy comedy technique that almost invariably falls completely flat but works marvelously here), the majority of the movie itself deals with the broken dreams of a photographer from Spain.
Gustavo is an honest man that came to America with hopes of spreading his work more than he was able to in Spain, and while he tries desperately from beginning to end to find work, he is unsuccessful, and then decides to give up and leave for Spain literally right when an agent was trying to call him to tell him that he had found him something with Life magazine. The very end of the film is more of a tragedy than a comedy, although given the fact that the movie as a whole reminded me of Life Is Beautiful, it is comparatively less of a tragedy than that film (although less of a comedy as well, strangely enough).
While Skyline occasionally moves a little too slowly, it is certainly an entertaining film that introduces a likable character and teaches you the importance of perseverance. When in doubt, just give it one more day.
(spoilers) Skyline starts out remarkably slowly and is talky and slow moving throughout, but by the end of the film you have become so involved with the character and what he is trying to do that you are literally on the edge of your seat when an agent is trying to get through to Gustavo to tell him that he has been offered a series by Life magazine, one of the two magazines that he had been seeking a position with throughout the entire film.
On the one hand, it's easy to see that this is a movie about the broken dreams of people who come to America, the alleged Land of Opportunity, with dreams of obtaining wonderful employment and basically making it to the big time. Gustavo was a photographer from Spain who had a sufficient living in Spain but came to America because he felt that he had progressed as far as he would be able to in Spain, and wanted to do even more. But when he gets to America, he finds that his brand of photography is old news and no one wants to hire him for pictures that have already been taken over ten years earlier.
It's strange that this film is listed as a comedy on the IMDb as well as on the movie box itself, because while there were certainly parts of it that were genuinely amusing (several of which have to do with butchered Spanish and American accents as well as the languages themselves, which is a cheesy comedy technique that almost invariably falls completely flat but works marvelously here), the majority of the movie itself deals with the broken dreams of a photographer from Spain.
Gustavo is an honest man that came to America with hopes of spreading his work more than he was able to in Spain, and while he tries desperately from beginning to end to find work, he is unsuccessful, and then decides to give up and leave for Spain literally right when an agent was trying to call him to tell him that he had found him something with Life magazine. The very end of the film is more of a tragedy than a comedy, although given the fact that the movie as a whole reminded me of Life Is Beautiful, it is comparatively less of a tragedy than that film (although less of a comedy as well, strangely enough).
While Skyline occasionally moves a little too slowly, it is certainly an entertaining film that introduces a likable character and teaches you the importance of perseverance. When in doubt, just give it one more day.