Tag: earthly_comedy_cosmic_awe
Definition: A sense of wonder at the vastness, mystery, or sublimity of existence that is expressed through, juxtaposed with, or undercut by comedy and human absurdity. The wonder is at the world and at life as they are, felt by ordinary people who remain in the ordinary world; the vastness can be shown by the film (a sky, a desert, a city at night, the same moment happening in many places) rather than remarked on by a character. Comedy is meant expansively here: any human comedy counts, not necessarily laugh-out-loud, and the comedy does not have to be gentle — anguished, operatic, or bleak films qualify as long as the human comedy is there. The feeling is usually bittersweet: the character ends up small in a large world, and the vastness or awe is felt as humanistic by the end. A fable device (a memory-erasing clinic, a man-made sky) qualifies as long as the human world stays intact and the mystery stays unexplained. The cosmic awe moments of the film must be a significant driver of either the plot or character growth. Do not include films where the wonder is supplied by a god, angel, devil, or afterlife that explains the universe — a heaven with a waiting room is a fantasy premise, not cosmic awe. Do not include films with no comedy in them at all. Exemplars: Local Hero, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Night on Earth, The Truman Show, The Hudsucker Proxy, Lost in Translation. Not: Wings of Desire, Heaven Can Wait, Bedazzled.

Films:
1. A Prairie Home Companion (2006)
2. Away We Go (2009)
3. Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)
4. Synecdoche, New York (2008)
5. Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
6. Shadows and Fog (1991)
7. The Irony of Fate (1976)
8. People Will Talk (1951)
9. Pierrot le Fou (1965)
10. The Brother from Another Planet (1984)

Judge each film INDEPENDENTLY, in order, from your internal knowledge only — no web searches. For each film, first write a line 'Film <number> — <1-2 sentences of analysis>' weighing the definition against that film, then on the next line give exactly:
<number>. VERDICT: <Y|N>
Answer Y if you are at least 40% confident the tag applies. For every Y film add one more line:
<number>. EXEMPLARY: <Y|N>
EXEMPLARY is Y only if you would cite this film as an example of the tag alongside the canonical example. Do this for all films. No other numbered lines.