If The Emperor Waltz suffers from weaknesses other than the weaknesses of its strengths – too much fluency, too many full-bodied characters, a surfeit of clever perceptions – then they arise from its composite form.
Through some clever shifts of perception, Park manipulates miniature worlds with some nimble handiwork, transforming the most ordinary environments into extraordinary scenes.
As formally determined as his project may be, with its clever variations in perspective and perception, it is ultimately a naturalistic gesture, intended to liberate the hidden portions, the shadings and the undertones, of individuals who would be reduced to stereotypes in a more conventional representation.
This particular angle was clever because it was about perceptions, trying to discredit him with a guilt by association smear that would or could discredit him with his base of readers critical of U.S. policy, They, one would think, would not be sympathetic to funders of the opposition in a country rebelling, in part, against a country that is hosting his principal source, Mr. Snowden.
An uptight, humourless act can transform their following, and ultimately the public's perception of them, in one clever, comedic move.
All this is intentional, of course; Carey wants to challenge the logic of our perceptions, and he's certainly clever enough to do so.
The Left's perception of events centred around a clever, academic freedom fighter who had liberated Zimbabwe.
"It is a very good and clever satire not just of WWI but also the popular perception of WWI.
"What I Loved" is a self-consciously clever piece of work, brimming with ideas about love and memory, perception and change.
Public perception that a "Southern strategy" conceived and initiated by clever Republicans turned the South red is worse than false.
"Americans are friendly but boorish, clever but shallow, prosperous but lonely," he says of foreigners' perceptions of the United States.
