all the little things we take for granted
So I just watched August Rush, another of those Sydney Film Festival movies now out on DVD. Was kinda putting it off cos again, I was afraid it would be a bit tearjerky.
And yes, I did end up all sodden but so brimming with mushy happiness. It was such a magical film. The way his world was so intricately saturated with music, they did that so well, so well that about half an hour into it I had already decided I needed to hunt down the soundtrack. This is what One Perfect Day should have been like, building up the orchestra in his head from all the little everyday sounds and as a result filling the recognisable world with so much beauty. Very skilfully done, bloody amazing job by that composer, whoever he was.
*googles*
Mark Mancina. Right, I did notice it but then got so caught up in the film I forgot. Ooh, he did Twister and Con Air. Nice one. And an episode of Millennium! Okay, dude, you rock.
And the progression of music from the simplest natural sound of wind in a field through all the different nuances of train and guitar and piano and organ and then oh christ the absolute gorgeosity of that rhapsody.
Is there nothing Freddie Highmore can't do?! I mean, seriously. I know Jonathan Rhys Meyers does actually play and sing. But ferchrissakes, Freddie plucking and thumping at the guitar with such speed and apparently natural capability. Bloody hell.
He's such a marvellous actor, Freddie. Reminds me so much of Christian Bale back in Empire Of The Sun but far more human and even a little too human sometimes to watch. Most of me cheers every single time I read of his insistence that he won't act as an adult. But I have to admit at one point in this film, I flashed forward to an image of him as a man and the incredibly powerful subtle actor he could be. Who knows? Maybe he'll do what Joseph Gordon-Levitt did, go away to study only to come back even better.
I did love how even though his American accent was perfectly nondescript there were still a few moments when his inflection, the rhythm of his question seemed very English. Yum. And I was absolutely thrilled to hear Jonny speak in his natural Irish voice. It's been so long since I've seen one of his films that I was quite taken aback at how that voice has changed, deepened slightly. I did wonder if he did his own singing in this film too cos it sounded fairly authentic. Hmm. And damn, I forgot how pretty his eyes are. *sigh* Leo boys.
Beautifully shot film, though. The flow of the story, scene to scene, was a bit erratic but there did seem like a lot of characters needed to be covered. Robin Williams was a bit too loud for my liking which was annoying cos I know he can do quiet and I've seen him do quiet. But he did an excellent job as a musical modern day Fagin, slightly alarming then wonderful then totally awful. And I'm rather tickled that the actor who played Oliver Sacks who's written a book called Musicophilia is now in a film about a kid who hears music everywhere. Hee hee. Such synchronicity.
And of course partway into it I was all with "this is what my novel should be like, this is what it should be!" until I actually managed to regain some sense and remember that I only have words to work with. Nothing can duplicate the effect of music like music.
It ended at the perfect moment. Anything further would have ruined the magic of that final resolution. And of course you're left all sobby and happy cos of the music and the love. *sigh*
I totally need to own it.
And yes, I did end up all sodden but so brimming with mushy happiness. It was such a magical film. The way his world was so intricately saturated with music, they did that so well, so well that about half an hour into it I had already decided I needed to hunt down the soundtrack. This is what One Perfect Day should have been like, building up the orchestra in his head from all the little everyday sounds and as a result filling the recognisable world with so much beauty. Very skilfully done, bloody amazing job by that composer, whoever he was.
*googles*
Mark Mancina. Right, I did notice it but then got so caught up in the film I forgot. Ooh, he did Twister and Con Air. Nice one. And an episode of Millennium! Okay, dude, you rock.
And the progression of music from the simplest natural sound of wind in a field through all the different nuances of train and guitar and piano and organ and then oh christ the absolute gorgeosity of that rhapsody.
Is there nothing Freddie Highmore can't do?! I mean, seriously. I know Jonathan Rhys Meyers does actually play and sing. But ferchrissakes, Freddie plucking and thumping at the guitar with such speed and apparently natural capability. Bloody hell.
He's such a marvellous actor, Freddie. Reminds me so much of Christian Bale back in Empire Of The Sun but far more human and even a little too human sometimes to watch. Most of me cheers every single time I read of his insistence that he won't act as an adult. But I have to admit at one point in this film, I flashed forward to an image of him as a man and the incredibly powerful subtle actor he could be. Who knows? Maybe he'll do what Joseph Gordon-Levitt did, go away to study only to come back even better.
I did love how even though his American accent was perfectly nondescript there were still a few moments when his inflection, the rhythm of his question seemed very English. Yum. And I was absolutely thrilled to hear Jonny speak in his natural Irish voice. It's been so long since I've seen one of his films that I was quite taken aback at how that voice has changed, deepened slightly. I did wonder if he did his own singing in this film too cos it sounded fairly authentic. Hmm. And damn, I forgot how pretty his eyes are. *sigh* Leo boys.
Beautifully shot film, though. The flow of the story, scene to scene, was a bit erratic but there did seem like a lot of characters needed to be covered. Robin Williams was a bit too loud for my liking which was annoying cos I know he can do quiet and I've seen him do quiet. But he did an excellent job as a musical modern day Fagin, slightly alarming then wonderful then totally awful. And I'm rather tickled that the actor who played Oliver Sacks who's written a book called Musicophilia is now in a film about a kid who hears music everywhere. Hee hee. Such synchronicity.
And of course partway into it I was all with "this is what my novel should be like, this is what it should be!" until I actually managed to regain some sense and remember that I only have words to work with. Nothing can duplicate the effect of music like music.
It ended at the perfect moment. Anything further would have ruined the magic of that final resolution. And of course you're left all sobby and happy cos of the music and the love. *sigh*
I totally need to own it.