kiss, love, milk ... piano
been wandering around dublin. over the past three days, every time i passed the theater where 'unleashed' is playing, something whispered 'see it... see it...' and i kept telling myself that, no, i wasn't here to go entertaining myself, watching movies and whatnot. but i couldn't shake the call, and it didn't feel like a useless or unproductive desire. also, after listening to the rise and fall of the voices of these three irish gents in the room the other nite as they got all worked up over football, i was first annoyed, thinking: how can you get so emotional about something that doesn't even involve you? how can you take it so personally? then i found myself realising that i get the same way about movies. films. cinema. i have different reactions to all sorts of media (an allergic one to mainstream american television, which i don't think even counts as something sourced anywhere near a heart or emotion anymore). i take books and music and film very personally. but i've never fancied myself as a professional writer, and i've never pictured myself being a professional musician; playing live music for large crowds. but i've secretly entertained the idea, for years, of somehow working with films, like for a living. maybe some soundtracking, some assistant producing. and maybe (we'll just have to see) if i fix my shite and get my head and heart and body all lined up, maybe even acting. i wouldn't be against it.
i'd been giving the thot even more serious consideration over the past few days, with that usual flag appearing in my mind that says that if i involved myself in something that strikes me so personally and i were to take it apart and puppeteer it from the inside out and control the whole process (i guess that would be more along the lines of directing, sort of, but i mostly mean just stepping behind the curtain and being the little old man in the booth instead of standing in awe of the great oz) then it would strip the whole dynamic of its magic and the importance it holds for me. my response to this is that, of course, i won't really know until i try. but it seems a worthwhile argument.
then yesterday i did some more reading on tom tykwer, because i started getting this notion that i'd go to germany and find him, somehow, and meet him and thank him for helping me feel less alone on this planet. i got a rich burst of inspiration from the interviews i found as he boldy spoke about how fluid and magical and personal the whole process of movie-making is for him, and how he wouldn't be doing it if it weren't personal, and how he has to listen as much as command, not only listening to other directors and writers and actors and his whole crew, but to his own heart and intuitions, the very fuel of emotion and imagination. i was already moved again and again by his films, but now i was overwhelmed by the confidence he held in the purity of the work. i thot of how i used to think, at the end of his movies, that even he would still be affected by them, even after being the very force behind-the-scenes. and that's exactly what would make me tempermental about persuing that line of work. when it's all said and done, when it's completed, is it still me? is it still a personal part of who i am? after his films, i'm left with the unmistakable impression that i've gotten as close to a glimpse of someone else's dreams as i may ever have. and that's powerful. and that's personal. so it gives me hope. and i'm glad he's out there.
anyway, anyway, i went and saw "unleashed" today. i cried from almost the beginning to the very end. i don't think i've ever cried during fite scenes before. well, no, i take that back. there was "hero." another jet li trophy. i'm so so so proud of that man. more than he'll ever know. the little research i'd done on "unleashed" months prior didn't dampen the effect but actually enriched it and made li's role even more cherishable to me.
i'd read up on his history and what he's endured and how he's strived for and achieved excellence -- since he was very young -- in some of the most complex and difficult martial arts still practised. when i read about "unleashed" i learned that he enlisted extra assistants to help him with his english, because, altho his hard-earned physical capacities allow him to be completely fluent in the delicate and potent languages of several martial arts, his english was still very poor, and he wanted to be able to bring this particular story to english-speaking countries because he believed very strongly in its metaphors and messages and morals and wanted to share it with everyone. by the end of the film, when i saw how little talking was actually required of him, it broke my heart all over again. i'm so proud of him. thanks, mr. li, for working so hard to bring us such a simple but so far seemingly un-liveable message.
so we've got:
we're back
iron giant
hero and
unleashed
not that they're all saying exactly the same thing, but i think the main, common thread is globally important, and if they keep it up the world mite not go to shreds so quickly after all.
also, when i'd made the decision that i would see the movie today, i thot that i wanted to wait until i felt better so that i could play freely with whatever inspiration the film left me with. but i went anyway. didn't know i was gonna cry the whole time. and wouldn't you know it, for all the 'healing' things i've been putting into my body, well ... sometimes you just gotta let it out. i felt 86% better after walking away from the theater. now i wish i'd let myself cry harder. :)
oh, by the way, massive attack did the soundtrack, and good ole luc besson wrote the screenplay, and besson and li were the head producers. go figure. i'd forgotten that li wanted to produce the movie. good for him. after seeing what else the director's done, i'm guessing it was besson and li who kept the message alive, because it could have easily fallen to being another lock, snot, and two pissing pistols rip-off. lord knows the world needs more heartless violence and guns and revenge to make us go "hoo-yeah," rite?
as for the movie, it held itself up really well. it didn't stop for a second and felt like it went by in about twenty minutes, but it didn't feel intentionally rushed so i didn't feel like i needed a breather, and it wasn't overwhelming, either, and when there are no breaks and a constant pulse to a movie like that, if you lose the audience for a moment or two, there's no chance to regroup and re-engage. but they did a fine job of keeping everything digestable and effective. it really was seamless. and all but a few lines of the dialogue were relevant. yes, i can appreciate and have enjoyed the style of criminals and innocents carrying on benign conversations (perhaps to prove that they're all just regular people somewhere inside. maybe just for style and entertainment.) that tarantino and ritchie have made popular. and it can be entertaining. but i was especially glad that they steered clear of spare conversation in this movie.
and i loved the interaction of the music theme in the story playing along with the soundtrack, especially in the first piano tuning scene (where sam, 'the piano tuner,' offers that, launching metaphor connecting retuning an instrument to healing a person; simple and poignant and wonderful for a hardened, damaged person who is still so sensitive to and affected by music) where the soundtrack almost hides itself, while the piano sounds like shit, until you can't tell which one's off, the track or the piano, and then they both blend togeter and harmonise. great stuff. i loved how the music never stopped.
i'd been giving the thot even more serious consideration over the past few days, with that usual flag appearing in my mind that says that if i involved myself in something that strikes me so personally and i were to take it apart and puppeteer it from the inside out and control the whole process (i guess that would be more along the lines of directing, sort of, but i mostly mean just stepping behind the curtain and being the little old man in the booth instead of standing in awe of the great oz) then it would strip the whole dynamic of its magic and the importance it holds for me. my response to this is that, of course, i won't really know until i try. but it seems a worthwhile argument.
then yesterday i did some more reading on tom tykwer, because i started getting this notion that i'd go to germany and find him, somehow, and meet him and thank him for helping me feel less alone on this planet. i got a rich burst of inspiration from the interviews i found as he boldy spoke about how fluid and magical and personal the whole process of movie-making is for him, and how he wouldn't be doing it if it weren't personal, and how he has to listen as much as command, not only listening to other directors and writers and actors and his whole crew, but to his own heart and intuitions, the very fuel of emotion and imagination. i was already moved again and again by his films, but now i was overwhelmed by the confidence he held in the purity of the work. i thot of how i used to think, at the end of his movies, that even he would still be affected by them, even after being the very force behind-the-scenes. and that's exactly what would make me tempermental about persuing that line of work. when it's all said and done, when it's completed, is it still me? is it still a personal part of who i am? after his films, i'm left with the unmistakable impression that i've gotten as close to a glimpse of someone else's dreams as i may ever have. and that's powerful. and that's personal. so it gives me hope. and i'm glad he's out there.
anyway, anyway, i went and saw "unleashed" today. i cried from almost the beginning to the very end. i don't think i've ever cried during fite scenes before. well, no, i take that back. there was "hero." another jet li trophy. i'm so so so proud of that man. more than he'll ever know. the little research i'd done on "unleashed" months prior didn't dampen the effect but actually enriched it and made li's role even more cherishable to me.
i'd read up on his history and what he's endured and how he's strived for and achieved excellence -- since he was very young -- in some of the most complex and difficult martial arts still practised. when i read about "unleashed" i learned that he enlisted extra assistants to help him with his english, because, altho his hard-earned physical capacities allow him to be completely fluent in the delicate and potent languages of several martial arts, his english was still very poor, and he wanted to be able to bring this particular story to english-speaking countries because he believed very strongly in its metaphors and messages and morals and wanted to share it with everyone. by the end of the film, when i saw how little talking was actually required of him, it broke my heart all over again. i'm so proud of him. thanks, mr. li, for working so hard to bring us such a simple but so far seemingly un-liveable message.
so we've got:
we're back
iron giant
hero and
unleashed
not that they're all saying exactly the same thing, but i think the main, common thread is globally important, and if they keep it up the world mite not go to shreds so quickly after all.
also, when i'd made the decision that i would see the movie today, i thot that i wanted to wait until i felt better so that i could play freely with whatever inspiration the film left me with. but i went anyway. didn't know i was gonna cry the whole time. and wouldn't you know it, for all the 'healing' things i've been putting into my body, well ... sometimes you just gotta let it out. i felt 86% better after walking away from the theater. now i wish i'd let myself cry harder. :)
oh, by the way, massive attack did the soundtrack, and good ole luc besson wrote the screenplay, and besson and li were the head producers. go figure. i'd forgotten that li wanted to produce the movie. good for him. after seeing what else the director's done, i'm guessing it was besson and li who kept the message alive, because it could have easily fallen to being another lock, snot, and two pissing pistols rip-off. lord knows the world needs more heartless violence and guns and revenge to make us go "hoo-yeah," rite?
as for the movie, it held itself up really well. it didn't stop for a second and felt like it went by in about twenty minutes, but it didn't feel intentionally rushed so i didn't feel like i needed a breather, and it wasn't overwhelming, either, and when there are no breaks and a constant pulse to a movie like that, if you lose the audience for a moment or two, there's no chance to regroup and re-engage. but they did a fine job of keeping everything digestable and effective. it really was seamless. and all but a few lines of the dialogue were relevant. yes, i can appreciate and have enjoyed the style of criminals and innocents carrying on benign conversations (perhaps to prove that they're all just regular people somewhere inside. maybe just for style and entertainment.) that tarantino and ritchie have made popular. and it can be entertaining. but i was especially glad that they steered clear of spare conversation in this movie.
and i loved the interaction of the music theme in the story playing along with the soundtrack, especially in the first piano tuning scene (where sam, 'the piano tuner,' offers that, launching metaphor connecting retuning an instrument to healing a person; simple and poignant and wonderful for a hardened, damaged person who is still so sensitive to and affected by music) where the soundtrack almost hides itself, while the piano sounds like shit, until you can't tell which one's off, the track or the piano, and then they both blend togeter and harmonise. great stuff. i loved how the music never stopped.