rent rant
so i've never seen RENT live. but i've been addicted to the soundtrack ever since I was about in 8th grade. i've gone through periods of fan-dom when i've stalked fan-sites... so i know who and what all the characters are all about, and what the different casts have looked like, ect. today i saw the movie version. i was not disappointed. the music is lush, and full, and gorgeous. they have changed the arrangement only a little to compensate for voices... and some bits have been cut out.
some of the reviewers have been giving RENT a really crappy review for being too plastic, too campy, and too long in coming to the screen to be meaningful to viewers.
i think that it is important to remember that the story is set in 89-90. many of the costumes in the movie do not make the time period clear, but the cars in many of the street scenes do. the equipment in the hospital does. in 2005, most of us hip young things grew up with the idea of the AIDS epidemic, yet we were too young to understand the struggle that was going on in the 80s to fight for research for the cure, to fight for support for people living on with an uncertain disease. so, some of the scenes in this movie, the support group, the hospital, the sparsely populated funeral, are still new and shocking. even though i got AIDS educated in school, just like everyone else. i seriously almost cried.
and yes, other scenes, like the Angel and Collins "I'll Cover You" could have been taken out of a classical Hollywood musical.
Things that are clear in the soundtrack but are missing from the movie:
Roger back story. Roger is really a sensitive brooder in this film. he seems to have left most of his rock'n'roll self in re-hab. he wears soft corderoy shirts and not really enough leather. the film shows only one shot of April doing heroin... and makes it look like it's a one-time thing. she and Roger open the HIV positive note from the health department together. nothing is said about April's suicide, and I think that makes the theme about 'living with the disease' a lot weaker for lack of contrast. In the movie, Roger breaks up with Mimi because she can't break her heroin habit, not because of a mis-communication about her past with Benny. this conflicts with my understanding of the Roger-character, making him too... i dunno... jedi-like? his personal withdrawl and depression and struggle with the concept of disease are still clear, but i had not envisioned him to be such a moral-high ground type person. yes, he first turns his back on her because of the Benny-thing, and then you see her try to stop using because she wants to be with him. and you see him supporting her. but he doesn't really turn away from her until he catches her buying again. and then, after that, is when she turns to Benny... which is not clear from the songs at all. i wanted Roger to be more angry.
Joanne's relationship with her parents is constructed entirely differently. they are supportive of her relationship with Maureen and throw an engagement party. no urging to 'no doc martens this time, and honey, wear a dress, and a bra....'
Mark's isolation behind the camera was also not quite as commented upon, although it was at times quite visually apparent.
i have to go and deal with a clogged sink-system now.
bye.
some of the reviewers have been giving RENT a really crappy review for being too plastic, too campy, and too long in coming to the screen to be meaningful to viewers.
i think that it is important to remember that the story is set in 89-90. many of the costumes in the movie do not make the time period clear, but the cars in many of the street scenes do. the equipment in the hospital does. in 2005, most of us hip young things grew up with the idea of the AIDS epidemic, yet we were too young to understand the struggle that was going on in the 80s to fight for research for the cure, to fight for support for people living on with an uncertain disease. so, some of the scenes in this movie, the support group, the hospital, the sparsely populated funeral, are still new and shocking. even though i got AIDS educated in school, just like everyone else. i seriously almost cried.
and yes, other scenes, like the Angel and Collins "I'll Cover You" could have been taken out of a classical Hollywood musical.
Things that are clear in the soundtrack but are missing from the movie:
Roger back story. Roger is really a sensitive brooder in this film. he seems to have left most of his rock'n'roll self in re-hab. he wears soft corderoy shirts and not really enough leather. the film shows only one shot of April doing heroin... and makes it look like it's a one-time thing. she and Roger open the HIV positive note from the health department together. nothing is said about April's suicide, and I think that makes the theme about 'living with the disease' a lot weaker for lack of contrast. In the movie, Roger breaks up with Mimi because she can't break her heroin habit, not because of a mis-communication about her past with Benny. this conflicts with my understanding of the Roger-character, making him too... i dunno... jedi-like? his personal withdrawl and depression and struggle with the concept of disease are still clear, but i had not envisioned him to be such a moral-high ground type person. yes, he first turns his back on her because of the Benny-thing, and then you see her try to stop using because she wants to be with him. and you see him supporting her. but he doesn't really turn away from her until he catches her buying again. and then, after that, is when she turns to Benny... which is not clear from the songs at all. i wanted Roger to be more angry.
Joanne's relationship with her parents is constructed entirely differently. they are supportive of her relationship with Maureen and throw an engagement party. no urging to 'no doc martens this time, and honey, wear a dress, and a bra....'
Mark's isolation behind the camera was also not quite as commented upon, although it was at times quite visually apparent.
i have to go and deal with a clogged sink-system now.
bye.