Before Starting Think Passion

     One of the reasons why filmgoers love motion pictures is because of the interesting dynamic created between sound and image.  A movie without a soundtrack is like flat caffeine free diet coke; there is absolutely no reason to consume it without the enveloping, full flavor satisfaction that only comes from the carefully crafted marriage of sound and image.  In this respect, 127 Hours is the 24 Hour Speedway Super America, giving us access to a diverse cornucopia of sounds to help tell the story.  
    During Aron’s dramatic rescue, A.R. Rahman, chooses perfectly to place Sigur Ros in the background as we stumble alongside the protagonist.  We see Aron in a delusional, dream like state, meet up with fellow hikers who give him water and run for help.  The song appropriately being playing in the background is called ‘Festival’ which invokes a sense of celebration and presents the climax to this emotional journey spanning five days.
    Sigur Ros, are an Icelandic experimental rock band who are known and loved for their use of Hopelandic lyrics, which is an unintelligible, non-literal language placing extreme significance on the sounds language produce, rather than the meaning behind the words.  In context, Sigur Ros translates directly to ‘Victory Rose’ in English which describes the accomplishment Aron captures in the films final sequence.
    The compassion shown for Aron by the passer-bys speaks volumes to the humanity of man, and it’s noteworthy to mention that at a typical Sigur Ros concert attracts a melting pot of all race, color, and creeds.  At that moment, the only thing on their minds is helping a fellow man in distress.  Aron is in trouble and everything from the people on screen to the message behind the music being played, is designed to bring people together.
    What A.R. Rahman does with this one scene shows his genius as a composer;  he’s able to place the audience into the moment with his overwhelming score which resonates from deep within, pulling on our heart strings and causing the floodgates to open.
    
     Stephen

by ErinTheStrange on Monday, February 14, 2011

     Sometimes I wish I believed in magic, horoscopes, psychics, spirits, karma, saints, and truth. I wish I believed in the innocence of Disney, reality television, love at first sight, tiny waists and big breasts, and the inability to be judgmental. I go back and forth between believing that the world is wrong disillusioning itself, and believing I am wrong for not. At the realization there is no greater good, the time we spend here is for nothing else other than pleasure. This makes me ask myself, “What the hell am I not believing in unicorns for if I could be happier doing so?” Subconsciously, maybe that’s what people have done with their Gods, first loves, and senses of self. I don’t think I could lie to myself like that. I could be defective and senseless for seeing the world in all of it’s grey areas and insipid moments, but if you can find happiness, and pleasure in the world without fooling yourself, I believe what will be derived from that  progressive experience alone will defy the security of false realities; the mark of a discovery that is more tangible and sacred than you can imagine. There is magic, but not where most people are looking.

~     http://www.facebook.com/ErinTheStrange

    What makes a great movie great?  What makes a good movie good?  These terms are subjective and can be used by many to represent their experience with the film in question.  I believe a great movie is one that offers insight into the human condition; not spoon feeding us fiction, but rather challenging us to identify with the story and how it relates to our own lives.  If any movie helps to create a dialogue, it can be termed as good in the presence that it creates such dialogue.
    Blue Valentine is such movie.  We are presented with this couple who seemingly fell into love almost as quickly as they fell out of love.  What brought them together, and kept them together, was the love they both shared for the daughter they were so determined to allow keep her innocence.  Dean has stifled himself to an unrecognizable figure in his present; forgetting the drive and creative nature that made him who he was, instead settling for the life he has fallen into; complacency.  Cindy is the adult of the relationship, trying to raise both Dean and Frankie.  She says she doesn’t want to clean up after two kids and she means this in more ways than one.  She is fed up with her life.  Dean is content with his suppression of talents and the early mornings he can begin drinking.  While the audience can see the passion Dean and Cindy have towards the daughter they’ve helped raise, no one can deny the deterioration of their love.  Every conversation is a dead end into a familiar place, a place where they both resent each other for the conditions that have led them to this spot.
    Dean and Cindy have both made sacrifices to be where they are, and those sacrifices are  determined to destroy any hope for happiness they might have desired.  Dean states that he never saw himself as a father or a husband, but he allowed himself to fall into complacency for the benefit of the family.  Cindy describes of a desire to have been a doctor, but the birth of Frankie but a wrench into that plan.
    I believe Cianfrance wanted us to have a connection to one of the main characters.  I feel like the idea is to have males gravitate towards Dean and have females gravitate towards Cindy.  The experiences and emotion the two uncover is meant to create parallels within the audience.  I felt almost magnetically connect to Dean and felt his journey to be a representation of my narrative arch.  I see a struggle inside himself to make this relationship work but he has the weight of the world crushing his dreams with Cindy.  I felt the angst in Dean as he tried to salvage his relationship.  I also saw the resentment Cindy had for Dean.  I’ve been on the receiving end of those cold eyes and immediately could identify with the loss of love and the struggle to keep it that was happening.
    With what seemed like a perfect, powerful connection to start out with, ended in a separation with fireworks providing the soundtrack.  Presumably, the initial attraction was like fireworks and the destruction and sequential dissolving of their relationship was found only fitting to be accompanied by exploding gunpowder.  We are left with uncertainty.  The participants have gone their separate ways.  It is the intention of the director to leave us to determine where the characters go from here.  They will be alone, ready to embark on the next chapter of their lives.  After the dust settles, the healing will begin.

Stephen

bevnap:

Last night I was about to flip my shit on a table for some reason that I actually can’t remember…

and as I was about to cross over into the snowballing state of anger I looked up…

and there were images of Italy on TV…

and I thought…

you work this job so that you may someday return to that place right there…

no piece of shit, sad excuse for a human being should disrupt that hope or dream. 

I can’t stand some people and they drive me nuts.  I’m hopping this will be an avenue for a different kind of post.  One that invokes thought and discussion; conversation.  Please bear with me as I learn the ropes.