If you know me, we've probably had at least one conversation about the science behind happiness and gratitude. In case we have not: in a nutshell, science has proved that feeling gratitude lights up the same part of the brain as feeling happy; the two are biologically indistinguishable. So if you can't get happy, you can try thinking of something you're grateful for - and tah-dah! You'll be happy.
The trouble is, all the feel-good articles about this phenomenon, found in my hippie magazines, websites and Wholesome Living blogs, focus on feeling grateful for the usual suspects - your health, your family, your job, your sense of humor, your intelligence, the sun, the stars, the beauty of springtime, the ocean, the nourishing rain.
And I don't mean that it is trouble to be grateful for those things. They're wonderful! They do fill me with gratitude. They are beautiful moments in daily life that can indeed inspire an attitude of gratitude.
But sometimes, the trouble is, we never talk about how it's also OK to be grateful for things much less epic, and much more worldly.
Like the Veronica Mars movie that came out this weekend.
And you can call me superficial, you can call me a pathetic fan girl, you can roll your eyes that I'm going to claim this is a worthy example of an attitude of gratitude. But I'm doing all three anyway.
The movie made me so happy. They did a great job delivering a story for the fans that was still smart, funny, true to the characters, and a great mystery. So here I am - grateful to love things in the world - movies, songs, books, slices of tart cherry pie from Lauretta Jean's. By being in the world, in both the sacred and profane, I get my regular doses of gratitude - and they light up that happy part of my brain that otherwise doesn't get too much attention.
Bring it on, bring it on, yeah.
Showing posts with label movie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movie. Show all posts
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Monday, August 19, 2013
July 20, Dar Es Salaam. The Program Begins.
(As written in my journal that day; grammar and minor edits only. Italicized portions are additions written after the trip.)
Meggie takes a nap, and I'm too nervous to rest. Instead, I find a little 4-aisled supermarket in the hotel complex! My favorite thing when traveling is browsing a grocery store. Everything looks exotic, and everything gives a sense of how people really live. I also spot a "biologique" (organic) store, and please note the sign:
(The sign that reads "movie theatre" points to a building where no movies are screened. Perhaps they used to be - or hope to be some day?)
In the store, I want to buy all the local jams and jellies for John, and try the milk and yogurts in a bag, but I only buy chicken curry snack crisps and they're Wonka-esque. Getting them to taste like curry seems manageable; but how do they get them to taste so much like a roasted chicken!? There are so many kinds of rice, a huge bag of refrigerated ginger I can smell, fritters behind the deli counter with meat rolls and big glazed sweet doughnuts. I even want to buy the little bok choy cabbages - if I had somewhere to cook - and a beautiful eggplant, as I'm already craving vegetables. I haven't had a good one since Portland. But I'm too scared of germs to buy more than the crisps and a big bottle of water.
I linger in the open-air lobby of the hotel, writing, appreciating the breeze, when a man in a blue Global Volunteers shirt pauses to look at me. I jump up and smile, and he ignores my attempt at a handshake. This is Edward, the country manager for Global Volunteers and our team leader for the next two weeks. He gives me a long hug, welcomes me to Africa, thanks me for coming. His energy is powerful, and commanding, but still gentle. He has a playful twinkle in his eye but also an intense authority.
We meet as a full group for dinner at 6 PM - we are 14. Our 15th person had an unusual reaction to a vaccine and had to cancel at the last minute. (I'm changing all the names here, as I didn't exactly ask direct permission to use them!)
There is a family of 6 - parents Joe and Marie, and kids Kathy (16), Sophia (14), Gretchen (13) and Michael (11). At first I think Joe is kind of a dude's dude, and then I realize, he is the only man volunteering with us. And he is protecting his whole family from getting sick or hurt (physically or emotionally) and he's not a dude - he's just on High Alert. There are three older women friends from Denver: Diana, Jane and Leslie. And finally, there are three older women solo travelers: Nancy, Joann and Peg. Peg was here last year and at around 70, she strikes me as a bit frail; I think, how hard can this be if she's done it once - and is doing it again?
Now that we're together as a group, all our needs will be taken care of - and are included in the program fee. We're told the program will not pay for "strong drinks" and I roll my eyes when someone asks if that includes beer or is just spirits; yes, Edward says patiently, it includes beer. We're told to keep our meal selection at this waterfront restaurant to 18,000 Tsh (Tanzanian Shilling) or less; roughly speaking, 10,000 Tsh = $6. We can pay the difference if we want to go over or have strong drinks - I have an amazing chicken curry and am happy to pay extra. After all, we're close to the spice island of Zanzibar and the food in Dar is heavily influenced by Arabic and Indian residents, some of my favorite flavors these days. I offer Edward the 5,000 Tsh difference at the meal's end; he laughs and laughs, and waves it away. I'm confused. Did I misunderstand him?
The alcohol bill comes around, bypassing Meggie and I. We decided no drinking while in the program; this is a spiritual journey for us, and it feels like using anything that could numb us, or dilute any intense feelings, isn't fair and is an easy escape hatch.
There's much confusion about the bill and the toy-looking Tanzanian money in 10,000, 5,000 and 2,000 bills. Peg says, "If I spent only 14,000 on food, do I get 4,000 back for my wine?" She laughs as if joking - but you know the type of comment. She's actually looking for a favorable answer. In a sweet, firm response, Edward says, "Ah, the answer, well, the answer is no." And he goes on to explain that it means there can be a little more left for food at later meals or when grocery shopping, and he turns to me and says, "See? She has a little less, you have a little more. She haggles, you offer money - " He laughs, and I laugh. He holds his hands up as balancing scales and we both say, "Balance!" while laughing and I add, "You find it everywhere." He nods.
It's a very fitful sleep tonight. There is an all-night party out on the waterfront (it's not yet Eid, but it is Ramadan, and so the city comes alive at sundown). I get up at 3 for earplugs. Tomorrow's breakfast is at 7, and we have a 12 hour drive from here at sea level and a city of 3 million to the town of Iringa - population 200,000 and situated at 1600m (5200 feet of elevation). There we'll stay the night, and do all the shopping for Monday's journey to the village.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Another One
Another serious, depressing, heavy-hitter dramatic film to add to your queue - behind Blue Valentine and Take This Waltz - is I've Loved You So Long. I'm sure you saw it back when everyone was talking about it, five years ago, but if you kept putting it off like me - don't! Take an early Sunday evening to yourself, when you've got the Sunday blues anyway so who cares if something is very serious and very dark, and watch this film. It deserves your attention.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Oh, JK?
John bought me the 8 BluRay collection of Harry Potter movies for Christmas, and I am reveling in watching these cute kids grow up, night after night. I plan to re-read the series next, to revel in all the things that can't fit into a screen adaptation.
However, now that I'm 4 movies in, I am afraid to say... not a one passes the Bechdel Test! Do we blame J.K., or do we blame the directors? I'll report back when the series re-read commences.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Re-View
Did I write recently about re-watching "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" and what a grand disappointment it was? Lesson: don't take a movie you loved when you were nine and watch it when you are twenty-nine. In all likelihood, it won't stand up.
However, what about taking a movie you loved at fourteen? It's a risk, I tell ya, but sometimes, it pays off.
In this case, Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. Run out and re-watch it! Or, use Netflix streaming on whim, as I did.
It absolutely stands up - the Nurse, Mercutio and Father Lawrence (yup, renamed in this version) are especially wonderful with both Elizabethan language and modern filmmaking. It breathes life into the bawdy jokes and it still pretty hip, 15 years on.
But upon re-viewing it, you get the true added bonus -- now you know who Leonardo DiCaprio is going to become. And so you get to see the very last traces of boyhood, the last bits of baby fat in his cheeks, and the end of adolescent angst right in front of you. If they shot this movie even two months later, he'd have been too old. But he was dead-on-perfect. And Claire Danes is all soft innocence, except for how perfectly she captures the singular obsession with sex - and sex with love, let's be fair - that Juliet and, ahem, some, teenage girls have.
The music is still good, the sets still interesting, and the angel wings/fireworks/watery kisses/morning bedsheets are as sexy as they were when I watched it in 10th grade on a date with Brandon at the Campus Square 8 in my hometown - twice!
I'll be on the hunt for more of these film gems that shine - and movie duds that stink, because frankly, they are probably more fun to write about.
However, what about taking a movie you loved at fourteen? It's a risk, I tell ya, but sometimes, it pays off.
In this case, Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. Run out and re-watch it! Or, use Netflix streaming on whim, as I did.
It absolutely stands up - the Nurse, Mercutio and Father Lawrence (yup, renamed in this version) are especially wonderful with both Elizabethan language and modern filmmaking. It breathes life into the bawdy jokes and it still pretty hip, 15 years on.
But upon re-viewing it, you get the true added bonus -- now you know who Leonardo DiCaprio is going to become. And so you get to see the very last traces of boyhood, the last bits of baby fat in his cheeks, and the end of adolescent angst right in front of you. If they shot this movie even two months later, he'd have been too old. But he was dead-on-perfect. And Claire Danes is all soft innocence, except for how perfectly she captures the singular obsession with sex - and sex with love, let's be fair - that Juliet and, ahem, some, teenage girls have.
The music is still good, the sets still interesting, and the angel wings/fireworks/watery kisses/morning bedsheets are as sexy as they were when I watched it in 10th grade on a date with Brandon at the Campus Square 8 in my hometown - twice!
I'll be on the hunt for more of these film gems that shine - and movie duds that stink, because frankly, they are probably more fun to write about.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Theft.
I would like to be smart enough to have said this, but I am not, so I must give credit to N where credit is due.
We saw Meek's Cutoff the other day, which I recommend highly - she liked it, I liked it AND John liked it! It's by a NW filmmaker, who made Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy and it has a similar feel to it, while being a grand Western like you've never seen before.
N said of the film, and the filmmaker, "If her movies were in French, she would be hailed as a master of existentialism and as an auteur of grand scope... a cinematic genius! But since her movies are in English, people think eww, they're boring." Nail. On. The. Head.
Go see Meek's Cutoff! Give Kelly Reichardt some of your intellectual love!
We saw Meek's Cutoff the other day, which I recommend highly - she liked it, I liked it AND John liked it! It's by a NW filmmaker, who made Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy and it has a similar feel to it, while being a grand Western like you've never seen before.
N said of the film, and the filmmaker, "If her movies were in French, she would be hailed as a master of existentialism and as an auteur of grand scope... a cinematic genius! But since her movies are in English, people think eww, they're boring." Nail. On. The. Head.
Go see Meek's Cutoff! Give Kelly Reichardt some of your intellectual love!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Pass! Pass?!
Are you familiar with the Bechdel Test? It is a test by which you can look at a movie's treatment of women. In my experience, women talk more than men most days. (Science has proved this too.) And women talk to men, but they dearly love to talk with other women. And they talk about their fathers, brothers, husbands, sons and male coworkers... but that's not ALL they talk about.
So, the Bechdel Test requires that a movie have:
So to prove that this is just a fun way of looking at the world from a perspective different than that of generations of screenwriters, movie executives, and the Industry of Cool leaders that permeates our lives, and not a guarantee of something high-quality...
... the other night I had a serious bad movie craving. I wanted to watch a totally awful popcorn flick. An old roommate of John and mine left behind a random collection of DVDs, and I sorted through them... Sherry Baby? No. Half Nelson? No way. Blue Crush? Getting closer. Bring It On? Closer still. But even worse? And the winner?
Coyote Ugly!
And to my shock, it passes the Bechdel Test! Not once, but TWICE!
There are two conversations, between two different pairs of named female characters, about life experiences they are planning or in the midst of, that do not mention men. Color me stunned... but heck, I should remember that Tyra can do anything. Fierce.
So, the Bechdel Test requires that a movie have:
- Two female characters - with names!
- The two women must talk TO each other directly...
- and at least one of their conversations CANNOT be about a man.
- (Read more here. The Bechdel Test is a not a test that proves a good movie, it's just one way to look at films' success at imitating life, and women in them purporting to live said lives.)
So to prove that this is just a fun way of looking at the world from a perspective different than that of generations of screenwriters, movie executives, and the Industry of Cool leaders that permeates our lives, and not a guarantee of something high-quality...
... the other night I had a serious bad movie craving. I wanted to watch a totally awful popcorn flick. An old roommate of John and mine left behind a random collection of DVDs, and I sorted through them... Sherry Baby? No. Half Nelson? No way. Blue Crush? Getting closer. Bring It On? Closer still. But even worse? And the winner?
Coyote Ugly!
And to my shock, it passes the Bechdel Test! Not once, but TWICE!
There are two conversations, between two different pairs of named female characters, about life experiences they are planning or in the midst of, that do not mention men. Color me stunned... but heck, I should remember that Tyra can do anything. Fierce.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Moonstruck
I borrowed the DVD for Moonstruck from good friends about two years ago... and finally watched it tonight! My review, in a word: excellent!
And then John came wandering in at the end, since he'd already seen it, and I said happily, "You know, the whole world wants to visit a little bit of France. But the whole world thinks of themselves as being a little bit Italian!"
He thought for a moment and replied, "Well at one point, the whole Western world was inhabited by Romans. But not by the French."
Match made in heaven.
And then John came wandering in at the end, since he'd already seen it, and I said happily, "You know, the whole world wants to visit a little bit of France. But the whole world thinks of themselves as being a little bit Italian!"
He thought for a moment and replied, "Well at one point, the whole Western world was inhabited by Romans. But not by the French."
Match made in heaven.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Other People's Problems
You know how it's really easy to identify someone else's problem, right along with the solutions for it? But your own are terribly confusing and mazelike; impossible to solve in a single conversation or new year.
So I had a chat recently with someone who has made almost no changes in their life in the last few years, and they recommended gargantuan changes for a mutual friend. I don't want to "out" a private conversation, but the advice was something extreme... something like "he should quit his job without a new one on the horizon" or "she should start her own business without any start up money" or "they really need to break up and one can move to Hawaii to work in a surf shop, and the other can get partying out of their system". It was a thing like that.
And while the advice was bold, exciting, take-charge action... it was also terrifying and I couldn't help but consider the source. Those folks taking big, bold action? I tend to trust their recommendations to do the same. But those folks who haven't changed "so much as a pair of socks since I've known" them? You can guess my gut reaction.
But in the grand life effort to stretch, to grow, to get more in touch with my life's purpose and live authentically... I'm taking one small baby step away from such judgment. Instead of waving off their advice (or, maybe, along with waving off their advice, ha!) to our mutual friend... I am going to spend this week thinking, "What do my friends advise me to do? What action in life would they like to see me take? Why? And what if I did it? What might happen?"
Sure, not everyone has my best interests at heart, and some people might give advice to manipulate me to their advantage, but a whole lot of friends DO have my best interests at heart. My urban tribe, my family-by-choice is filled with big hearts. So I ponder - and I welcome in the comments - what should I be doing more of, less of, adding to my daily life? What should you be doing more of, less of, adding to your daily life?
So I had a chat recently with someone who has made almost no changes in their life in the last few years, and they recommended gargantuan changes for a mutual friend. I don't want to "out" a private conversation, but the advice was something extreme... something like "he should quit his job without a new one on the horizon" or "she should start her own business without any start up money" or "they really need to break up and one can move to Hawaii to work in a surf shop, and the other can get partying out of their system". It was a thing like that.
And while the advice was bold, exciting, take-charge action... it was also terrifying and I couldn't help but consider the source. Those folks taking big, bold action? I tend to trust their recommendations to do the same. But those folks who haven't changed "so much as a pair of socks since I've known" them? You can guess my gut reaction.
But in the grand life effort to stretch, to grow, to get more in touch with my life's purpose and live authentically... I'm taking one small baby step away from such judgment. Instead of waving off their advice (or, maybe, along with waving off their advice, ha!) to our mutual friend... I am going to spend this week thinking, "What do my friends advise me to do? What action in life would they like to see me take? Why? And what if I did it? What might happen?"
Sure, not everyone has my best interests at heart, and some people might give advice to manipulate me to their advantage, but a whole lot of friends DO have my best interests at heart. My urban tribe, my family-by-choice is filled with big hearts. So I ponder - and I welcome in the comments - what should I be doing more of, less of, adding to my daily life? What should you be doing more of, less of, adding to your daily life?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
I disagree:
with anyone who thought "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" was good. (I know this does not come as surprise, but, well, yeah.)
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The neglect ends now.
(Of this blog.)
Far be it from me to withhold an opinion just because I happen to not be fully informed... I am really, really, really tired of hearing folks rip on "It's Complicated" (or any other Nancy Meyers film) because of her lavish attention to over-the-top domestic details. As in, kitchens stuffed with Le Creuset cookware and Reidel wine glasses, rich woodwork and detailed paint jobs; bathrooms with porcelain clawfoot tubs and L'Occitane products strewn about; bedrooms with billion-count sheets and lighting that nearly airbrushes.
Because it's an attack on domestic fantasy, a reduction of some peoples' harmless household imaginings. And is it coincidental that those fantasies tend to appeal more to women than men?
If the reason you're not seeing a Nancy Meyers film is that she wrote "The Holiday" then you have my full support. But if the reason for not seeing it is that her depiction of domestic bliss is unrealistically expensive/indulgent, then I hope similar bans are placed upon Bruce Wayne and his Batmobile, Megan Fox taped into her tiny costumes while blowing ish up, and Seth Rogen getting the girl.
Far be it from me to withhold an opinion just because I happen to not be fully informed... I am really, really, really tired of hearing folks rip on "It's Complicated" (or any other Nancy Meyers film) because of her lavish attention to over-the-top domestic details. As in, kitchens stuffed with Le Creuset cookware and Reidel wine glasses, rich woodwork and detailed paint jobs; bathrooms with porcelain clawfoot tubs and L'Occitane products strewn about; bedrooms with billion-count sheets and lighting that nearly airbrushes.
Because it's an attack on domestic fantasy, a reduction of some peoples' harmless household imaginings. And is it coincidental that those fantasies tend to appeal more to women than men?
If the reason you're not seeing a Nancy Meyers film is that she wrote "The Holiday" then you have my full support. But if the reason for not seeing it is that her depiction of domestic bliss is unrealistically expensive/indulgent, then I hope similar bans are placed upon Bruce Wayne and his Batmobile, Megan Fox taped into her tiny costumes while blowing ish up, and Seth Rogen getting the girl.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Let's All Go to the Movies.
Another installment of sexism at the movies!
If Cameron Diaz were as bloated and overweight as Luke Wilson has become, she would never be cast in a (albeit vacuous) big budget, star-filled, rom-com movie like "Valentine's Day".
Watching the preview for "Remember Me" it appeared to be a wrong-side-of-the-tracks love story, where the father of The Girl and the father of The Boy also may duke it out. Which makes sense. Because so many people are raised by single fathers in the world today. Single fathers as primary caregivers - they're everywhere!! Single moms? Who? Portraying them would give women in Hollywood roles, AND illustrate a common life occurrence. So: pshaw. No way.
And a yay for Nancy Meyers! No matter what else we can say about her, I'm delighted that the preview for "It's Complicated" describes Alec Baldwin's character as the "ex" of the main character, a woman, and Steve Martin's as her "architect". She is truly the main character, even in the context of telling us who the others are, and THAT is a rarity in Hollywood indeed.
If Cameron Diaz were as bloated and overweight as Luke Wilson has become, she would never be cast in a (albeit vacuous) big budget, star-filled, rom-com movie like "Valentine's Day".
Watching the preview for "Remember Me" it appeared to be a wrong-side-of-the-tracks love story, where the father of The Girl and the father of The Boy also may duke it out. Which makes sense. Because so many people are raised by single fathers in the world today. Single fathers as primary caregivers - they're everywhere!! Single moms? Who? Portraying them would give women in Hollywood roles, AND illustrate a common life occurrence. So: pshaw. No way.
And a yay for Nancy Meyers! No matter what else we can say about her, I'm delighted that the preview for "It's Complicated" describes Alec Baldwin's character as the "ex" of the main character, a woman, and Steve Martin's as her "architect". She is truly the main character, even in the context of telling us who the others are, and THAT is a rarity in Hollywood indeed.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sentence Fragment review: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
Watched the HBO movie "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee."
Didn't know Anna Paquin was in it, but she didn't ruin it. Yay! Adam Beach was great, always love to see Aidan Quinn.
Oddly melodramatic yet simultaneously too mellow for such a story. Seemed too low budget, what a disgrace. Ought to have been treated better.
Think I was mainly disappointed about the dance just before the climatic, infamous massacre...
Remember learning it in high school, again in college. And every time I heard the story? Haunting. Spine shivers. As good as history can be, grave and intense. Were the ghosts about to arise and arrive to help? I always think so... and the HBO film didn't nearly do justice to that. No epic emotion. No terrifying possibility. Not enough drama. But perhaps the dance can't be shown on film?
I liked it; a C+. But I'd like to see it done again with a bigger budget, experienced director, tighter script.
Didn't know Anna Paquin was in it, but she didn't ruin it. Yay! Adam Beach was great, always love to see Aidan Quinn.
Oddly melodramatic yet simultaneously too mellow for such a story. Seemed too low budget, what a disgrace. Ought to have been treated better.
Think I was mainly disappointed about the dance just before the climatic, infamous massacre...
Remember learning it in high school, again in college. And every time I heard the story? Haunting. Spine shivers. As good as history can be, grave and intense. Were the ghosts about to arise and arrive to help? I always think so... and the HBO film didn't nearly do justice to that. No epic emotion. No terrifying possibility. Not enough drama. But perhaps the dance can't be shown on film?
I liked it; a C+. But I'd like to see it done again with a bigger budget, experienced director, tighter script.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Movie Review Time: Bright Star
The last two films I have seen were both absolutely fantastic, and could not be more different. The first, The Hurt Locker, I can't even write about. It's so good, so perfect, that you should just see it as soon as humanly possible.
The second, Bright Star, I saw two nights ago. If you have ever yearned for flower-filled fields of romance, if you've ever read a poem by one of the Romantics and sighed, if you've ever been 15 or 18 or 21 and in love (and probably a woman, though not must be one)... SEE THIS MOVIE.
I will not reveal any spoilers. Unless you didn't know that the poet John Keats died at age 25, and then I will be sharing that spoiler. So there.
The film is subtly erotic... while being rated PG and totally chaste, and totally appropriate for tweens, with nary a French kiss to be seen... it is incredibly swoon-worthy and romantic and captures the overwhelming experience of new love. The director, Jane Campion, is so clearly having fun behind the camera - she is excellent at her job, and the sense of playfulness, her mastery as a director, and plain ol' exuberant joy shines through. Even for those who might have a tendency to say, "But I can't tell one director from another,"... I would be surprised to hear them, no matter how cinematically unsure, say that about Bright Star.
Campion continually cuts the scenes just before they feel over, and it's like being a teenager again - where you want to savor the event but the party's over, time's up, before you feel done. It reminded me a bit of blinking and missing something, or closing your eyes because it's too perfect and painful to full absorb.
An excellent historical portrait of why love couldn't matter as much as money... an Oscar-worthy performance from Abbie Cornish (one of whose scenes was almost traumatizing in it's emotion)... a loving visual postcard to springtime in England... actor Paul Schneider who is sorely underused in widely distributed films... insight into the life of John Keats while he was living... a calmly paced and quietly memorable film all around... Bright Star isn't for everyone, but I confidently believe it will stand the test of time and I felt absolutely, 100%, thoroughly satisfied at its end... and THAT is what a good romance film is about. Take your sexist, simplistic rom-coms and give me heartbreaking Romantic, poetic love every time.
PS. There is a shot in this film involving a spring breeze and an in-love young woman. I defy you to not be aroused, in one way or another, by its execution and perfect beauty.
The second, Bright Star, I saw two nights ago. If you have ever yearned for flower-filled fields of romance, if you've ever read a poem by one of the Romantics and sighed, if you've ever been 15 or 18 or 21 and in love (and probably a woman, though not must be one)... SEE THIS MOVIE.
I will not reveal any spoilers. Unless you didn't know that the poet John Keats died at age 25, and then I will be sharing that spoiler. So there.
The film is subtly erotic... while being rated PG and totally chaste, and totally appropriate for tweens, with nary a French kiss to be seen... it is incredibly swoon-worthy and romantic and captures the overwhelming experience of new love. The director, Jane Campion, is so clearly having fun behind the camera - she is excellent at her job, and the sense of playfulness, her mastery as a director, and plain ol' exuberant joy shines through. Even for those who might have a tendency to say, "But I can't tell one director from another,"... I would be surprised to hear them, no matter how cinematically unsure, say that about Bright Star.
Campion continually cuts the scenes just before they feel over, and it's like being a teenager again - where you want to savor the event but the party's over, time's up, before you feel done. It reminded me a bit of blinking and missing something, or closing your eyes because it's too perfect and painful to full absorb.
An excellent historical portrait of why love couldn't matter as much as money... an Oscar-worthy performance from Abbie Cornish (one of whose scenes was almost traumatizing in it's emotion)... a loving visual postcard to springtime in England... actor Paul Schneider who is sorely underused in widely distributed films... insight into the life of John Keats while he was living... a calmly paced and quietly memorable film all around... Bright Star isn't for everyone, but I confidently believe it will stand the test of time and I felt absolutely, 100%, thoroughly satisfied at its end... and THAT is what a good romance film is about. Take your sexist, simplistic rom-coms and give me heartbreaking Romantic, poetic love every time.
PS. There is a shot in this film involving a spring breeze and an in-love young woman. I defy you to not be aroused, in one way or another, by its execution and perfect beauty.
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