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My favorite movie when I was in high school was A Room with a View.
I imagined myself as Lucy Honeychurch, surrounded by art and beauty and
succumbing to a kiss in the middle of the Italian countryside with Puccini
swelling in the background. I wanted a boy who wasn't afraid to ask the
hard questions, who held truth, beauty, and love above all other things.
Somewhere in the last ten years I got the incurable romantic pummelled out
of me, but Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge made my heart go pitter-pat
again. The ever-talented Ewan McGregor plays Christian, a writer who
comes to Paris in 1899 and settles into the Montmartre district with the
hopes of fully delving into the bohemian lifestyle. Toulouse-Lautrec
(John Leguizamo, yay!) is impressed by his writing ability and introduces
him to absinthe and the crazy night-life at the Moulin Rouge. It is there
that Christian meets Satine (Nicole Kidman) and experiences his first
powerful dose of real love. It is a familiar story that borrows heavily
from other classic love stories, most notably La Boheme. I saw a
performance of that opera by the Australian Opera on PBS years ago that
blew me away, and I wasn't surprised to learn this week that Baz Luhrmann
was the one responsible for that production as well. Moulin Rouge
feels like Luhrmann wanted to revisit the themes of La Boheme, but
he wanted to do it his way. What results is a thoroughly modern musical
that still evokes the heady rush of avant-garde Paris 100 years ago. The
film succeeds in no small part due to Kidman and McGregor's complete lack
of self-consciousness as they belt out pop tunes and navigate through the
shifting landscape of Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge. I also loved the frenetic
editing and special effects, the extreme close-ups on the characters that
made them into post-Impressionist caricatures, the music and dance
numbers. Baz, I know you've got more movies like this lurking inside of
you. Bring them on. While I'm waiting I'll watch Strictly
Ballroom and Romeo + Juliet a few more times.
A small group of us went to go see Ani DiFranco at the Greek Theater
Friday night. Aimee had been able to get a sitter for Sophie, Brent had
flown up from southern California to visit for the weekend, and Patrick
was able to pass out on the lawn. Sekou Sundiata opened and was just
plain awesome. I had listened to his album a few times and thought it was
great, but he outdid himself live. Sekou is a poet, but he also has an
entire band that backs him up and turns his poems into full funky
sensations. Ani came out to join him at the end of his set and made all
the girls at the front scream. Her own part of the show was solid. The
theme for the night appeared to be introspective relationship songs, as
she performed "Done Wrong" and "Marrow" and "Rock Paper Scissors". She
has such an extensive catalogue of material to draw from at this point
(and it's constantly getting larger!) that I'm always interested to see what
she chooses to perform on a particular night. I also know that she
doesn't play the same set night after night, that she shifts stuff around.
Seeing her live has become almost like going to church for me: I pretty
much know what to expect and nothing really surprises me anymore, but I
still come away fulfilled in some way. She wrapped up the show with a
gorgeous version of "Joyful Girl" which made me very happy. It's my song.
everything i do is judged
and they mostly get it wrong
but oh well
'cuz the bathroom mirror has not budged
and the woman who lives there can tell
the truth from the stuff that they say
and she looks me in the eye
and says would you prefer the easy way
no, well o.k. then
don't cry
Moulin Rouge
Ani DiFranco
Joyful Girl
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Heidi J. De Vries
