We are grieving, groping in this darkness in a path with no recovery. The what-ifs repeat themselves and we draw from the new emptiness inside us. No matter how strongly we handle these fresh wounds, we know we are permanently scarred.
The movies come as welcome distractions. On weekend nights, the couch turns into a twin bed, and we let the TV interfere with movies acquired as the millenials would.
Boyhood
It had the missing elements of a grandiose film I was looking for in the “Before” series: for one, a sensibility that was sustained with a powerful, 12-year stamina. Acting out what appeared to be “spontaneous” conversations were rehearsed expertly to the appearance of reality. You’d remember Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight as good films sometimes bordering on the so-so. Boyhood, to me, is a period-definitive magnum opus: more than a bold step, it is a creative, methodical, patient leap.The first scene bursts brightly with Coldplay’s Yellow, and while the narrative is non-linear, the time sequences become recognizable through the soundtrack. The time was defined by both Britney Spears, but also by Phoenix. A line from Mishima in Spring Snow, spoken by Honda goes: “You see that is the easiest way to establish the essence of our era--- to take the lowest common denominator.” This movie endeavored to present not just the lowest common denominator to define an era. It escaped the catch-all presentations of adolescent milestones such as acne, losing one’s virginity, the prom date, graduation. In it their places were the difficult conversations around those milestones.
“You know how everyone's always saying seize the moment? I don't know, I'm kind of thinking it's the other way around, you know, like the moment seizes us.”Some lines were probably intended to sound silly – because that how it is, to feel things: our enlightenment, our awkwardness. Nobody comes out of it elegantly. And I’m thinking it’s never really too late grow up.
Only Lovers Left Alive
Creativity, genius, art, scientific progress: these are inevitable consequences of immortality. Vintage equipment, good books and music are weapons of choice versus an all-powerful boredom and disgust with humans. It’s a vampire movie tailor-fit for hipsters. It calls out pseudo-intellectuals too, bringing up literary controversies such as: Shakespeare is Christopher Marlowe’s ghost writer. He faked his death four centuries ago and he's been lurking in Morocco. The science of Galileo and Tesla, the music of Paganini – it was handed down to them because the vampires wanted "to put something good out there."Tilda Swinton delivers a commanding performance as Eve. As a vampire - she danced, listened to music surrounded herself with pillars of books (including recent ones such as Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace). They had iPhones, traveled red-eye flights.They drank blood from cocktail glasses as if it were shots of Patron. She tells her bored lover:
“How can you've live for so long and still not get it? This self obsession is a waste of living. It could be spent in surviving things, appreciating nature, nurturing kindness and friendship, and dancing.”There’s a formula for immortality! There's the holy grail. But sometimes you have to resort to biting off someone’s neck.
Land Ho
A coming-of-old film, which is the senior equivalent of a coming-of-age film. A well-delivered road-trip comedy.Some of the most earnest discoveries, the funnest things come later in life. This time around, you'd think you're never too old enough for anything: travel, drugs, being charming.
These two friends do get it: why waste the rest of your life when you can spend it surviving things? Appreciate nature, nurture kindness and friendship, dance. Reykjavik, Skógar, Jökulsárlón, Landmannalaugar, Gullfoss, Strokkur, and Blue Lagoon are the perfect places do all of it.
