O-K! I'm back from "I'm not there". Ready to blather all about it!
So here goes:
Opinions + **spoilers**What a movie! I feel my head is completely reeling - it was wonderfully challenging to try to make sense of it all, but so ....stimulating, for lack of a better word. There was no doubt from the first 5 minutes that I was watching moviemaking of the highest order. Despite my Dylan cluelessness: The narrative, and the imagery, and the music, and the mosaic and puzzle of storylines and dialogue kept me both focused and riveted. Attention-grabbers galore!!
I bow low before Cate Blanchett. Her part of the tale was so fascinating, and she just sucked me into the tale so that it was inconsequential who she was or even who she was playing. So much food for thought in that part of the tale - all that fandom stuff seen from the side of the idol, the idol-becoming-fan as his own idol(s) appear(s), from the perspect of fans of all stripes (including the purists and the newbies), the know-it-all cultural elite and reviewers, the gossipmongers, the press, the hangers-on.... (Also I totally loved Michelle Williams's sultry turn here. Yes! Don't know which Real Life person she was playing but that just helped me form my own ideas about her character.) This whole storyline surely *has* to catch the interest and cause some introspection in anyone who's ever been in fandom, - any fandom....
But enough of that, and over to Heath.
Hello Ennis! The scene where he's chatting up his wife-to-be in a restaurant early on, and the scene where they agree on divorce...both had so much of a
slightly more relaxed Ennis-Heath (expressions, mannerisms, that little cough to clear the voice...) that I nearly choked up. I think I'm in love. I seriously, totally loved Heath's portrayal in all of this, it's nearly embarrassing how much I liked it.
And his storyline, that was so spooky.... two artists falling head-over-heels passionately in love, having children quickly, things going sour very soon, paparazzi stalking them, trying to make the relationship work, quarrels, the break-up, hanging with others, uneasy divorce, juggling time with the kids in-between travelling &
roles gigs. I can't help thinking that it must all have seemed such an echo of real life for Heath. The actress who played his wife was perfect for the role. It was a tough side of the story but made such an impact! That ice-blue lighting that nearly all their part of the tale had been filmed in.... unforgiving, revealing, but also lending a mood and a clear, cold colour that I actually thought becoming to all those scenes.
The other actors playing Dylan were fine, but I didn't understand the first thing about the Richard Gere part of the tale at all, and that was annoying. (And also a bit boring because it took its sweet time confusing me more and more).
I'm pretty sure this one will rank near the very top of my list of Heath films. I need to let it sink in a bit more.
Topic: Heath Heath Heath (Read 3770048 times)