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biopic

Louis van Beethoven – The Man Behind the Music

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Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the best known composers of classical music. The first four notes of his Fifth Symphony may be the most familiar musical phrase in existence. We stand amazed at the music he composed yet never heard because of his deafness. But what of the person? Louis van Beethoven is a biographical film that gives us some insight into the person behind the music. (The title reflects the name that was used in his youth.) The film is coming on in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.

The film moves back and forth between Beethoven’s final year and his early life in Bonn. The Beethoven we meet as an adult (played by Tobias Moretti) has long been deaf. He is sullen and demanding. He has come to his brother Johann’s home in Gneixendorf along with their nephew Karl (Peter Lewys Preston) after Karl’s attempted suicide. There Louis is in constant battle with everyone around him, especially Johann’s wife. This is the backdrop which leads to memories of his earlier life.

As a child in Bonn, Louis (Colin Pütz) was a musical prodigy. He is pushed by his father, who has dreams of him being a new Mozart. Through his father’s connections as a singer in the court of the Elector, the young Beethoven comes under the tutelage of other musicians. He also comes in contact with Tobias Pfeiffer (Sabin Tambrea), a local actor who rooms with the family. Pfeiffer brings radical ideas to the household, including the US Declaration of Independence and the poetry of Friedrich Schiller. (Schillers “Ode to Joy”, which will become the finale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, asserts the brotherhood of all men.)

As he becomes a young man, Louis (Anselm Bresgott) continues to grow as a musician. He also suffers the loss of his mother, which sends his father into despair and alcoholism. He comes under the patronage of the von Breuning family and falls in love with Eleonore von Breuning (Caroline Hellwig). But he is below the family’s social station and any match between them is forbidden.

The focus of this biographical film is not so much Beethoven’s music. In fact, we probably hear more Mozart than Beethoven. This is in large part because the film leaves out his time in Vienna during which he did most of his composing. Rather the film examines some of the forces at play that led to his music, especially ideas of egalitarianism. Pfeiffer’s (for the time) radical ideas mix with his disappointment at not being able to be with Eleonore to create a sense of rebelliousness. One of the ironies of his life is that although he rejected the stratification of society, he was dependent on the patronage of various courts for his musical career.  The relationship with art and commercial success plays out through the film, especially in the sections with the adult Beethoven.

There is one musical theme worth noting. In a brief trip to Vienna as a young man, Beethoven meets his idol Mozart (who is rather dismissive of the young man). Hearing Beethoven improvising on piano, Mozart moves to a harpsichord and the two do something of a classical music version of “Duelling Banjos”.

The film is being released in virtual cinema through local arthouses and on VOD.

Photos courtesy of Film Movement.

Last Call – Dylan Thomas Rages

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“You think your self-destruction is grand theater…. You’re just a performer in your own pathetic vaudeville show.”

Legend has it that on November 3, 1953, famed Welsh poet Dylan Thomas spent the day at The White Horse Tavern in New York. When he got back to his hotel, he claimed to have had 18 double whiskeys, which he considered a record. Soon he collapsed into a coma from which he did not recover. Last Call is a dark, yet poetic fictive version of that last day (and via flashbacks his family life and the weeks leading up to that fateful day). It should be noted that this is not meant as a biographical film in any factual sense. This is much more about trying to capture “the truth of the person” rather than events.

Thomas (Rhys Ifans), one of the most influential poets of the 20th century, is in the US for a lecture tour. At various colleges he is worshipped by the crowds (mostly young women). Yet, he is far from happy. He is a mixture of insecurity, narcissism, and alcoholism. On the day in question, he goes to the White Horse at 9:00 am and orders a double. When it comes he begins to tell the bartender Carlos (Rodrigo Santoro) and others at the bar that drinks need to have names to be more than just a drink. So with each of the 18 double shots that Carlos pours for him through the day and night, he christens it with some aspect of life. Drink number one is innocence, number two is enthusiasm, and he continues hitting on hope, faith, disappointment, death, resurrection, success, disappointment, and many other bits of wisdom. As he names each drink, he pontificates to those present about each aspect of life—and especially about how his life is playing out as a tragedy.

Between these various scenes in the bar, we flashback (and occasionally forward) to episodes either on the tour or with his wife in Wales. (One of the affectations of the film is that everything in the US is in black and white, everything in Wales is in color. That leads to a few interesting hybrid scenes when he hallucinates his wife, who is still in Wales, speaking to him in the bar.) In those scenes various supporting characters show us much of the failure in Thomas’s life.

Writer/director Steven Bernstein say the film is “a kind of long poem”. Other than when Thomas is reading his poems on the tour, the words all come from Bernstein, but they are written with the same kind of free verse cadence as we might expect from Dylan Thomas. We first note the poetic aspect of the film when in the first scene we hear Dr. Felton (John Malkovich) tell his friend “I’m not one for poetry.” Yet as he explains why he doesn’t care for poems, he is being very poetic. Bernstein fills the film with such poetic language.

There is also a bit of visual poetry, most noticeable in scenes where Carlos dances (once with a mop in the background as Thomas speechifies and later a bit of a tango with a young fan of Thomas’s) or during a scene where Dr. Felton performs an autopsy on Thomas as various onlookers pass out.

The use of color scenes amidst all the black and white scenes is also a kind of visual poetry. Those color scenes, all set in Wales, reflect Thomas’s concept of home and love. Yet, it is something he struggles to accept and to give. Those scenes include times of intimacy with his wife, but also of distance, such as his wife’s letters to him begging him to send money for the family.

While the film shows us a variety of relationships that Thomas has, for me the most interesting side character is Carlos. He serves not just as the one who keeps filling Thomas’s glass, but as a foil to his ideas. Thomas obviously thinks of him as an uneducated servant. But it turns out he is very well educated, quoting Shakespeare and Aquinas freely. While others look at Thomas with awe, Carlos sees him as a fraud. He tells Thomas that for all his words, there’s nothing there. For all his fame and success as a writer, he is a failure as a human being.

There is a certain irony of watching Thomas seemingly drink himself to death. One of his most famous poems is “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, which speaks of fighting against impending death. (We hear the poem being read on the lecture tour.) Yet the man we see in this film seems to be challenging death to take him. In one scene with Dr. Felton, the doctor asks him “Do you want to die?” over and over. It is a question Thomas fails to answer. Unlike the words of Dylan Thomas in the poem, the character in this film is far from raging “against the dying of the light”. He rages, but seemingly at life itself.

Last Call is showing in select theaters.

Photos courtesy of K Street Pictures.

I Am Woman – Raising Her Voice

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♫ “I am strong. I am invincible. I am woman.” ♫

Those words were part of what became the anthem of the Second Wave Women’s Movement in the 1970s. Unjoo Moon makes it the cornerstone of her Helen Reddy biopic, I Am Woman. The film is in part a celebration of her music set within her story amidst the background of the Women’s Movement.

Helen Reddy (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) arrives with her daughter in New York in 1966 thinking she has won a record contract. It turns out the label has no plans for her. She sings in a lounge trying to make ends meet, but it is a struggle. She is befriended by fellow Aussie Lilian Roxon (Danielle Macdonald). At a party, she also meets Jeff Wald (Evan Peters) who is seeking a way into the management business. Jeff and Helen hit it off romantically. They move to Los Angeles where Jeff gets his foot in the door of the industry, but Helen is languishing in the role of housewife. She nags him into doing for her what he does for other clients, eventually getting her a chance to record some covers. That gets her started on her career.

Throughout the first half of the film, the demeaning nature of the male dominated entertainment industry (and culture as a whole) is obvious. She is pigeon-holed in a certain genre of music. Her husband is in many ways just as bad as everyone else in his view of the place of women, but he knows how to help Helen find success. It becomes obvious when she writes “I Am Woman” and wants to include it on her album. The men react to it, thinking it sounds “angry” and “man-hating”. But Jeff convinces them to bury it in the last half of the album because no one listens to that part anyway. But Jeff promotes that song in ways that make it a hit. Helen is one her way.

This is a by-the-numbers biopic. Intro. Struggle. Love interest. Success. Marital problems. Finding a new personal fulfillment. That motif is frequently used to tell stories that are designed to inspire. I Am Woman is a story of a woman who has to overcome both the struggle to find success, and the effects of attaining it.

Playing in the background is the society-wide struggle that women faced during that period. We see bits of the Women’s Movement and the battle for the Equal Rights Amendment. In some ways, Helen Reddy’s story reflects that period. She faces being talked down to because she is a woman. But she also becomes a symbol of a successful woman, with her own TV show, and worldwide fame. But there is also a downside to the life she has tried so hard at achieve. And in the end, like the ERA, perhaps all the success is just for show and there needs to be more done.

I Am Woman is playing in theaters and on VOD.

On the Basis of Sex – RBG Fights the System

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“Courts ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era.”

Before she became a Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one who fought against sex discrimination. One the Basis of Sex focuses on her life from the time she entered Harvard Law School until she began to argue appeals to begin to break down the barriers to equality—law by law.

In the opening scene, as credits are shown, we see a sea of men all headed the same direction. It turns out that they are on their way into the law school. We see just one woman among them. Later we learn that there are nine new women law students that year. As the new students begin their studies, the dean addresses the new class by speaking about what it means to be a “Harvard Man”. That was the world at the time Ruth (Felicity Jones) began her journey towards being a lawyer. And it didn’t get better when she graduated. Not able to find employment at a law firm, she teaches law at Rutgers. As the turbulent 1970s dawn, she teaches a class focusing on sex discrimination, noting that under the law, women do not have rights. When her husband Martin (Armie Hammer), a tax attorney, brings her a case in which a man can’t get a deduction that a woman could, she sees it as a chance to chip away at the law.

The film speaks of sex discrimination not as an abstract, but as the reality in Ruth’s life. She serves as the victim of the systemic sexism of the day. Even though it is clear that she has the intelligence and the drive to be a good attorney, each firm she interviews with finds a different reason why they won’t hire her, ranging from we already have one woman, why would we want two? to the wives would be jealous. Martin recognizes her gifts and is supportive. But such male benevolence is hard to find elsewhere in the film. Even an old childhood friend, Mel Wulf (Justin Theroux), now at the ACLU, supports her in theory, but not so much in action. The male condescension reaches its highest point (or deepest depth) when one of the judges in her appeals case mansplains the three branches of government and how laws are made.

The film also spends time on the Ginsburg’s family life, with special emphasis on Ruth’s sometimes troubled relationship with her teenage daughter Jane (Cailee Spaeni). Jane at first feels as though her mother dismisses her, but in time the two come to appreciate each other. Ruth sees in Jane a new generation who will not accept the status quo and who will fight for change.

The film gets a bit dramatic at times. In reality, I doubt the arguments in an appellate court on a $270 tax case is very exciting, but for this film, it seeks to put us on the edges of our seats. As first Martin, then Ruth, make their case, it seems destined to lose, until Ruth comes up in the final moments to turn the tide. But that drama is what gives the film a sense of urgency to remind us that the battles for justice are not done.

Sitting close to fifty years removed from the time of the film, it may seem that the attitudes of that time were ridiculous. However, as the issues are discussed, arguments are often made that such changes in the laws will destroy the family and fabric of society. Often it is asserted that the male dominant society is the natural order of things. Should women be firefighters or combat troops? While some may find such claims out of date, they continue to be made in many gender related issues that continue to be struggled with to this day.

Fans of Justice Ginsburg (who knew judges would ever have fans?) will be happy to know that the real RBG does make a brief appearance atop the Supreme Court steps at the end of the film, which brought some applause at the showing I attended. That she is so recognizable is a testament to the role she continues to play as we continue to need champions of justice.

Photos courtesy of Focus Features

Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far On Foot: Hope, Healing and Higher Powers

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Directed by Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Elephant), Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far On Foot tells the story of controversial cartoonist, John Callahan. After nearly dying in a car accident, the last thing Callahan (Joaquin Phoenix) intends to do is give up alcohol. Reinvigorated by his girlfriend and a charming sponsor, Donnie (Jonah Hill), Callahan reluctantly enters Alcoholics Anonymous and discovers that his passion for drawing. The budding artist soon finds himself with a new lease on life when his edgy and irreverent newspaper cartoons gain a national and devoted following.

In its best moments, Don’t Worry… provides Phoenix ample opportunity to showcase his incredible ability to disappear into a role. His portrait of Callahan balances both pride and brokenness in an engaging manner. However, it’s Jonah Hill who continues to surprise. As Callahan’s sponsor, Hill steals the film, depicting Donnie as a complex picture of truth and grace. Interestingly though, it’s director Van Sant’s decision to break the film’s narrative structure that creates the most conversation. By juxtaposing moments of death with moments of hope and personal breakthrough, Van Sant seems to want us to understand that each moment of our lives informs the next. In other words, by presenting the life of his subject to the viewer seemingly all at once, the film serves as a reminder that Callahan’s battles also mirror and enlighten his successes. (For instance, in one particular scene, Van Sant parallels Callahan’s tragic car accident with a moment when he falls from his wheelchair, reminding us that his past has created his present.) While jarring in some places, the technique proves effective for the majority of the film, offering context to Callahan’s journey in a unique manner.

Since much of the film chronicles Callahan’s journey with Alcoholics Anonymous, Don’t Worry…is imbued with intriguing conversations about reliance on a higher power. Callahan’s journey to sobriety takes him on a genuine wrestling match with God—although, to be fair, what God looks like here is entirely subjective and even unorthodox. (For example, Donnie’s vision of a higher power takes the form of psychotic doll Chucky, because “he’s unpredictable”.) For Callahan, his journey towards healing begins with his acknowledgement of his own weakness and his need for help from someone more powerful. In the strangest of realities, there is a healing that takes place when he understands his own human frailty and accepts the spiritual strength from Another. (As a pastor, I can relate to this truth on any number of levels.)

However, Callahan’s story is not merely one of healing through group therapy either. In fact, his journey also shows the power of finding your voice. Known for his political cartoons, Callahan found his true calling by speaking on behalf of a generation that was struggling to find itself. Though frequently controversial in his content, Callahan committed himself to expressing himself in ways that challenged the cultural norm. In doing so, his voice also gave him sense of hope and purpose that had eluded him throughout much of his life.

In the end, Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far On Foot is a poignant character piece about one man’s fight for self-discovery. Anchored by Phoenix but buoyed by Hill, the film is often engaging in ways that are both challenge and entertain. Though not his best work, Van Sant can still create well-rounded characters that don’t shy away from their frailties but still highlight their hopefulness as well.