christopher's lives (v5.3)

i just watched it for the first time and wanted to get some thoughts down while the emotional impression is still fresh… i have not read a word about this film, nor did i even know what it was about…

(btw, i’m typing this up on my phone, which has no cut/paste… not the best way to write, but it’ll have to do and if you continue to read, you’ll have to be ready for some stream-of-consciousness disorganization…)

i watched this on the recommendation a few months ago of Tara, a good friend whose opinion when it comes to emotional movies i very much trust… she was right about the power of The Notebook so when she said similar things about August Rush, i knew she would be right… and, of course, insisted she not tell me a single thing about it – i just took her word for it…

but, as i watched, i was doubting my trust in her… it took awhile for me to get sucked in… the film is dreamy – not surreal, but fantasy to be sure and not a strictly straightforward narrative and i was a little confused initially… but, after awhile, i began to see it as more like a dream i was having and stopped trying to keep the story straight and just let it move me – carry me…

it is a story of a miracle…
i think that says it best – a miracle happens and this is the telling of the events leading up to it…
what happens is an impossibility or at least a great improbability… this is a fairy tale, a fable – and any objections to what happened i might have were less important to what it meant and how it made me feel… it is a very emotional film… and the last twenty minutes or so, it just kept repeating in my mind: “follow the music follow the music”… music is the spirituality of the film – the religion of the three key characters… music is the meaning in their lives – not simply the only thing that matters to them, but the only thing that CAN matter, the only thing that is real… and each of them has someone who doesn’t have music the way they do and is trying to harness their music for their own ends… the girl’s father, the guy’s brother, and “Wizard” in the boy’s life… the characters “need music more than food” and each has someone who needs food more than music and has – or tries to have – control… only when each follows the music are they free… alive… and neither of those words describe it – their relationship to music transcends human understanding… it is The Cause, pushing their existance forward… without music, they are just humans… and when they follow the music, they can arrive at what they were meant for…

and, the movie ends on just the perfect note… the moment of nirvana – of destiny completed – and the mood was not destroyed by words… the writer/director/whoever made the very wise choice to not have anyone say anything… we already knew the facts they would tell each other, so why ruin this flawless moment? we can imagine what happens next but there isn’t even a need to imagine – when people ride off into the sunset, there is no next day, that’s why it’s a romance… their whole life has been leading up to this moment and the maker(s) of the film doesn’t ruin it – you just wake up from this beautiful dream…

i absolutely must watch this again because i’m not certain how i will feel about it a second time…
i know the kid’s performance is great, the overall pacing is pretty good, the photography is beautiful, the use of music and sound design was superb (i hope this is available in dts), but as i said, it did take me awhile to get truly sucked in… i said to terra as the credits rolled that it is a flawed masterpiece, but a masterpiece just the same…
i have been really wanting to see films by female directors after being so moved by Sophia Coppola’s Lost In Translation – knowing that a female director will convey emotion in a completely different way… and this is certainly the most unique film i have seen in years and i truly mean that…
but i wanted it to make me cry and it didn’t… i wanted it to take my breath away and i had to settle for awe… there were a lot of smiles i had in the third act as i saw it all coming together, but it was undeniably predictable… that is probably the wrong way to say it… the hopes and dreams we share with these three came true! so, no surprise is not a bad thing! but, i knew they would come true and what was amazing was the miraculous ways they did come true… it is a rare film that can make me not only suspend disbelief but put my focus purely on the emotions of the film and this accomplishes it… but i’m almost embarrassed to be so moved when i can think of some of the flaws…

so what i am hoping for above all else is that i will see nothing but greatness on my next viewing…

SEE ALSO:
…Searching For Bobby Fischer for more on people trying to possess someone’s gift
…A.I.:Artificial Intelligence for another character/performance like the boy