Written as part of the weekly blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Join us in holy matrimony by picking three movies that fit the week's theme and writing a bit about them!
Hello, everyone! Love is in the air this week on Thursday Movie Picks, and, if you will, please indulge me a bit...
This week is Wedding Movies, and, well, my sister got married exactly one month ago. And despite the unseasonably cold, wet weather on the day of the wedding, it was a beautiful, beautiful day - she looked so beautiful and so happy, and I got unexpectedly choked up watching my parents walk her down the aisle. So please just indulge me for one second as I bask in the beauty just once more...
SO PRETTY!!
Okay, back to the matter at hand. Movies. About weddings.
This was tough because there are so many to choose from. So I wanted to do movies that I love that I haven't mentioned on the blog yet. I kinda hope it also coincides with movies no one else picks, but just know that if you haven't seen these yet, you probably should. To know them is to love them.
Well, except maybe the last one.
Monsoon Wedding (Mira Nair, 2001) There's something about traditional Indian weddings, isn't there? The pomp and circumstance, the tradition, the symbolism, the MONTHS-long preparation... it all really makes the day itself feel like a big event - a culmination as well as a kick-off. Which is appropriate, since a wedding is essentially the line between one's single life and one's married life, especially in the case of an arranged marriage, like the one at the center of Mira Nair's kaleidoscopic portrait of modern India. Joy, tears, fights... it's all here, and all so relatable. It is so deeply felt on the levels of film craft and performance that we feel so much for ever single character, no matter how little time we spend with them, or how little they speak. This is how you do a big ensemble family film.
Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme, 2008) I have gotten into knock-down, drag-out fights about the quality of this one, so let me tell you right up front: I think Rachel Getting Married is a masterpiece. The family dynamics are so keenly observed - in Jenny Lumet's super-smart script, in Demme's unadorned direction, and in the incredibly astute performances. Anne Hathaway was robbed of an Oscar for her stunning, against-type work as Kym, a recovering addict on a weekend pass out of rehab for her sister's wedding. She's been away from her family for quite a while, but it doesn't take long for her to completely upend the delicate balance that has been built in her wake, and the long-held, deep resentment among various family members boils up at all the perfect (read: ABSOLUTE WORST) times. Rosemarie Dewitt is low-key brilliant as the titular bride, Bill Irwin and Debra Winger all kinds of wonderful as the divorced parents, one open-hearted and warm, the other closed-off and prickly, and then there's the always lovely Anna Deveare Smith as Dad's new wife, and the shockingly natural Tunde Adebimpe (lead singer of TV On the Radio) as the groom. Add in the ever-present musicians, and you have the perfect recipe for a delightful/awful wedding weekend. And the wedding, the centerpiece of the film, is just stunning: a swirling, deftly edited, wondrous piece of film that seemingly brings every character arc and plot turn to a close almost completely without dialogue. I love this movie so much, and even moreso after my sister's wedding, because now I know firsthand just how deeply true it all is.
The Wedding Date (Clare Kilner, 2005) I WARNED YOU. Remember that long-ago episode of Thursday Movie Picks where I picked three "Crappy Rom-Coms That I Love Anyway"? Well, this one almost made the cut. I mean, what's not to love about Debra Messing hiring Dermot Mulroney - the world's foremost male escort - to take to her sister Amy Adams's wedding? With Holland Taylor as her mother? Actually.... quite a lot. This is a preposterous, ridiculous movie, with characters constantly being in places they would never be doing things they would never do. But Messing and Mulroney are so goddamn charming that I kind of enjoy it anyway. Call this one a favorite Guilty Pleasure, while my other two picks are All-Time Favorites.
Way to pick an easy one this week! Musicals are only my favorite kind of movie, so I only have about a hundred different movies I could choose to write up for this. Therefore, I had to come up with an extra criterion to even begin writing. Therefore, here are three Non-Hollywood Musicals.
1. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964) I'm not going to lie, this may be my favorite musical of all time. The key to getting into musicals is accepting the very heightened reality in which they exist, one which allows for people to spontaneously burst into song when they're feeling too much to simply speak. In Demy's vision of war-era France, people primarily communicate through singing (yes, very near the whole thing is sung-through), and the mise-en-scene is even color-coded to match their emotions (and outfits), so it helps you along this path. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is also one of the most swoon-worthy romances in screen history, as teenagers Catherine Deneuve (in her film debut) and Nino Castelnuovo fall madly in love right before he gets drafted to serve in the army, all to Michel Legrand's gorgeous, Oscar-winning score. Will they ever get reunited? All I'll say is that Demy's Palme d'Or-winning film (one of three musicals to claim cinema's most prestigious honor) contains one of the finest ending scenes of all time.
Hey! If you like this one, why don't you try: The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967). Even more candy-colored fun from Demy and Deneuve, with Gene Kelly for extra flavor!
2. Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001, Ashutosh Gowariker) Even for people who love musicals, Bollywood films can be a bit daunting: At least three hours long, with unbelievably (necessarily) complicated plots, and expensive, expansive musical numbers that often sound like they're sung by particularly nasal children - and all in a foreign language! But what they have in their corner is unrivaled spectacle. My freshman roommate in college was of Indian heritage, and every once in a while he would pop in a Bollywood movie to watch when he was bored, and I would tag along. Thankfully, they had subtitles. Lagaan was the one that stood out to me the most, probably because it's very atypical. Epic even by Bollywood standards, it's an historical drama set during India's colonial British Raj (and thus lacks the sparkle and pizazz of most Bollywood films). The residents of a small, poor village are oppressed by the high taxes imposed on them by the crown, so one of the more arrogant British officers makes a wager: The villagers will not have to pay the tax (the "lagaan" of the title) if they can beat the Brits at a game of cricket. Problem is, the villagers don't know how to play. Can they overcome all the odds and win? The result is a lot more fun than it sounds. Unlike most Bollywood musicals, the songs aren't modern-sounding at all, using period instrumentation. Plus, instead of stopping the action dead in its tracks, they are integrated into the story almost seamlessly. They also tend to enliven scenes that would otherwise be standard clichés (a training sequence, a "let's show those outsiders we have culture, too!" party). At three hours and forty minutes, Lagaan may sound like torture to anyone who doesn't like musicals, but I'm telling you: This is entertainment of the highest order, even if it doesn't sound like it. (BONUS: the film's score was composed by A.R. Rahman, later of Slumdog Millionaire fame.)
Hey! If you like this one, why don't you try: Devdas (2002) Aishwarya Rai is only one of the most beautiful women in the world, and the musical numbers truly have to be seen to be believed.
3. Dancer in the Dark (2000, Lars von Trier) Either you like Bjork or you don't. Either you like Lars von Trier or you don't. But Dancer in the Dark is an undeniable triumph for the both of them. Bjork is simply remarkable as the poor factory worker Selma, who has a genetic degenerative disease which is slowly stealing her eyesight. She saves every penny she can in in the hopes of getting her son an operation that will prevent him from suffering the same fate. Will she be able to do so? In a sort of middle ground between the classic musicals Selma loves to watch with her co-worker Kathy (Catherine Deneuve) and a more naturalistic musical like John Carney's miraculous Once, the musical numbers here come from what Selma hears around her, be it the factory machines, a flag flapping in the breeze, or a train rushing past. And the songs are rather gorgeous - "I've Seen It All" was even nominated for an Oscar (yes, this is where we got Bjork's infamous swan dress). Deeply felt but also typically von Trier in the way it toys with, interrogates, and alienates the audience, Dancer in the Dark is quite divisive despite it's Palme d'Or win. I love the film's subtle stylistic flourishes (the musical numbers are filmed with static cameras with brighter colors than the rest of the film, which used handheld cameras) and incredible performances. Bjork has said she found the filming of this to be so nightmarish that she would never make another film ever again. Whatever von Trier did to her (and I hate to say this), it was probably worth it for this sublime film.
Hey! If you like this one, why don't you try: ...yeah, there really isn't anything like this one. The closest you'd get is probably the aforementioned Once (2007), which is a truly perfect film.
