THE HUNGER GAMES - 9

“Children know perfectly well that unicorns aren’t real, but they also know that books about unicorns, if they are good books, are true books.”

― Ursula K. Le Guin

There are lots of things being said on the Interwebs about THE HUNGER GAMES.   I have spent some time reading all of these differing opinions on the film and it is making me think about the function of fiction.  Why do we tell stories?  We humans have been spinning yarns for as long as we have been humans.  Our entire history as a species is based on our ability to learn through shared stories.  It is no coincidence that our oldest writings are fables.  Greek mythology, the Ramayana, Gilgamesh of Sumeria, the Torah, and Beowulf are all still around with us today because they teach us truth about ourselves and others and they do it in the best way possible -- with a story. 

The complaints I am hearing about THE HUNGER GAMES are mainly about how the movie should have "taught" something.  Some think it should have explained how ecological disasters brought on societal collapse.  Some think it should have pointed out how bad it is to kill teenagers by showing every death in slow-motion detail.  Some identify it as a branch of the Occupy movement.  Some believe it to be a strong message for traditional Conservatism.  Some think it should have been more pointedly satirical, blatantly pointing out the parallels in the film to current-day events.  

I think THE HUNGER GAMES did exactly what it was supposed to do, and that is to tell a story about people. Katness is someone who sticks in your brain.  She is someone you think about and take with you.  All the wonderful characters around her are also people you care about, people who you see yourself reflected in.  I don't think one changes the world by telling people how to change. I don't think that's the function of art.   But, you can express yourself by doing exactly what people have been doing around campfires since the beginning of time - you can tell a story.  Anything and everything after that is someone else's story to tell.

THE ARTIST -- 9

Jean Dujardin has become the first male actor to win an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA Award, and Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival.  He won a bunch of other stuff too (does anyone care that the Dallas-Ft.Worth Film Reviewers Guild gave him an award?) and every single nomination and accolade was richly deserved.  Not only did he flawlessly portray a character, he did it in the style of a silent film star, which I think must be like cooking a meal in full SCUBA gear or preparing a report for your boss using only toothpicks and bits of used chewing gum - achievable but much much harder.  M. Dujardin did it and made it look easy.

The rest of the cast, the filming, the music, the costuming, the sets - everything was also perfectly wonderful.  Berenice Bejo looked really pretty.   She was one of the few who didn't quite manage to fit seamlessly into the silent movie acting style but she was playing against Jean Dujardin and that's a lot of perfection to stand next to. Also she also had to be in compliance with The First Rule Of Period Costuming (or Movies) which is "Make the leading lady hot. Ignore every bit of the 200 hours of historical costuming research you just did and MAKE  HER HOT!!"

The look of the character Peppy Miller might have been modeled after the very famous Clara Bow.  Her clothing, however, is oddly light and I'm pretty sure you could pick most of it up at H&M in a few weeks.

Identical to Clara Bow except for the lack of extremely frizzy hair and 30 pounds.

While Ms Bow is pretty, she isn't the kind of pretty audiences today want to look at.  

She also appears to have a infant arm growing out of her chest.

But, I digress.  The film is excellent and I recommend it to everyone.

BYU Honors List: TOP HAT

TOP HAT is the fourth of ten movies that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers made together.  It was nominated for several Academy Awards and is considered to be one of their best musicals.  I remember watching this movie when I was a kid and still catch myself singing the Irving Berlin songs from it.  "Cheek to Cheek" in particular was my favorite and it was probably because of the dress.  That glorious white feathery dress is absolutely the stuff  little girl dreams are made of.

See? Dreamy...

It was really interesting to watch this film again as an adult.  I knew that they could sing and dance and tap but I didn't know that Ginger Rodgers could ACT.  Fred does a lot of mugging and face-pulling which is as choreographed and meticulous as his dancing.  (Actually, I found out that most of the Astaire-Rodgers films were planned by Fred via flowchart, with the timing for musical numbers and jokes planned and graphed for the screenwriters and composers to follow.)  Ginger, however, is an actor and keeps on acting through the dance numbers.

It's like Jane Eyre in a 3 minute dance.

So, my favorite song and my favorite number, "Cheek to Cheek", when viewed as an adult, takes on a whole new meaning thanks to Ms Rodger's performance.  Her character believes Fred is married and so there is this underlying melancholy and heartbreak through the whole dance because she's in love with him but knows they will never be together.  Of course we all know everything is going to work out fine because Fred isn't married and this is Fred-and-Ginger-Land and it wouldn't be a fantastic escapist Depression-era musical if it had a sad ending.  But, Ginger doesn't know this and she SHOWS it.  It's so good.