Depression Movies #1: A Rouge Holiday With Saudade

When on Friday I saw on IMDb that it was Audrey Hepburn's birthday I instantly decided to homage her by doing a Hepburn marathon as soon as I got home from college; but I was so tired when I arrived that it'd be hard to watch three movies in a row, so I had to pick one. Many would choose Breakfast At Tiffany's on the first hand, but even though I love it to death, differently from the other titles I have, I've seen it like a million times. So I chose Roman Holiday: Audrey's first hit in Hollywood, Audrey's first and only Oscar [I don't count the honorary ones].
On this second screening of this Paramount classic I wondered how would be like if Audrey had the chance to work with Woody Allen. I did it because this woman's sense of naturalness in her acting is so vibrant that even if you see her in some flamboyant and hardly-to-happen situations like in Roman Holiday, you still feel like they're the most common thing to happen.
Well, in it Audrey plays the young Princess Ann who for political duties is touring around Europe. In her stop in Rome she's clearly tired and bored, like any young person would be, and decides to flee so she can see the vivid Roman nightlife. So, things happen and she ends up spending the whole following day with a sly and mischievous American journalist [a marvelous and absolutely charming Gregory Peck] who, realizing he's in the company of such royalty intends to do a bombastic sensationalist report on her. Like many other classics this movie has become pop culture icon and was imitated by many other movies and medias [even Sabrina, the teenage witch]; so for me it's an amusement to watch and try to remember where else I've seen those scenes.
Despite tiny flaws, [we hardly feel Princess Ann and Joe Bradley's affair grow, you simply know it's going to happen and it simply does] superficially this is a movie at cinema's basic premise: entertaining; but of course there's more to it than this. As you follow their adventures on Rome's beautiful and historic landmarks you experience a young woman maturing in front of your eyes. Ann goes from an innocent girl crashed by her larger-than-life duties to a woman finally aware of her importance to her country; and she gets to it by living - even for only one day - her life as she pleases and doing the expected things from a normal adolescent [even if Ann's age is never specified]. That becomes clear when she enters a beauty salon and cuts her hair, as an act of desire for independence, and it makes us wonder if the young should really mature as early as nowadays, missing that way things that will mold them for the rest of their lives.
Audrey Hepburn seems at each moment to be in perfect knowledge of it and owns Ann with sublime and subtle acting [what's that scene when she finds out Joe and Irving are journalists!]. During the shootings Gregory Peck raved on Hepburn's acting abilities and said she should and would win an Oscar for her portrayal of Ann. And well she did, beating established and genius stars like Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr [as the mysterious and mesmerizing Karen Holmes from From Here To Eternity].

All the colors, music and vibrant life in Moulin Rouge! disguises a deep and sorrowful love story. We all know the ending is beyond sad, but few people realize that it's the culmination of elements that have been explicited since the begining. The fact that Satine's death is revealed on the first ten minutes of the picture is a warning that this is no sappy musical we're watching. For me, this is one of the most heartbreaking and dark movies ever made; I decided to watch it last night due to life synchrony and I was aware it'd be a tearjerking experience.
The contrast between the pop culture carnival and the dark melodrama from the screenplay is delivered by Baz Luhrmann in a glitzy and so glamourous way that you can't help having your jaw dropped, your eyes watered, your body chilled; the kitsch and all over-the-place sets and costumes get wonderfully joyous when you hear all those wonderful songs glued perfectly like the soundtrack of our lives. I mean, if your life were a musical it'd be filled with the songs you listen to everyday; so it's pure amazement to watch Moulin Rouge and sing-along those songs as if you were listening to a mixtape.
Then there's that Kidman woman razzle-dazzling us all with her milky skin and violent red hair combined with that gorgeous blue cinematography. For me Kidman is on the top of her game here; this is my favorite performance of her so far, because she does absolutely everyhting here: she sings, dances, comes down from a trapeze, does comedy, romance and drama all in her first ten onscreen minutes. After that her Satine brings a rollercoaster of emotions and a charisma so hard to find [and still those old sons of bitches gave the Bald Man to that hateful bitch Berry]. Later, when that naughty Christian boy [the always hot and perfect Ewan McGregor] sings her that song, that song we all claim as ours, it's impossible for us not to root for their love.
Oh, and there's Kylie Minogue! It took me millenia to find out that the Green Fairy is her, but now everytime I see it I longer for the moment she pops out of the absinth bottle and turns The Sound Of Music into a sexy and horny thing. She being in such project makes me love Baz even more, meaning he's tuned up to every aspect of the cult, including the underrated G-ds like Minogue. Kylie's cameo in it is one of those pleaseant surprises I love in movies and one of the various others in Moulin Rouge. I abso-fucking-lutely love when Christian and Satine fly to the top of the roof on Your Song and the Singin' In The Rain reference; or the heart-shapped fireworks on I Will Always Love You [not to mention the whole Elephant Love Medley]; and oh man, talk about Material Girl in Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friends.
So in the end, Baz's pop culture collage feels like a musical should make you feel but better, simply because it turns the world in a more happy and beauitful place despite its darkness. And since I'm a sucker for cathartic experiences, this movie is for me the one I need to watch whenever I'm melancholic or romantically crushed; and here stays the tip.

Ages ago I was talking with the ho about how Almodóvar makes his actresses look so hot and desireable even when they're not beautiful; a great example is Rossy De Palma. Last year he turned Penélope Cruz into a real woman again, dropping behind the American startlet image Hollywood imposed to her. So, last night as I watched Hable Con Ella for the second time I got this idea to my mind again. The way Rosario Flores looks masculine and manly is just the cover of a huge feminility she exhales whenever she's onscreen.
But for me, in this 2002 masterpiece Pedro goes mostly about a Portuguese word that is hard to be translated to other languages: saudade. Basically it is like when you miss someone in a way your mind stays caught up into nostalgia. And in this movie it's portrayed in a heartbreaking yet quirky fashion that only Almodóvar can do. Marco missed so much his troubled wife that he cried whenever he lived something sublime and emotional. Why? Because he didn't have her next to him to share it. That's saudade my friends.Another thing that hooked me on this second screening was all the cute flirts he does with Brasil. You all know Caetano sings Cucurrucucú Paloma in it; before that, on the first bullfighting scene the song played is Por Toda A Minha Vida by Elis Regina and Tom Jobim; later Marco cites a Jobim song to Lydia [How Insensitive]; and among the guides written by Marco, there's one from Brasil.

Hable Con Ella by the end turns out to be a beautiful essay about solitude pinched with saudade, where Almodóvar shines his adorable style homaging the art of Cinema [this time the silent era] and using polemic plotlines; but for me this is a movie that has such a hopeful and lightful end that it reassured on me the power of good-bye; but also incited my current desire for love, and I'm not talking about sex.

[Song: Lamb - Gorecki]

Que Será, Será

If you ask me what is my dream I'll say "I want to be a respected and famous actor." This dream still persists but I've been so far and I've been to so many places and have experienced so many stuffs about myself in the past two years that I don't know exactly what I want anymore.

Nah, actually, let's say I realized now that I have many dreams; every New Year's Eve I somehow end up by myself, apart from everyone and then I have my new year's epiphanies or initial daydreams and wishes. From 2005 to 2006, right after the year shift I realized/decided 2006 would be my "coming out" year; I went to gay clubs, got boys, came out of the closet for a lot of people including my parents etcetera.

This year, after a semi-argument with Alais I took a stroll on the beach as the first day of the year dawned; I felt free and secure of myself. As I watched the first rays of sunlight burning the chilly waters of the sea I felt this amazing afterglow, a feeling of security that 2007 will be a year of accomplishment and paving. I'm keeping myself from having high hopes, but I'm sure that Salvador will do me great.

One day, I went to the Solar Do Unhão in Salvador to see Volver; it was near sunset and I completely fell in love with that city - like huge crush. There's something so mischievous about Salvador: it's like that wacko and hip friend you love spending time with but you know you can't completely trust, but you don't refuse his company at all; like the dark corner you know you should not turn, but you certainly do because it's the shortcut home. You see everything there, from the beautiful scenarios to the anguishing situations; and I've been to São Paulo quite a few times, the supposed "diversity city" of my country, it's not half as mesmerizing as Salvador. I love São Paulo's stiff and beautiful buildings the genius architectures and the fact it never sleeps; but it's far from having the je ne sais quoi and swing Salvador has. São Paulo is grey, while Salvador is beyond colorful.

As I came closer to the Solar's pier and I saw that huge orange ball touching the water with its million golden magic needles, illuminating not only the ocean but everyone around's smiles and countenances, making them all look absolutely beautiful even if they weren't so much, I felt like home. "How could it hurt you when it looks so good?"

So, when I felt the beach wind caressing my face in the first morning of 2007 I felt excited to go back to Salvador, and for good to put my life on tracks there, live that town, know it and inject it into my veins. I'm excited about reassuring my dreams, or renewing them; having new experiences, that I don't exactly expect them to be good and/or totally pleasurable, I just want to have them in that new and somewhat hostile [because it's new] environment.

"Que será, será. Whatever will be, will be."

[Song: Smile - Lily Allen]

Top 5 Favorite Songs In Movies

My passion for films and music is well known and the marriage of these two is so obviously well succeeded that there is no need for me to ramble. This list [because I have nothing else to do but doing lists] is about those sequences in a film that a song defines a scene, no lines or explanations are required, just the scenes and the music.

Honorable mentions:

Two of the films from this list has more than one song moments that I completely adore. However I had to choose one of them to make it to the final list; that doesn't stop me from mentioning them anyway. Others are amazing and sometimes over-adored scenes, that even though I now think are too hyped I could not not mention.

- "The Blower's Daughter" by Damien Rice [Closer]

Absolutely everyone loves this, maybe simply by the fact that Rice's song is beyond marvelous. I like it for other few reasons; one is that the song is played at the begining of the film and at the end: in the same movie the same song plays different and important roles to the story.

In the begining when we have a short-pink-haired Natalie Portman walking among the crowd in London streets and towards her comes forever-hot Jude Law, this song plays as a prelude, a "set the mood" song. It works perfectly because the song is haunting enough to tell us that that is a dark movie we are starting to watch. That first line completely chills me to the bone.

In the end, when the characters do all those things they do and we just get shocked about their behaviors, maybe because human beings really play those games, the song works as a line, as the film's itself line. Although I know the readers of this blog have seen this film, I really cannot go further on details about this, because who knows a wandering [and completely lost] blogger decides to read this and I spoil the whole pleasure in watching this film and feeling this song's job in it. But you all know what I mean, right?

- "The Man That Got Away" by Judy Garland [A Star Is Born]

I first listened to this song on the Gilmore Girls' 5th Season episode "So... Good Talk". Did I die when Luke knocked on Lorelai's door and kissed her as a sealing of their return as a couple while Judy Garland sang this song on Lorelai's TV? Do I really have to answer?

When I finally watched 1954 George Cuckor's version of "A Star Is Born" with Judy Garland, all I could wait for was to see the scene that had the song that made me cry over and over for no apparent reason, just for the sake of drama-queening. When I finally heard those trumpets on the film as Norman Maine [James Mason] enters the Jazz bar Esther was playing with her band that night, I felt the chills; but when I finally had the pleasure to see Judy's performance I died, I cried my insides out!

First thing that came to my mind after it was over: "AGAIN!"

- "Crazy For You" by Madonna [13 Going On 30]

Okay, Jennifer Garner, the 80's and Madonna... do the math.

What I most love about the final scene of this movie [when the song's chorus is played with this amazing additional string section] is that it's simply beautiful! It doesn't have any deeper meaning than it's Jenna's favorite song; I could say it was because she trully always loved Matt and bla-bla-bla, but it isn't really what this film is about. It's just about being cute and make us cry and smile with its lovely happy ending. And Madonna's song makes the closure perfect.

- "Come-On-A-My House" by Della Reese - dubbed by Madonna [Swept Away]

It's not like I had to manage to add this woman more than once on the list. I really abso-fucking-lutely love the scene where Adriano Gianinni's character tell a now-tamed Amber to sing and dance for him. The thing starts hilariously with Madonna in a high pitch voice but even that managed to make her Master Esposito get a boner.

Okay, it's better if you watch it.

It could be the island's mood or the temperature abrupt variations from day to night, but yeah Peppe we do understand your delirium: sizzling hot!

- "It's Raining Men" by Geri Halliwell [Bridget Jones's Diary]

Would there ever be another song to describe that infamous fight scene between hotties Daniel Cleaver [Hugh Grant] and Mark Darcy [Colin Firth]? I mean, Bridge is our hero man! She went from self conscious-30-years-old-single-therefore-depressed girl to two-hot-men-fighting-over-me!!

- "Without You" by Renée Zewellger [Bridget Jones's Diary]

This is one of the most hilarious parts of the movie. There she is, our hero drunk as pig at a Christmas party at her office singing Mariah Carey's Without You with her horrible drunk untuned voice, completely making a fool of herself because she was clearly singing it for Daniel Cleaver, her love interest. What's left for us then? Laugh!!

Who saw that would never imagine Renée could do what she did in Chicago.

Top 5:

5. "Fade Into You" by Mazzi Star [Swept Away]

Guy Ritchie and Madonna's second collaboration [the first is that outrageous and amazing music video] isn't well regarded among general public nor the critics. I agree that the film has some flaws like the boring edition in the begining [before the main characters become castaways] and some jokes are too According To Jim-esque for my taste; but generally I like the movie and find it very underrated. Madge's performance is mostly funny and cute, her comedy timing is great and as Amber she's adorable.

However, there is a scene that defines for me the best moment in the film. When Peppe and Amber embrace their attraction and live their love in that paradisiacal island, we are swayed by the lovely Fade Into You. But there are two things I adore about this sequence: the first is Alex Barber's breathtaking cinematography, he captured the scenario in a so beautiful way you feel like you're there; the second thing is that Fade Into You's lyrics match perfectly with the film's moment and is like a watershed in the character's fates. Mazzi Star's lyrics go about giving yourself away for a stranger, letting go of prejudices and giving a leap of faith on the unknown; exactly what the lovers were doing in that island and decided to keep on doing when they returned to "civilization". Right after the song ends, they are found.

4. "Just The Way You Are" by Maggie Gyllenhaal [Happy Endings]

After the whole [Jake] Gyllenhaal fuss in 2005 I totally overlooked this family, and despite all the buzz Maggie is getting herself this year I deliberately ignored her. Until I saw Happy Endings. Dan Ross's movie is beyond cute, not only because you simply love all the whackiness of its characters [especially Maggie's and Lisa Kudrow's], but also because it never judges their behaviors therefore we feel free to identify ourselves with them. That way we completely fall in love with each character, understanding their actions, fears and embracing their dramas. [I wanna marry Jason Ritter even if he has "Raise Your Voice" and "Freddy Vs Jason" on his past.]

So the moment Maggie's character sings that song you can't help loving everything about her [and Maggie herself by default for giving life to Jude in a so loveable way]. The song tells perfectly what you feel about the characters and how the film dealed with them; and that way you just feel hopeful to get your happy ending.

3. "Vogue" by Madonna [The Devil Wears Prada]

Madonna and Shep Petibone wrote this pop classic inspired by the dancing style that was in fashion at underground gay clubs in the late 1980's; the rest is history.

In 2006 David Frankel in his orgasmic movie The Devil Wears Prada takes Madonna's classical hit and puts it as the soundtrack of a sequence that shows all these marvelous couture outfits dressed by Anne Hathaway. Even though we all know that song must have been played in a million fashion catwalks since its release, that time it was there for the whole world to see how Madonna's song is as fresh and new as those clothes.

A funny thing about that scene is that Madonna's song is about people who feel better about themselves imitating great Hollywood stars on the dancefloor, and Andy Sachs goes through a change of behavior, personality and self-confidence with all those Chanel suits and Jimmy Choo-es. Does all that sound kind of superficial and frivolous? Yeah, but who gives a fuck?! Sometimes we must unwind and just be happy with trivial things.

Besides, who would resist Madonna and Dolce & Gabbana clothes?!

2. "All By Myself" by Celine Dion [Bridget Jones's Diary]

Okay, kilos and kilos of calories + wine + Bridget Jones = LAUGHS!!

The opening scene from modern masterpiece Bridget Jones's Diary is a masterpiece itself. Seriously, who never felt so shitty about himself that drank the night away at home and listened to depressive music until faint? Okay, I haven't but I felt similar; never got drunk and overchocolated but yes, I dubbed a corny song in a dramatic way that completely fit into my current state. The scene is so ridicule that it's genius how screenwriters Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis manage to make us laugh at the fact that we ourselves had done that.

Uhg... to know/remember what I'm talking about, rewatch that marvelous scene.

1. a) "Moon River" by Audrey Hepurn [Breakfast At Tiffany's]

This song is perfection. I first ever heard it back in 1997 when my father played a Louis Armstrong record that had it. Back then I knew nothing about the fact it was written for a movie nor anything of English so I just felt amazed by its tender melody.

Years later [2005] I found it among my mp3s, this time sung by Frank Sinatra. And I was in a moment of discovering classic cinema. The ho instantly told me it was from one of the greatest movies ever made, Breakfast At Tiffany's and I NEEDED to see it. Then I finally saw the lovely scene where Holly is sat by the window singing the song Henry Mancini wrote especially for Audrey's vocal range and in Paul/Fred's eyes were imprinted the fascination for that outstanding, charismatic and intriguing person. The music she was playing had such a sorrowful tone, so filled with what we Portuguese speakers would call saudade that contrasted with the fun, eccentric and hyperactive woman he had experienced till then. That depth on Holly's persona is enough to make him fall in love with her.

What does happen with us at that exact moment? We completely feel the same.

b) "Moon River" by Nacho Pérez [La Mala Educación]

The reason I absolutely love this song in this movie is that it brings us exactly the opposite feeling that BAT brings us.

In Almodóvar's 2004 film the scene that features this song is one that we see a young priest playing a guitar while a pretty and innocent boy sings Moon River [in Spanish] at a riverbank. Then we see a close shot on the priest and he has the exact same look that George Peppard's character in the 1961 film has. But opposite to him there's no grown runaway girl from the south, there's a ten-year-old boy.

What does happen with us at that exact moment? That's it! Pedro Almodóvar completely changed the effect the song brings upon us. Instead of a sympathy to a growing relationship, we feel completely shocked and scared about what is to happen. The lovely song that makes we all fall in love suddenly becomes something we feel afraid of. Therefore, there's no way in not loving this music moment.