The movie as a legitimate art form is often a fine point of debate in literary circles. Being an avid movie buff, I have often asked myself this question as to what makes a film an transcendental experience : A good story line, brilliant acting, breathtaking cinematography, subliminal editing - what is it that pitches a two hour feature film in our minds eye; refining our sensibilities, heightening our consciousness, helping us enter a world that is far removed from our daily reality, and yet manages to touch a deep chord of intellectual and emotional resonance within us. I guess, there is no straight answer to this, and if if there is one, its subtlety will always elude our grasp. Perhaps, it is this vacuous feeling that really defines ART. Yesterday, I was watching the Movie The Hours - an adaptation of the Pulitzer winning book by Michael Cunningham. It chronicles a day in the life of three women spread across eighty years. Three ladies , whose lives are lived in unbearable existential pain; eager to experience life more intensely but cocooned within ones social bondage ; trying hard to adapt, but wrenched from within by forces that make life seem meaningless and pretentious. Every hour, every minute they suffer the interminable suffocation of an orderly life, yearning to break free of their shackles and let go of life - in short, a preparation to die. Such an intense story needs intense women to enact them; and none better than Nicole Kidman, Julian Moore and Meryl streep : three of the finest actors the art form has ever seen. What a performance!!!. Especially noteworthy was Kidmans role as Virginia Woolf, the great novelist, whose book Mrs Dalloway is the common thread that holds the story of these women across generations. Virginia was a paranoid author prone to depression and melancholy, and it was in those fits of darkness that she produced some of the finest literature of the twentieth century. Kidman captured the essence of Woolf remarkably well : The perfect English poise and diction, the madness of a genius; the angst of a lady, whose creative powers prove to be her nemesis as well. Kidman scintillates in her portrayal. Two hours of sheer artistry. A very difficult movie to make, but worth every moment of it. Watch it for the sheer pleasure of the art and the incredible talent of the actors. God bless........
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 22:22:51 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015