I went to my first opera tonight. I saw The Barber of Seville at The Met. I got rush tickets for twenty bucks (normally almost three hundred dollar tickets!) and my seat was 15 rows from the stage. I couldn't believe it.

With all this talk of Aristotelean act structure and reading a lot of Bazin's realist film theory in school I thought it would be a good idea to go see live theatre. It's cool to watch from the perspective of wanting to write and direct films - how the writer weaves the story, how the director directs the eye on stage and interprets the nearly 200-year-old opera. Also, I realized how much exposition there is in opera and musicals in general - somehow you can get away with telling the audience exactly how you feel and what you're thinking when you sing, unlike in non-musical theatre where the more intriguing externalization of the psyche is brought about through the characters' actions, the mise-en-scene, the editing, the camera movements - pretty much anything but saying it right out loud. (Basically all this is me trying to spit back out what I've been hearing in class every day for the past few weeks - I feel like I only really know something when I can explain it to someone else - maybe I'm doing a bad job but this is helping me...so sorry for the zzzzzz).

I found I had something in common with Count Almaviva and Rosina in the Music Lesson Scene. In this scene, Almaviva is pretending to be Rosina's music teacher so that they can speak as lovers, but Rosina's benefactor, Doctor Bartolo (the man who intends to marry her before Almaviva can), is in the room. So Rosina and Almaviva sing their messages to each other through a fake aria called "The Unnecessary Precaution". They profess their love to each other in plain view of Bartolo. This kind of code shows up in Moulin Rouge when whoserface and whatsisname pretend to be practicing for the play but are really singing about themselves.

I realized I have regularly done the same thing. How many times have I tried to get out some secret message using songs as code? I often attach great meaning to music and then put the music out there in hopes of the intended recipient getting the message. It's so silly. I remember being very young and blaring Alanis Morissette's "Perfect" from my room when I was mad at my mom. It didn't get any better or any less cheesy from then on. I guess in these instances of trying to get my point across, pure exposition would serve me better - I should just say what I mean. Easier said than sung, I guess. Or vice versa.

Anyway, school has been very busy and great. I have also seen some NYFF and other screenings. I will give my brief reviews now:

To Die Like a Man - As one review I read put it: "It's difficult to make a film about drag queens, murderous gay soldiers, and heroin addicts tedious, but that's exactly what this film does."

Trash Humpers, Harmony Korine - Yes Yes Yes! I think I'm going to be a trash humper for Halloween. "Three

Min Ye (Tell Me Who You Are), Souleymane Cissé - This was difficult to watch without understanding the context of women's rights and current politics in Mali. It felt really cyclical and never really resolved for me - I think that was the point. I'm glad I stayed to hear the director speak about the film. He himself said that at first, this film appears to be quite banal, but when you understand the politics of Mali right now, how women were just denied many rights, this is a very important discussion. (The film follows a woman in a polygamous marriage who is having an affair with a man who is also in a polygamous marriage - Big Love Mali style).

Rachel Is, Charlotte Glynn - My classmate Charlotte made this film about her developmentally delayed sister, Rachel, and their family's search for housing for Rachel. It was really great and if you get the chance to see it you should. Check the website for more info and a trailer - RACHELIS.COM.

Otherwise I'm working like heck at school and I'll have lots more to share, just not very often. I'm starting to write a treatment for my reverse oedipal sci-fi thriller feature length script. When I finish the script next semester maybe I'll share it with you dear friends. Wish me luck!

Labels: BOOKS MOVIES AND OTHER CULTURALISTICALITIES, FILM, SEX, YOUTUBE

POSTED BY GRAYDON AT 10/09/2009 -

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