I am sitting here on a cloudy Sunday morning with my cup of coffee and 10 million things to do before I leave for the better part of two weeks to travel around taking photos. So what am I doing? Yep. I am procrastinating with a blog entry. I have seen so few movies in the last few years post children. In the last couple of weeks I have seen more than usual, which is a real treat. In the last couple of days I saw two that both fill diffferent parts of my personality--the light and the heavy. They were Twilight and Revolutionary Road (which has the amazing photo above on its poster).
Starting with the light--I watched Twilight on the computer from an Amazon download. I must admit that I am OBSESSED with this series and I have no idea why. I have read all of the books several times over and finally watched the movie, which was much better than I was thought it would be, mostly because my expectations were so low after the mediocre reviews it got from people I know. Many people complained about the special effects, which frankly I could care less about. I think Catherine Hardwick is an amazing director and the screenwriting and adaptation of the novel by Melissa Rosenberg was really very good. And it you looked past the silly flying stuff, the artistry in scenes like the one where they are playing baseball is resplendent. The movie took me back to the teen dramas of John Hughes, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Valley Girl. Movies that I watched over and over and can still see and be instantly transported back to a time in my life that is long past. Perhaps that is why I love Twilight so much. It brings me back to being a teenage girl and I no longer remember the angst and the insecurity, but rather the butterflies I felt when a boy I liked walked in the room or the phone finally rang after I hovered over it for the better part of an hour. And I do not see the parents as overly controlling anymore, but now as gatekeepers for their children's safety, as carriers of all of the worry. The worry that I now have to carry. Just being able to leave the responsibilities of adulthood behind for a couple of hours is such a gift.
On the other side of the spectrum was Revolutionary Road, I have put off seeing this film. I knew it would be a tough one to watch. I read the Yates novel a few years ago. I knew that I would see too much of myself in it. So even though my beloved Kate Winslet was starring, I kept putting it off. But I wanted to see it before it left the theater, so the other night I went on my own. And it was exactly what I thought it would be--expertly acted, beautiful direction and cinematography and so very, very sad. One big surprise came out of it for me and that was Leonardo DiCaprio. I have never been a big fan of his and so much has been made of Winslet's performance, but this was DiCaprio's movie. He owned it and he was amazing. The part of Frank Wheeler is not for the meek and he not only stood his ground, but took it to a new place. If you have not seen it, you should. It is hard to watch, but it is beautiful and most importantly it is real. Its honesty is what was hard for me to sit in a dark theater with. I feel stuck like the Wheelers. I too thought I would be something special, something grander than I am. And I am not. I am ordinary. And like many of the women in the fifties, I do not find child rearing to be enough. It often feels like a trap or a prison to me. I might sound cruel for saying so, but that is what is real for me.The best line in the film is when April says, "Tell me the truth Frank remember that? We used to live by it. And you know what's so good about the truth? Everyone knows what it is however long they've lived without it. No one forgets the truth Frank they just get better at lying". Amen.