Life's canvas

When it comes to movies I can be pretty picky about what I watch, depending on the mood of the day. Went to watch Final Destination 5 the other day with my two friends and was somewhat entertained due to the fact that I was looking to do no thinking at all after a long week at work. I know it's going to be able people dying horribly because Death doesn't like to be cheated, for some reason it was all right that evening because I switched off the need to 'feel' the movie.

Most of the time though I would invest my mind and heart into connecting with a film's character and/or underlying story, fascinated with the reasons that motivate them to do what they do. I have always valued storytelling above CGI graphics and explosions - a film can have absolutely no chase scenes or epic artificial constructs to awe me, just simple yet well-written plot and acting, the act of explaining an idea with its actors putting them to flesh.

Take for instance The Shawshank Redemption - routinely touted as one of, if not the finest movie of all time - a simple story of a wronged man's life, his friendship with the people whom were all stuck at the bottom of society's eyes, the many obstacles standing between him and freedom and the triumph of hope over adversity.

Then take a look at Pixar's Up, the story of an old man who lived his old life bitter and cranky about a lost love & dream, learning to open up and embark on an adventure of a lifetime as the chains of the past are broken. The eight minute speechless montage of Carl's marriage with Ellie is one of the finest bit of animation ever made - it was simple and sweet, equally poignant because we know people or even some of ourselves who have went through something like that before. You can't help but feel sorry for the old man, knowing how it would devastate ourselves if we were in his shoes.

The best thing about well written films is that they don't force feed you with melodrama - the honesty of the scenes slither itself into our hearts and tug at the strings, reminding ourselves of our very own disappointments and flaws as humans.

Many people I know would avoid such movies like the plague because they find it boring and pointless as the entire objective of watching films is to entertain oneself. That I agree, perhaps we entertain ourselves differently - some look for stimulation, the adrenaline rush and 'hell yeah!' moments, whilst others enjoy having a story being told to them on the silver screen.

I can remember the scene of deep night accompanied by the moonlit clouds and the Latin choir as the camera pans slowly down towards the city of Jerusalem under siege from Saladin's army in Kingdom of Heaven.

I can also remember the 'mental battle' between Jet Li's Nameless and Donnie Yen's Broken Spear in the first fight of the movie Hero to the background of an old man's zither and dripping rainwater in slow motion.

And then there is the part where The Girl's blind date recounts what Gyeon-Woo told him about keeping her happy, as she realised that he understood her more than she could imagine in My Sassy Girl.

I'm not saying that I don't enjoy watching Megan Fox in the Transformers movies, it's just that some times I'd like to go away from all the heavily marketed media that promises only visual excitement and take a walk with the characters as they go about playing their part as actors in the grand canvas of life.

I'm tired of visual excitement in movies!

Angel

ANGEL
Sarah McLachlan
"Surfacing", 1997

Spend all your time waiting
For that second chance
For a break that would make it okay
There�s always one reason
To feel not good enough
And it�s hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
Oh beautiful release
Memory seeps from my veins
Let me be empty
And weightless and maybe
I�'ll find some peace tonight

***In the arms of an/the angel
Fly away from here
From this dark cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reverie
You�re in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort there

So tired of the straight line
And everywhere you turn
There�s vultures and thieves at your back
And the storm keeps on twisting
You keep on building the lie
That you make up for all that you lack
It don�t make no difference
Escaping one last time
It�s easier to believe in this sweet madness oh
This glorious sadness that brings me to my knees

***


I simply adore this song.

I first heard of Ms McLachlan when we first had Channel [V] - anybody remember Nonie Tao, Nadya Hutagalung, Sonia Couling? - through excess broadcast signal from neighbouring Brunei, her MV of Sweet Surrender. The first thing that came to mind was how utterly enchanting that voice is - soft yet powerful, firm yet poignant. She could sound like pleading yet never to the point of whining, the voice so clear, forcing you to listen to the lyrics.

It wasn't until Angel that I considered her to be one of the best female singers out there, the song made famous by being the soundtrack to the movie City of Angels starring Meg Ryan and Nicholas Cage. By then it comfortably dethroned Vanessa William's Colours of the Wind as my all time favourite song.

I never watched the movie though - thought it was all too soppy for my tastes but I'll probably do so the next time I could after learning to appreciate the deeper meanings to movies rather than just explosions and the US saves the world elements to most screenings nowadays.

The meaning to the song differs from person to another though. Whilst the mainstream idea is about balm in times of trouble or comfort in the passing of a loved one, one interpretation was about heroin.

Ms McLachlan wrote this song as a tribute to her friend, the drummer of Smashing Pumpkins who died from heroin overdose. The lyrics could be an allusion to the 'weightlessness' as carried by angels and the feeling of release from the sufferings of the day. Ms McLachlan explained, "there's nothing constant when you are on the road; everything becomes the same".

I'm not sure what that meant, though it didn't quite endorse the idea that she sang about heroin as the angel of comfort. Yet it didn't stop people from using it as the theme song during tragedies - New York 9/11, Columbine High School Massacre - or funerals.

As for me, I'm don't have to be listening to the song for comfort but it does actually afford a moment or so of solace, like the sound of crushing waves on a beachside after a long day or a kitten's mew when you were bored out of your skull. Time would often stood still when I have it on, as if transported to an auditorium where the only thing visible were Ms McLachlan and a microphone stand, illuminated by a spotlight shrouded by total darkness.

Unbelievable.