The Young Victoria

Nathan's family was here visiting over the weekend to hear his first-year master's organ recital. He was terrific of course (pictures to come soon) and afterwards, back at home, I baked a "mother's day cake" (if there is such a thing) and we watched The Young Victoria.


Okay, some might say this is more of a chick flick than the kind of movie to suggest for your brother-in-law to enjoy, but if you like period dramas about the English monarchy (and doesn't everyone?), then this movie is for you. It was my second time seeing it and I'm already hankering to watch it again.


The cinematography is great, the costumes are sumptuous, the scenery is gorgeous, and the acting is excellent; I've enjoyed Emily Blunt's performances in other films (eg The Devil Wears Prada) previously, and this one certainly didn't disappoint.


And the music! There's a grand and glorious bit of Handel's Zadok The Priest; this was the moment at which Nathan decided the film was definitely worth watching.


[He's partial to that piece of music, perhaps in part because of the quite loud mention of "Nathan the prophet!"]


And if you are perhaps of the persuasion that mustaches on men are nice for fathers and grandfathers but not what you might call, well, "sexy," Rupert Friend as Prince Albert will probably change your mind on that point.


In short, you should probably watch this movie.

[It's available on Netflix for instant viewing.]

The King's Speech

Last weekend Nathan and I went with some friends to see The King's Speech. I cannot recommend this film highly enough! If you haven't seen it, go to a theater and see it at once.

Do you need to be convinced?
1. Colin Firth
2. British accents
3. A soundtrack that includes the second movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony

Since any one of those points could be pretty convincing alone, I think the three of them are a solid argument in favor of seeing this movie.

[I should mention one slight caution - the film does contain bad language, primarily utilized as a means of speech therapy.]

The King's Speech tells the true story of King George the VI of Britain and his reluctant ascent to the throne during the difficult time of the outbreak of WWII. On a personal level, it chronicles his battle with a speech impediment during a time when royalty were expected to address their people in speeches over the radio. King George VI is played by Colin Firth, the king's wife played by Helena Bonham Carter [I kept expecting her to put a curse on someone; thanks to her marvelous performances in the Harry Potter films], and the king's speech therapist portrayed by Geoffrey Rush.

With a cast like that you can expect a good film, and yes, they deliver one.

73-year-old screenwriter David Seidler had a personal interest in telling the story of King George VI - Seidler was a stammerer himself who had drawn inspiration from the king's ability to overcome his speech condition. This Newsweek article says,

At the conclusion of the gala presentation of The King’s Speech at the Toronto film festival in September, 2,000 people rose to their feet to give the filmmakers an ovation. “I was overwhelmed,” Seidler says, “because for the first time ever, the penny dropped and I felt I had a voice and had been heard. For a stutterer, it’s a profound moment.”

You can hear the real King George VI's speech on YouTube:


Colin Firth's rendition is dead-on. Superb.

Throughout the movie I found myself particularly struck by how the king's wife served as a source of strength and support to him, never faltering in her belief that he could overcome his speech difficulty and be a great king to his people. Considering the personal problems that the film indicates led to his stammer, I imagine that the unconditional love and support of his wife - as well as the more overt help of his speech therapist - made a great deal of difference in helping him overcome his stammer. Most movies today are interested in the beginnings of love stories, and not the everyday middles of marriages. It's refreshing to see a movie that portrays a real relationship, a grown husband and wife who display love and affection and solidarity through life's difficulties.

The soundtrack is stellar, utilizing music conservatively rather than constantly as some movies do, and featuring really the best of the best at just the right moments. The regular underscoring is your usual movie music fare, but then they also work in Mozart's Overture to the Marriage of Figaro, and a bit of Brahms' German Requiem, and the second movement of Beethoven's "Emperor" piano concerto, and at the high point of the film, they hit you with the deeply moving Allegretto from Beethoven's 7th, and you may find a tear rolling down your face - or maybe that's just me.

I'm tempted to say it may have been my favorite film of 2010. It's definitely not to be missed.

Julie and Julia

I can't remember the last time I watched a movie that made me smile, laugh, cry, and feel completely involved with each of the characters.


Julie and Julia is just such a movie, and as I watched it tonight (alone, since Nathan is at a rehearsal) I kept bursting into smiles and looking lovingly (and no doubt stupidly) at the beautiful people on the screen. Meryl Streep is wonderful, of course. When she cries, you will cry, and when she smiles, you will beam right back at her. Amy Adams is the sort of character you just feel instantly connected with, and possesses a certain Meg Ryan-esque charm. And Jane Lynch makes a cameo appearance! Need I say more? And when was the last time you saw a film that depicted solid, down-to-earth love between married couples? Not a movie that starts with attraction, middles in affection and passion, and ends in marriage (isn't marriage the beginning of love rather than the end, anyway?), mind you, but a movie that starts in the middle of long and lasting marriages (one of them lovely and the other quite imperfect, as I suppose many marriages are) and celebrates the everyday from the mundane to the extraordinary.

Watch the trailer here. Then watch the whole film - it's available on Netflix instant viewing! And the blog that launched the book that launched the movie, while no longer being updated, is still up.

"Gilbert Blythe would stand on his head for me"

Last night, having spent the morning getting a small hole cut in my back - just over my shoulder blade - and then stitched up, I was taking it easy on the couch. Nathan, full of sympathy, put on 'Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story,' which had recently arrived from Netflix. I hadn't seen the most recent installment, and while I didn't hold hopes of it comparing to 'Anne of Green Gables' or 'Anne of Avonlea,' I was curious enough to want to watch it, and Nathan indulged me.

Before we started the movie, I attempted to summarize the previous two Anne films for Nathan. My summary went something like this (with all the right voices and inflection):

"Anne Shirley. Anne with an 'E'."


"You don't want me? You don't want me because I'm not a boy?"

"This is the most tragical thing that has ever happened to me!"

"She could talk the hind leg off a mule."


"What color would you call this?"
"Red?"
"Red. That's why I can't ever be perfectly happy."

"Mrs. Hammond told me that God made my hair red on purpose and I've never cared for Him since."

And in a broken voice: "He called me carrots!"


"Anne Shirley. What in heck are you doing here?"
"Fishing for lake trout."

"Puffed sleeves."
"The puffiest in the world."

"I'm afraid for her, Matthew. She'll be gone so long. She'll get terrible lonesome."
"You mean we'll get terrible lonesome."

"Why do people have to grow up and marry, change?"
"Oh, you'd change. If someone ever admitted that they were head over heels for you, you'd be swept off your feet in a moment."
"I would not, and I defy anyone who would try and make me change."
And with a smirk and a laugh - "You do."


And then Anne says, "He loves me?" And Marilla says, "Because you made Josie Pye and Ruby Gillis and all those wishy-washy young ladies who waltzed by him look like spineless nothings." "...Don't toss it away for some ridiculous ideal that doesn't exist."

"Anne, there's not going to be any wedding anymore... I called it off. It wouldn't have been fair to Christine. There will never be anyone for me but you."


And then - and here my voice got a bit teary - "It will be three years before I finish medical school, and even then there won't be any diamond sunbursts or marble halls..." "I don't want sunbursts or marble halls. I just want you."


After my summary of quotes, Nathan sighed with resignation and started the DVD with the ominous words, "No good can come of this!"

He watched the whole movie with me, but I'm not sure how much help either my summary or the film itself was to him, the uninitiated, since a few minutes before the end of the movie Nathan asked, "Wait, who's Gilbert?"

Classical Music in Film

A question for my readers: In your opinion, what is the best use of a well-known classical piece in a film? Here are a few I think are notable:

1) The Letter Duet (Che soave zeffiretto) from The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart in The Shawshank Redemption.
In his quest to procure books for the prison library, Andy also acquires a box of records. He sorts through them and comes across Le Nozze di Figaro. He plays the Letter Duet over the loudspeaker for all the inmates to hear. Red says,

"I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singin' about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I like to think they were singing about something so beautiful it can't be expressed in words, and it makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared... and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free."

(Watch the excerpt from the film here.)

2) Beethoven's 9th Symphony, 1st Movement in Equilibrium.
As I recall I wasn't crazy about this movie, but I loved the use of the Beethoven 1st movement as opposed to the ever-popular final movement. Equilibrium is a futuristic film about a man named John Preston living under a regime in which all human emotions are suppressed through drugs and strict laws eliminating books, music, and art. In this scene, Preston finds a hidden room containing, among other things, an old Victrola. He proceeds to listen to Beethoven for the first time. The choice of music is really perfect because the piece develops from almost nothing (faint sounds that could be no more than an orchestra tuning if you didn't know the piece) into something powerfully moving in a matter of seconds. That said, the scene isn't as effective as it could have been; I read that the director of the film wanted to use Karajan's recording with the Berlin Philharmonic but found that it would cost $75,000 to use the 90 seconds he needed for the film. They couldn't afford it, so they had to use a cheap recording, which I think lessens the impact of the scene.

3) Pizzicati from Sylvia by Delibes in Babe.
"This is a tale about an unprejudiced heart, and how it changed our valley forever..." I've loved the movie Babe since its release in 1995. The music in the film is well-chosen, appropriately ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. Pizzicati is the piece playing when Babe and Ferdinand sneak into the house to steal the alarm clock. I believe on the back of the CD the track is humorously titled "Anorexic Duck Pizzicato."

(Of course, the Delibes piece may not actually compare in scope or grandeur to the mice singing "If I Had Words," which you can listen to here.)

4) Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 "Organ," 4th mvt. in Babe.
Okay, so I like Babe! Cut me some slack; I grew up in the boonies and could identify with hicks from an early age. The Saint-Saëns is sublime and a fitting piece to bring the film to a close. I love it.

5) The Gran Partita Adagio by Mozart in Amadeus.
As movie-watchers hear the faint strains of the oboe from the adjoining room, Salieri's vivid description of the adagio sends a shiver down my spine:

"On the page it looked - nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse - bassoons, basset horns - like a rusty squeezebox. And then, suddenly, high above it, an oboe. A single note, hanging there, unwavering. Until - a clarinet took over - sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no composition by a performing monkey. This was a music I'd never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing. It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God."

6) The Confutatis from Mozart's Requiem in Amadeus.
Regardless of the historical accuracy of this scene, I think it's wonderful the way the parts are introduced individually as Mozart dictates to Salieri, and then we hear the work in its completion - as Mozart was hearing it in his head. Watch the scene here. Hearing the Lacrimosa as Mozart's body is thrown into a mass grave is another very moving scene from the film.

7) Nessun Dorma by Puccini in The Sum of All Fears.
The Sum of All Fears isn't a favorite movie of mine, although I often enjoy CIA-type action movies along similar lines. I'm mentioning this one even though I don't necessarily think it's a great moment in film... just a unique one. Watching a discrete depiction of a throat being slit followed by a shooting and a car explosion to the sounds of one of the most famous tenor arias of all time is one of those things that just stays with you. If you're in the mood to watch a few executions and hear a little opera, you can watch the scene here.

Leave a comment and tell me your favorite instance of classical music in film! Or better yet, if you have a blog, post it there, link back here, and let me know!

My Mom, A Movie, and Music

Well, the concert went okay - not perfect, but okay. Now I can start worrying about my senior recital. Oh yay.

It was so great having my Mom here for a visit! She and FavoriteBoy and I got to spend a lot of time together, which was nice. She even stayed through Sunday just to hear him play at church!

In other news, I give Elizabethtown two thumbs up! Aside from one unnecessary bit when the mother is speaking at the memorial service, I thought the whole movie was completely fabulous. Very thought-provoking. I highly recommend it.

Finally, tonight is FavoriteBoy's junior piano recital! Bach, Beethoven, Ravel, Chopin, and Mozart... he is going to do a wonderful job.