I’m behind on movies, comme d’habitude. I have the best of intentions, understand. Occationally I even make lists of what I want to see (curious? OK. Currently: The Battle of Algiers, Les Triplettes de Belleville, Big Fish, Lost In Translation, the list goes on…). And then time gets away from me and it’s not until I’m wandering through the video store months or even years later and I see the DVD cover that I think, “hey, wait – I really wanted to see that!” And then I rent it.
I love movies, don’t get me wrong. Differently from the way I love books or music, but still. That said, it’s pretty rare that I’m actually floored by something. Amelie was like that. So was Fight Club. And the latest: Adaptation. I could, and probably should, give some sort of synopsis here. I could talk about how the film is about longing and fear and loneliness and insecurity and the search for passion and the courage to sustain it and all that sort of tripe, but it’s really better if you just see it for yourself. I will, however, share the bit of dialogue that I rewound twice and wrote down by hand on a piece of paper:
Donald: I loved Sarah, Charles. It was mine, that love. I owned it. Even Sarah didn’t have the right to take it away. I can love whoever I want.
Charles: But she thought you were pathetic.
Donald: Well, that was her business, not mine. You are what you love, not what loves you. That’s what I decided a long time ago.
My favorite moments in movies – as in books, as in music – are when I am reminded of what’s true. It doesn’t matter how often it’s been said before, or by whom. It’s not news, but that doesn’t make it any less important, or any less moving. So, yeah. Thanks, once again, are in order.
I’m having a pretty good little week here, culture-wise, eh? Tomorrow: football.