Rent (the movie): Longer, more detailed thoughts

[butterfly]

Thank you, everyone who has comforted me in the past couple of days. I'll... have more personal thank-yous later. It's still too close, right now.

The new icon is by depressionsgurl.

So, I went out on Sunday to see Rent again. Needed to clear my head, and the best thing for that is a dose of something musically wonderful (afterwards, I curled up and watched most of Singing in the Rain, which is sometimes my favorite musical in the world... it's so hard to pick).

It did really help my mood. I went in pissed off and upset, and came out much steadier. Not entirely, hence the home dosing of SitR, but much better than I'd started out. Though some sad things certainly do happen in the movie, the feelings the movie leaves me with are ones of hope for the future and the desire to truly appreciate what I do have.

I love having the movie. Because I don't have a terrific memory. I saw Rent twice in theaters, and I remember really loving it, but the details of the performances just aren't there in my head. Having a movie means being able to rewatch as often as I can (well, when it comes out on dvd), giving me to the chance to fix the things that I love most into my memory.

It's a simple truth that different mediums are best for conveying different things.

Books can give you in-depth glances into the minds of your main characters. They sketch out people and places in words that are interpreted differently depending on who is reading them, leaving the imagination plenty of room to figure the details. Film, on the other hand, provides a clear-cut picture of where, of the physical appearance of things and events, while leaving the inner emotions of the characters more open to interpretation.

A television series can play out a story over many hours -- a movie has to hit the high points, cover a lot more ground in less time.

In the case of Rent, the things that made it a purely theater experience were dropped. On a stage, you can have Joanne off to the side, talking to Maureen -- in a movie, this would mean cutting away from the characters that you're introducing or putting in a split-screen. And... for me, split-screens only work in a certain kind of comedy. Cutting Joanne's lines in the intro also means that you can introduce her more fully and more impressively when Mark goes to fix the sound equipment. For a movie, having Joanne in the first song is impractical, whereas in a play, it completely works.

One thing that they did that just struck me as frankly brilliant was the stretching out of time. Instead of the first part taking place over one extremely busy night, it takes place over three days, which also gives Roger and Mimi more time to think about each other and their meeting. I really thought that the romance of Roger and Mimi worked better in the context of a movie than it did in the play, where it always felt too flashy and quick-burn to me. It was given more time to develop, with the meeting taking place one night, then Mimi's invitation to Roger the next day and their fight, and then finally getting together the night after that. It always happened way too fast in the play, for my personal tastes.

The Life Support meetings were wonderful and painful, and I really like that Mimi isn't the sole reason that Roger leaves the loft, that he goes to the LS meeting (and that he isn't inexplicably singing that he should have died 'three years ago', as that was always something that made me go, 'huh' in the play -- the timing doesn't work). I loved the friendships, Roger&Mark, Roger&Mark&Collins, and, most unexpectedly, Angel&Mimi. They came across as much closer in the movie than in the play, which made Mimi seeing Angel at the end both more believable and more touching (and I loved Rosario's sweet delivery of "she looked good" there at the end).

Santa Fe was a hell of a lot sexier than I remember it being. Wow. The adorable flirtiness of Angel and Collins, and the sweetness of how they include people in their happiness. They were wonderful at projecting a really radiant kind of love, one that was meant to wash over everyone around them. Not at all exclusive and possessive. And the reprise of I'll Cover You is beautifully heart-breaking. And... I liked that Roger had his full attention on Collins and his song. I like that they didn't have him look over at Mimi, that for Roger the moment was fully about losing a friend and about his friend's loss.

I Should Tell You was intensely sweet. I really bought the softer, more loving side of Roger/Mimi in the movie. It really comes across that he does like her, but that the twin baggage of his HIV and her doing smack are making him really hesitant. In Out Tonight, he has this wonderful, soft look on his face when he sees her, which disappears when she waves the bag of powder in front of him. As someone who is clean, who has paid so heavily for making the choice to be reckless, Roger really came across as a lot sweeter in the movie. More wistful, not as angry. Part of this was really due to the changes in One Song Glory. Which I hated the first time I heard it. That's my second favorite song in the soundtrack, and the first time through, I was disappointed that it wasn't the same. But when I rewatched the movie, I saw how the difference showed us the slight differences between stage!Roger and movie!Roger. And so I loved the song the second time.

One Song Glory is a song that's always spoken to me. I understand Roger's desire to leave behind one great thing before he dies. To be remembered, to have done something that has changed or affected people. When I was a young teen, one of my favorite books was a story called Remember Me, about a ghost who wanted to let people know the truth about her death, but who, most of all, wanted to be remembered. Roger doesn't want to fade away from the world without a trace -- he wants to leave a mark, to leave something that says that Roger Davis Was Here.

I have quite a lot of sympathy for Roger. He's a runner, too, someone who hides from the world when he's in pain. Roger is somebody that I understand. He makes sense to me, from an emotional standpoint (as does Mark. The other people in the story are much more emotionally brave than I am).

This particular Mark and Roger also sound really good together. In both Rent and What You Own (which is my favorite song, incidentally), they achieved a perfect balance of sound which just... seriously, blows me away. And they sound even better in the movie than they did on my cds. Their voices are more mature, maybe. And they just really... they sound good together. That's a huge part of why What You Own is my favorite song -- these two good, though imperfect, voices come together to form a duet that truly is greater than either alone.

And I love the message of that particular song -- that across a continent, these two people know each this well. That across all that space, they're still in synch. And the ending was so perfect, the way they look at each other as they sing that they aren't alone. That's a huge part of the message of Rent -- yeah, life can suck sometimes, but you don't have to face it alone. No matter what happens, Mark and Roger aren't alone, because they have someone who knows them that well. The perfect musical example of best friends.

The movie satisfied me, even more the second time through. I'm probably not going to be seeing it in theaters again (though I've ordered the movie soundtrack), but I'm looking forward to adding it to my dvd collection.

Comments

[trepkos.livejournal.com]

Maybe my e-mail didn't get you - are you at the same addy as last year?
(for Xmas card purposes)

[anomilygrace.livejournal.com]

Excellent review.

I completely agree with you about Joanne's character being revealed more in the play because of her introduction before 'Tango Maureen.' Though to me that was made up for by 'Take Me or Leave Me' which I absolutely adored. IN the play, the song seemed almost thrown in - an afterthought - but in the movie, it was one of the showpieces.

'What You Own' is my favorite song too - for exactly the same reasons you mention. And your choice of words about Roger seems so right - "he wants to leave a mark." And he does (or will), he leaves Mark, his best friend and film maker, who makes a lasting tribute to their family and their love. (In a completely non-slashy sense, because I can't slash Mark and Roger at all) Does that make any sense? I'm dosed up on cold medicine right now so if it doesn't, I'll try again later. :)

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you about Joanne's character being revealed more in the play because of her introduction before 'Tango Maureen.' Though to me that was made up for by 'Take Me or Leave Me' which I absolutely adored. IN the play, the song seemed almost thrown in - an afterthought - but in the movie, it was one of the showpieces.

I completely agree about 'Take Me or Leave Me'. In the play, it's almost off-hand. Oh, and by the way, we should break up. So much more set-up for it the movie (and, then, after, we have that hilariously inappropriate line by Maureen's mom about how maybe Maureen and Mark can get back together now). And, wow, the actor (Tracie, I think) did an amazing job. She can stand up to Maureen in a way that it's pretty obvious that Mark couldn't in a relationship. And I loved that they had Joanne actually being pretty sweet to Mark after she realized that he was no threat -- that all Maureen was ever planning on doing with him from now on was using him for her career.

'What You Own' is my favorite song too - for exactly the same reasons you mention. And your choice of words about Roger seems so right - "he wants to leave a mark." And he does (or will), he leaves Mark, his best friend and film maker, who makes a lasting tribute to their family and their love. (In a completely non-slashy sense, because I can't slash Mark and Roger at all)

Oh, wow, I hadn't even realized what I'd said. That is so totally perfect. Yes, leave a mark! Aw. Thank you so much for pointing that out.

I slash them, but I have that 'best friends' thing. When two people really seem to understand each other in a way that no one else does, I tend to think that they would do well in a romantic relationship. Not as many misunderstandings.

[fannishnonsense]

Oh man, I have got to see that movie!

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

It's definitely worth seeing!

[scary-lullabies.livejournal.com]

Rent will cure all that ails you. *wise-like nodding*