Sunday, May 01, 2005

If soap operas were works of art of existential meaning...

...they would be something like this. Have you seen it? Es excelente.
A saga that deals with the epic struggles of average human beings living their normal lives. I realize the title of this post might be off-putting.I don't want to give the impression that the movie is a melodrama. It's just that we get to know the characters with such intimacy, such familiarity and empathy, it's like we were truly watching the evolution of a family over time. Most movies are a snapshot, an idea, this movie is a novel, a dissertation. I saw it over two Saturdays at the Balboa. I'd never been there before. It took me over an hour to get there from Oakland. I went alone each time, and each time I emerged from the darkened movie theater startled by the sunlight and by the strange language spoken around me. Whenever I come back from Puerto Rico it takes me a while to get used to English, it feels like I am surrounded by actors in a sit-com. I felt the same way after watching La Meglio Gioventu. I had been living these peoples lives. As far as I knew I was in Roma, Palermo, La Toscana. I would call the movie vouyeristic except I had no sense of self or shame. How could the acting have been that good?
...I want to go back to Italy. I was so happy to find out I could still understand Italian...
Anyway, you should see this movie because I know you would like it. Because you love your family and friends, because you believe in goodness, and beauty, and beauty even within the daily ugliness, because your life, like all our lives is epic and illuminating.



  • Lo Mejor de la Juventud

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