Blind Prophecy

I’m glad the week is over. It’s been all about budgets and metrics and strategic plans at work lately and, therefore, boring. On the plus side, some good entertainment for distraction.

Mostly minor spoilers for Beowulf, Titus, Wicked and Mistral’s Kiss beneath the cut…

Tonight I went to see Beowulf in 3-D. Trust me, if you have the option of 3-D or not, go with the 3-D. I only wish I’d booked my ticket in time to do the IMAX version (which sold out).I liked it a lot.

Typically Gaiman, mixing genres and dark humor. Definitely a treat for the eyes, although the animation still needs to be improved before I think this type of filmmaking will really work. The queen character, in particular, seemed very lifeless. Perhaps it’s because the male characters had facial hair to mask the lack of muscle movement and Grendel’s mother simply had to be sexy and menacing in any direct shots. I couldn’t tell if the queen was looking at Beowulf with longing or constipation half the time.

I did think some thematic elements of the story were a little heavy-handed. The “flawed” hero (hubris) and the seduction of power were particularly un-subtle. On the other hand, the unexpected humor almost making parody of hack-and-slash fantasy films was spot-on. I give it 4 severed limbs out of 5.

Oh, and there’s no way this film should have gotten away with a PG-13 rating.

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Sticking with the theme of severed limbs (and why not?) as well as films with flashes of Anthony Hopkins’s ass (why?), I rewatched Titus this week. Julie Taymor’s adaptation of “Shakespeare’s bloodiest play” Titus Andronicus. I’ve seen many film adaptations of Shakespeare over the years… from the dreadul Mel Gibson incest-fest of Hamletto the decent Baz Luhrman Romeo + Juliet (save for Juliet played by Claire “Romeo, like, my parents are so unfair” Danes who thought she was filming another season of My So-Called Life); from the many august Kenneth Branagh flicks (Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Hamlet, Love’s Labors Lost) to a few black and white classics (Julius Caesar stands out at the moment); and several flawed versions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Although it’s not the finest work of the Bard, this is probably my favorite screen adaptation.

The performances are spot-on and show how Shakespeare can be played well and fun. I especially fell in love with Jonathon Rhys-Meyer and Matthew Rhys (no relation) as Chiron and Demetrius. Alan Cumming and Jessica Lange joined them in chewing the scenery. Harry Lennix (playing Aaron, the only Shakespeare villain more evil than Iago) deserves a much stronger career based on the strength of that performance than he has apparently had.

But the real star of the film is director Julie Taymor, whose striking visuals and use of color was more experimental and risky than either of her later films Frida and Across the Universe. I feel like this is Taymor before she decided to play to a larger crowd. She expected her audience to be mature and intelligent and somewhat small for this project, with Frida she cast a wider net for discriminating film fans but primarily still and art house project, and Across the Universe plays to a broad audience of bored teenagers looking for date movies.

If it weren’t for the R rating, I’d say high school teachers should choose this for their bored classes. It’s not hard to follow the language and I think it would generate more excitement for Shakespeare than other “accessible” modern adaptations. Again, I give it 4 severed limbs out of 5.

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This week I decided to re-read Wickedby Gregory Maguire. It’s been a few years since I first read the book and when I saw it in paperback at Borderland Book’s 10th anniversary sale, I couldn’t resist.

I think the book is better on the second read. Especially since I’ve seen the musical (when I was in Chicago last year), read the sequel Son of a Witch, and grown in my understanding of politics (especially the politics of fascism) over the years.

The first time I read Wicked, I remember thinking it was sort of dense and difficult to follow. Not so this time. The landscape, both political and physical, simply seemed more familiar.

The charm of this novel, of course, is that it completely subverts everything about the classic tales of Oz. You finish the book thinking that Dorothy was, in fact, a naive innocent and not terribly bright. Her simple tale of kind people in a magical land doesn’t consider the politics, the religions, the class struggles, the economics or the private tragedies that make up the lives of her fantastical friends and enemies. This book does.

And like any more mature and complex world-view, there are no happy endings or simple morals. Characters wrestle with questions of god and faith, evil and forgiveness, civil rights and personal security to their deaths, without necessarily finding answers. Every member in this cast is a misfit, an unfinished person, and outcast–and although Elphaba’s green skin sets her apart more than most, it also gives her strength to move past such a trivial thing as skin color.

I was also struck, upon re-reading, by the subtle bi-friendly undertones. I didn’t even pick up on them before. The relationship of Frex-Melena-Turtle Heart that Frex confesses in his final years definately has shades of meaning. As do some of Glinda’s last thoughts about Elphaba, when she reminisces about sharing a bed with Elphie on the road to the Emerald City and how it made her feel brave and strangely vulnerable. (The bi subtext in Son of a Witch was less subtle)

I’ve talked to a lot of people who started this book and abandoned it because it was just too unexpected, too slow to get started, or too inaccessible. Especially people who are fans of the musical and are expecting the happier, cleaner plot of that adaptation. I want to tell these people to try the book again, and read it twice. It’s a book that improves with age, if you ask me.

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I also read Mistral’s Kissby Laurell K. Hamilton. I’ve said before that my only excuse for reading LKH books is pure escapism. It still holds true. There’s nothing especially worth recommending in this book.

Although it has more plot and mystery than some of her recent outings, the first 100 pages are porn, pure and simple. I’m not kidding. I actually noted that I’d read 100 pages before Princess Merry technically even got out of bed with a pair of lovers.

At least in the Meredith Gentry series, the sex serves a plot purpose. Merry has to produce a child before her murderous cousin does or very bad things will happen to everyone. Whereas Hamilton’s other ongoing series with Anita Blake, vampire executioner, has created a rather lame mystical libido spell to force the lead character out of her panties every few pages.

I noted that LKH’s name now appears larger than the title of the book on the front cover. Like pulp romance writers. It’s appropriate.

No, I’m not recommending the book. But if you’re like me, invested enough in the characters, charmed by the original take on magical beings in the modern world, and looking for something to escape into… well, I urge you to follow my lead and wait until you find a used or discounted version of the book and avoid the shame of paying full price for a hardback.

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That’s it for today. I’m hanging out with Jennifer tomorrow and I suspect she’ll be calling to wake me up and get me moving fairly early in the morning.

Filed under: books, movies by Jere Keys