"from my rotting body flowers shall grow, and i am in them, and that is eternity."
- edvard munch
fear and grief and the unthinking heartless gorgeousness of nature; the horror and bliss that come with total loss of self. what a cold beautiful nightmare of a film.
i remember being absolutely awestruck when i watched velvet goldmine for the first time - it was like seeing my heart and my mind bedazzled and laid out on screen. the world that todd haynes created seemed like a dream world to me then, a million miles away from my life in taipei.
almost a year and a life-changing move later, i still love velvet goldmine as much as ever but in a wonderfully different way. it feels so much…
not sure what i expected moulin rouge to be but i sure as hell didn't expect baz luhrmann to throw a burning hot mass of pop culture and glitter right at my face, all wrapped up in satin dripping with crystals. there's no looking away from nicole kidman's red lipstick smile in this - but why would you ever want to? long live bohemia!
i was lucky enough to attend a screening with a director q&a afterwards, in which francis lee revealed that one of his biggest influences for this film was pretty woman to everyone's delight.
other highlights:
- the sounds of the yorkshire countryside are very key to the film; gheorghe has his own special wind sound that follows him through the film and remains after he has left, like an audio haunting
- bird sounds in the film are also significant…
