Post by klep on Feb 12, 2018 7:47:28 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 2/12: Roman Holiday
ROMANCE WEEK!
NOTE: This week's essay is generously contributed by Edith Gillian Nelson
When I was a sophomore in high school, my English teacher loved film. Just loved it. He had actually
bought a TV to keep in his classroom so he could show us movies whenever he wanted to without having
to go through the byzantine AV requests to get a TV from the school. The movies only glancingly had
anything to do with the state-approved curriculum most of the time, and I'm frankly unsure if it had been
the state's idea or his for us to study Our Town—and I know The Skin of Our Teeth was his. For finals
week, the schedule was rearranged so that you got half-days all week with two two-hour classes a day, so
the teacher could give you a proper final. And Mr. Garden didn't give a final, he showed a movie. He let
us vote between Brigadoon and Roman Holiday. And I have never been so happy to be outvoted in my
life; it was the first time I saw it, and it's been my favourite movie ever since.
It was Audrey Hepburn's eighth movie and her break-out role as Princess Ann of [mumble mumble]. She
is on a European goodwill tour, stopping in various countries to speak on friendship between nations and
the promise of youth and so forth. One night in Rome, she cracks under the strain. She's given a
sedative, but before it can take effect, she escapes into the night. American journalist Joe Bradley
(Gregory Peck) finds her and takes her home, because he is extremely worried about the (as far as he
knows) drunk young woman alone on the streets of Rome. The next day, he discovers her identity and,
hiding his, takes her to spend the whole day doing just as she pleases, the better to get a newspaper article
out of her.
Well, of course they fall in love. It's 1953; would you be able to resist falling in love with either of them
on a carefree day such as that? Especially with the sardonic Irving Radovich (Eddie Albert) along to
provide snark and funding? You could almost forget that you had duties and obligations waiting for you
and believe that the day would be able to last forever. And so they see any number of highlights of
Rome, and the movie's just general joy pervades the whole thing. It's a very funny movie, something I'm
not sure comes up often enough in discussions of it. It's not just Irving. In fact, even before Irving joins
the pair, there's an extremely funny bit where Joe is trying to borrow a camera from a tourist girl (the girls
are Catherine and Judy Wyler) because he needs pictures of Ann.
I love, too, that there's more to her character than just being beautiful. She has a certain amount of
innocent ignorance—it never occurs to her that Joe may not have much money, for one thing, and she's
used to going through life as a princess with all that entails. And goodness knows she's fortunate to have
been picked up by a guy whose only planned exploitation is a newspaper exclusive. But she's intelligent
and witty and fierce. She thinks nothing of bashing a guitar over the head of a guy she absolutely knows
to be an agent of her own country trying to take her back to the embassy. She knows from the beginning,
I think, that her freedom cannot last, but she's going to make the most of it while she can. I think she falls
in love with freedom as much as with Joe.
Joe, like the camera, falls in love with Audrey Hepburn. She quickly stops being just an opportunity to
him—as we know she will be, not least because he's so determined to make sure she isn't just left out on
the streets of Rome for anyone to harass. Sure, he makes her sleep on his couch, but he does, after all,
bring her home with him because he knows he won't hurt her and worries about every other possible
option.
It is, I admit, hard to get around the fact that he spends the entire movie lying to her, and she only really
finds out the truth about him in the last ten minutes. There's a great moment at the Mouth of Truth
wherein she challenges him to put his hand in it, and he knows he's currently lying—he's told her that he's
a salesman in manure, which is a clever play but is also, you know, a lie. On the other hand, I think it
makes her choices more pure, if you will. She is choosing between love and duty, and there are no
complications involved about the other issues of that love.
Then again, she's lying to him. She tells him her name is Anya; well, that may be a language difference,
since we don't know what country she's from. But she thinks he believes she's run away from a girls'
school. She refers to her father's anniversary of "the day he got his job," and while her remarks while
drinking the champagne are sly references to his being a king, she never admits it. Despite her
appearance in newsreels and newspapers, she clearly thinks that he thinks she is what she's pretending to
be. In both cases, the lie is because they're aware of what the truth would do.
I cry every time. Every time. This month marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first time I saw the
movie, and I still cry every time. Last year, when I was choosing comfort movies to take with me in my
emotional distress, I didn't choose this one even though it was my favourite, because it's not exactly
comforting. I perhaps also didn't need the discussion of duty when I was trying to prioritize the literally
life-threatening needs of one child over the emotional and physical well-being of the other one?
But in times when I'm not in severe emotional distress for other reasons, I will watch this movie just
because I love it, because I love celebrating young Audrey Hepburn (twenty-four at the time) and young-
ish Gregory Peck (thirty-seven) and Rome, above all Rome. I had the chance to see it in the theatre a few
years ago, and while it's not a movie that really cries out for the big screen treatment, it's still one that
does well from it. The city does very well from such treatment, and of course the exquisite Audrey.
I don't believe this movie can end any other way than it does given what we know of the characters and
the era. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if it tied in with Princess Margaret of the UK's love affair with a
divorced man at about the same time. And after all, Princess Margaret eventually chose to walk away
from the relationship, which would not have been countenanced by the Church of England, of which her
sister was the leader. Honestly, I don't know why I've always assumed that Ann was the heir of her
parents' kingdom. I guess I thought it would be easier to choose your own path if you weren't.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 2/19: Moonlight
BLACK FILM WEEK!
With Ryan Coogler's foray into superhero filmmaking next week coinciding with Black History Month, it's a great time to look at the work of black filmmakers. This time we're watching 2016's Best Picture winner, Moonlight from Barry Jenkins. Moonlight is available for rent on Amazon Video, where it is free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 2/8: A Futile and Stupid Gesture
Last week's podcast closes with David Wain's latest film about the start of National Lampoon. Join us for our own discussion Wednesday! A Futile and Stupid Gesture is available on Netflix Instant.
ROMANCE WEEK!
NOTE: This week's essay is generously contributed by Edith Gillian Nelson
When I was a sophomore in high school, my English teacher loved film. Just loved it. He had actually
bought a TV to keep in his classroom so he could show us movies whenever he wanted to without having
to go through the byzantine AV requests to get a TV from the school. The movies only glancingly had
anything to do with the state-approved curriculum most of the time, and I'm frankly unsure if it had been
the state's idea or his for us to study Our Town—and I know The Skin of Our Teeth was his. For finals
week, the schedule was rearranged so that you got half-days all week with two two-hour classes a day, so
the teacher could give you a proper final. And Mr. Garden didn't give a final, he showed a movie. He let
us vote between Brigadoon and Roman Holiday. And I have never been so happy to be outvoted in my
life; it was the first time I saw it, and it's been my favourite movie ever since.
It was Audrey Hepburn's eighth movie and her break-out role as Princess Ann of [mumble mumble]. She
is on a European goodwill tour, stopping in various countries to speak on friendship between nations and
the promise of youth and so forth. One night in Rome, she cracks under the strain. She's given a
sedative, but before it can take effect, she escapes into the night. American journalist Joe Bradley
(Gregory Peck) finds her and takes her home, because he is extremely worried about the (as far as he
knows) drunk young woman alone on the streets of Rome. The next day, he discovers her identity and,
hiding his, takes her to spend the whole day doing just as she pleases, the better to get a newspaper article
out of her.
Well, of course they fall in love. It's 1953; would you be able to resist falling in love with either of them
on a carefree day such as that? Especially with the sardonic Irving Radovich (Eddie Albert) along to
provide snark and funding? You could almost forget that you had duties and obligations waiting for you
and believe that the day would be able to last forever. And so they see any number of highlights of
Rome, and the movie's just general joy pervades the whole thing. It's a very funny movie, something I'm
not sure comes up often enough in discussions of it. It's not just Irving. In fact, even before Irving joins
the pair, there's an extremely funny bit where Joe is trying to borrow a camera from a tourist girl (the girls
are Catherine and Judy Wyler) because he needs pictures of Ann.
I love, too, that there's more to her character than just being beautiful. She has a certain amount of
innocent ignorance—it never occurs to her that Joe may not have much money, for one thing, and she's
used to going through life as a princess with all that entails. And goodness knows she's fortunate to have
been picked up by a guy whose only planned exploitation is a newspaper exclusive. But she's intelligent
and witty and fierce. She thinks nothing of bashing a guitar over the head of a guy she absolutely knows
to be an agent of her own country trying to take her back to the embassy. She knows from the beginning,
I think, that her freedom cannot last, but she's going to make the most of it while she can. I think she falls
in love with freedom as much as with Joe.
Joe, like the camera, falls in love with Audrey Hepburn. She quickly stops being just an opportunity to
him—as we know she will be, not least because he's so determined to make sure she isn't just left out on
the streets of Rome for anyone to harass. Sure, he makes her sleep on his couch, but he does, after all,
bring her home with him because he knows he won't hurt her and worries about every other possible
option.
It is, I admit, hard to get around the fact that he spends the entire movie lying to her, and she only really
finds out the truth about him in the last ten minutes. There's a great moment at the Mouth of Truth
wherein she challenges him to put his hand in it, and he knows he's currently lying—he's told her that he's
a salesman in manure, which is a clever play but is also, you know, a lie. On the other hand, I think it
makes her choices more pure, if you will. She is choosing between love and duty, and there are no
complications involved about the other issues of that love.
Then again, she's lying to him. She tells him her name is Anya; well, that may be a language difference,
since we don't know what country she's from. But she thinks he believes she's run away from a girls'
school. She refers to her father's anniversary of "the day he got his job," and while her remarks while
drinking the champagne are sly references to his being a king, she never admits it. Despite her
appearance in newsreels and newspapers, she clearly thinks that he thinks she is what she's pretending to
be. In both cases, the lie is because they're aware of what the truth would do.
I cry every time. Every time. This month marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first time I saw the
movie, and I still cry every time. Last year, when I was choosing comfort movies to take with me in my
emotional distress, I didn't choose this one even though it was my favourite, because it's not exactly
comforting. I perhaps also didn't need the discussion of duty when I was trying to prioritize the literally
life-threatening needs of one child over the emotional and physical well-being of the other one?
But in times when I'm not in severe emotional distress for other reasons, I will watch this movie just
because I love it, because I love celebrating young Audrey Hepburn (twenty-four at the time) and young-
ish Gregory Peck (thirty-seven) and Rome, above all Rome. I had the chance to see it in the theatre a few
years ago, and while it's not a movie that really cries out for the big screen treatment, it's still one that
does well from it. The city does very well from such treatment, and of course the exquisite Audrey.
I don't believe this movie can end any other way than it does given what we know of the characters and
the era. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if it tied in with Princess Margaret of the UK's love affair with a
divorced man at about the same time. And after all, Princess Margaret eventually chose to walk away
from the relationship, which would not have been countenanced by the Church of England, of which her
sister was the leader. Honestly, I don't know why I've always assumed that Ann was the heir of her
parents' kingdom. I guess I thought it would be easier to choose your own path if you weren't.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 2/19: Moonlight
BLACK FILM WEEK!
With Ryan Coogler's foray into superhero filmmaking next week coinciding with Black History Month, it's a great time to look at the work of black filmmakers. This time we're watching 2016's Best Picture winner, Moonlight from Barry Jenkins. Moonlight is available for rent on Amazon Video, where it is free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 2/8: A Futile and Stupid Gesture
Last week's podcast closes with David Wain's latest film about the start of National Lampoon. Join us for our own discussion Wednesday! A Futile and Stupid Gesture is available on Netflix Instant.