Embracing truth

BY THE BOOK

I read Yann Martel's wondrous book "Life of Pi" in 2013 for my book club. I remember reading the synopsis and not being very eager to dive into it. It sounded a bit like fantasy - being stranded on a boat with a Bengal tiger - and apart from "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, I'm not a big fan of that genre. But I also noticed the terrific reviews it received along with winning the Man Booker Prize. And while I generally take reviews with a grain of salt regarding music and movies, I rely on them pretty regularly when it comes to literature. So encouraged by the good reviews and accolades along with the pressure of my book club meeting, I gave it a try. 

I was pleasantly surprised to be engrossed in it right from the start. And by the time I completed it, I felt genuine relief that the main character, Pi, had reached an end to his ordeal. That's not a spoiler exactly. If you watch the film, you know from the start that he will survive because the film beings with him telling his story to a writer. In the book, there's no writer; the reader just goes along with Pi on his journey. So I guess that's a spoiler. Sorry.

The story introduces Pi growing up in India with his father, mother and brother. His father owns a zoo, and Pi has a great affinity for the animals. He also develops a fervent interest in religion and begins to embrace multiple theologies, much to his father's chagrin. As Pi becomes a young man, he manages to remain respectful of his father's advice and tough lessons while still honoring his own truths.

But just as Pi begins to discover that most mysterious of belief systems - romantic love - with a local girl, he learns that his family must move to Canada and start a new life. They are taking the animals with them - not to start another zoo, but to sell. During a stormy night on rough seas, the ship sinks and Pi finds himself the lone human survivor on a life boat. His companions are a lame zebra, a hyena, a matriarchal orangutan and a ferocious Bengal tiger. 

Apart from the addition of the writer, the movie stays pretty true to the book, and I enjoyed watching what I  read come to life. My only quibble in that regard is how the orangutan comes to join Pi and his other stowaways on his little boat. In the book, her arrival is described as majestic and heartwarming as she rides a wave atop a big bunch of bananas. Ang Lee is a masterful director, but I didn't feel the emotional heft of that moment in the film. I consider it a minor point, though, and I commend Lee for doing a fantastic job of conveying all the other magical elements of the book on the screen.  

Getting to know Pi throughout his childhood exploration and adoption of several different religions was heartening. It reinforced the notion of how everything does not have to be all or nothing, black or white, when it comes to our beliefs. And his struggle to survive on the boat is informed by his open acceptance of God. When he finally comes through the experience, landing on the Mexican shore, he eventually has to tell how he came to be stranded on a boat with a motley crew of jungle creatures and how he survived. But the tale of his ordeal is found too fantastic for the practically minded pencil pushers to whom he has to recount it. So Pi tells another more realistic story to explain what he had been through, and he asks his audience - the insurance men in the book and the writer in the movie - which story they prefer. And that is the question the movie goers and the readers must ask themselves. Do you embrace the fantastic or the pragmatic? What is more appealing? What is more life-affirming? What is the truth? 

Love mixed with the salty sea air

Hollywood cranks out so many breezy romantic comedies each year, but I’ve noticed a growing fatigue with the formulaic rom-coms of the last 15 years or so that has almost become a kind of backlash. I count myself among those who are fed up with the predictable, but there have been some lovely romantic stories that offer some freshness with their familiarity. One of those movies is a little-seen gem from 1999 called “The Love Letter” from director Peter Chan.

There isn’t much of substance here, and the heroine is not very interesting (mainly due to poor character development) or likable (unnecessary but advisable in a rom-com). And yet, the wistful allure of unrequited and unfulfilled love casts a spell along with the location and some of the more endearing characters. It also holds some nice surprises, and if you allow yourself to fall into it, its various charms might win you over. It's a lighthearted, fun journey.

The setup: A summer in New England – the quaint little town of Loblolly by the Sea – and love is in the air. A beguiling love letter has emerged in a bookstore and stirs up trouble for several people who think it is meant for them.

Helen (Kate Capshaw) – Helen owns the bookstore where she finds the love letter among some mail. It was not in an envelope – just folded and mixed in with the other letters she’s sorting – and it is typewritten with no names identifying the receiver or the writer. She assumes it is for her, but she can’t figure out who left it for her to find. She begins to suspect Johnny, a young college kid she hired to help out at the bookstore.

George (Tom Selleck) – George is a firefighter, and he and Helen went out together a few times in high school – outings she refuses to classify as dates. George has carried a torch for her since then even though they both married other people. Helen and her husband are now divorced, and George and his wife are getting a divorce, which is why he recently returned to Loblolly from New York. He and Helen have begun their flirtation anew, but it is a modest one because they’re both still too afraid to put themselves out there.  

Johnny (Tom Everett Scott) – The aforementioned college kid working in Helen’s bookstore for the summer. Helen invites him to dinner to apologize for yelling at him at work. While at Helen’s house, he sees the letter on a side table and instead of thinking it must be her letter from someone else, he assumes she wrote it to him and left it for him to find. (Illogical, I know, but it’s a movie.) So he proceeds to seduce her, and although she’s willing to engage in an affair, she is not willing to encourage him or be seen with him in public.

Janet (Ellen DeGeneres) – Helen’s best friend who appears to be the manager or co-manager of the bookstore, Janet adds real comedy to the proceedings. She is good-natured and engages in witty banter with everyone she meets. Like Helen, she discovers the letter in the bookstore (after Helen), and like nearly everyone else who finds it, she assumes it is meant for her.

Jennifer (Julianne Nicholson) – Jennifer is working on her doctoral dissertation in women’s studies soaking up all she can from Helen’s “good bitch/bad bitch” persona. She gossips often, speculates wildly, never brings Janet the right coffee in the mornings, and develops a severe crush on Johnny when he foolishly kisses her to try to make Helen jealous.

Miss Scattergoods (Geraldine McEwan) – Constance Scattergoods is an endearing, chain-smoking, 60-something-year-old woman who befriends Johnny and commiserates with him because they both are pining away for “people they shouldn’t be in love with.”

Lillian (Blythe Danner) – Helen’s mother has spent an inordinate amount of time traveling, which Helen takes personally. When Lillian arrives in Loblolly for a visit, with her mother, played by Gloria Stuart, in tow, Helen hopes Lillian will stay a while and guide her through the minefield of how to get out of an affair with a younger man.

Eleanor/Grandma (Gloria Stuart) – “Grandma” is a charming old woman who still loves to be mischievous.

Officer Dan (Bill Buell) – Officer Dan finds the letter in the bookstore as well, but he’s the only one with sense enough to realize it may not be for him. He does decide to copy it though so that he can pawn it off as his own work to his wife.

So that’s the setup for this breezy romantic comedy that is perfect for a lazy summer afternoon. Yes, I know summer is practically over, but that’s the great thing about movies. You can experience any season you want all year long.

Beating the heat with some cool jazz

The Newport Jazz Festival starts today, and since I can’t be there, I thought I’d rewatch the timeless documentary “Jazz on a Summer’s Day” shot during the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and directed by Bert Stern.  

What I love about this documentary is how romantically it captures the town and people of Newport and the wonderful footage of the crowds attending the festival. Stern, a 28-year-old professional photographer shooting his first feature film, used the latest 35-mm Kodak color film – a departure from the frequent black-and-white films featuring jazz artists. Of course, there are some remarkable performances featuring several dynamic artists, but the footage of the artists seems more scattered to me and often isn’t as interesting as the coverage of the audience.

The film begins with shots of Newport, well-known for hosting the America’s Cup boat race for many years. The 1958 race was taking place at the same time as the jazz festival, so there are some great shots of the massive boats in action on the vast waters of the Atlantic. There’s a ubiquitous ragtime jazz band playing loud and proud as they are being driven around town in a convertible throughout the movie, an enjoyable break between the daytime performances.

The highlights of the first day’s performances for me were Thelonious Monk and Anita O’Day. Monk was fairly understated but clearly having a good time with his signature “off-key”-sounding melodies on the piano. And I suspect they weren’t ready for O’Day when she came out in an outfit I remain obsessed with to this day because of how classic it looks. It was a simple black dress, a stunning black hat with white feathers around the brim and white gloves. She slowly eased into “Sweet Georgia Brown” and by the end of the song she showed the crowd she really knew how to swing. (And won me over completely – I promptly downloaded two of her albums after I saw this movie.)

The fashions stood out in the audience as well, particularly accessories that were clearly a sign of the times like hats. There were hats of all kinds at the outdoor venue, and cat’s eye sunglasses must have been all the rage because it seemed like every other woman was wearing a pair.

I was also impressed by a more significant aspect of the audience – the integration. At a time in our nation’s history when I would assume the crowd would be segregated, blacks and whites sat alongside each other at this event appearing as if they are not even aware of any civil rights battles being waged. Stern explained in his separate commentary for the film that his distributors knew the film would have trouble being placed in theaters in the South for that very reason. But it was refreshing to see that at least in that spot in the country at that moment, everyone was welcome and respected and having a good time with each other, not just in their own camps.

There is some terrific footage of the townspeople in their local haunts and houses – making messes with beer deliveries, dancing on rooftops and cavorting in windows. It looks like these well-to-do people really know how to party even in daylight. As the day transitions into evening, the ragtime band winds down its antics around town, and with the sun setting, Stern gets a lovely shot of them actually standing still and performing on some rocks at the edge of the beach.

The next phase of the documentary covers the evening performances Stern and his crew filmed. The performances included Dinah Washington, Big Maybelle, Chuck Berry, Chico Hamilton, Louis Armstrong and a finale of Mahalia Jackson. I was annoyed by the camera work during Dinah Washington’s performance of “All of Me” because you don’t see much of her, at least not at the beginning of her set. Stern shows more of the audience – probably because they are dancing nonstop, which is a good thing – but I wish there had been more balance between the stage and the crowd. The crowd kept dancing all through Maybelle and Chuck Berry, then Chico Hamilton came in and cooled it down with a mellow but moving set.

What can you say about Louis Armstrong beyond the obvious – he’s a magnificent entertainer. He did several songs and engaged in quite a bit of banter with the host on stage that enchanted the audience. But the topper turned out to be Mahalia Jackson, which is why Stern let her be the last performer in the documentary.

Columbia Records executive George Avakian was in charge of the sound recordings, and he tried to convince Avakian not to include Jackson in the final cut because she was a gospel singer. Fortunately, Stern knew better. It was clearly important to him to show the impact her voice had on the crowd, and in this case I didn’t mind him spending a lot of time focusing on them instead of the artist (plus there was more balance this time). The power of her hymns, including “The Lord’s Prayer,” was reflected on every face Stern photographed. I also loved seeing her reaction to this group of people she assumed would not fully relate to her type of music. She was near tears when she said after the audience’s first ovation, “You make me feel like a star.”

When I first saw this documentary, I assumed that Stern had filmed the most significant acts at the festival, but after listening to the commentary this time around, I was dismayed to learn that he missed out on filming some of the best performers there.

Apparently, he left those choices up to Avakian, and Avakian wasn’t keen on trying to make arrangements with other record companies. I also read on Jazz.com that since Stern was not a jazz aficionado, he didn’t know who he should fight to try to film and who he shouldn’t, so he deferred to Avakian. Whatever the complications, it is very nearly tragic that there is no footage of the orchestras and bands of Duke Ellington, Lester Young, Dave Brubeck, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, Marian McPartland, and the act that would’ve meant the most to me to see perform, the Miles Davis Sextet, which included John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans. I could cry.

But at least we have the wonderful performances Stern did manage to immortalize on film as well as the engaging moments in the town of Newport. Whether you are attending this year’s Newport Jazz Festival or not, whether you love jazz or not, I highly recommend this slice-of-life in 1958 among the culturally savvy set enjoying good times with good music.

Parallel triangles

Eric Stoltz, Meg Tilly and Craig Sheffer in a publicity shot for "Sleep with Me"

Ah, the love triangle. A range of emotions can spring from this oft-used plot device, and it occurred to me recently that two rather similar and entertaining love triangle story lines appear in two of my favorite movies: “St. Elmo’s Fire” and “Sleep with Me.” Released nearly 10 years apart – “St. Elmo’s Fire” in 1985 (the height of the Brat Pack era) and “Sleep with Me” in 1994 – they both feature a longtime group of friends navigating their relationships with each other. They also feature a prominent couple and another friend in the group silently longing to break up that couple's happy-ish home.   

The triangle

St. Elmo’s Fire
Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy and Andrew McCarthy play Alec, Leslie and Kevin

Sleep with Me
Meg Tilly, Eric Stoltz and Craig Sheffer play Sarah, Joseph and Frank

The setup

St. Elmo’s Fire
Alec and Leslie are the golden couple – recent Georgetown grads who dated throughout college and were deemed “the couple most likely to couple” by all their friends and acquaintances. They are now living together in a stylish apartment embarking on a life the politically ambitious Alec has envisioned for them. Kevin is Alec’s best friend and, consequently, he is pretty close to Leslie too. He has been there from the beginning of Alec and Leslie’s relationship. What no one knows is that he has been pining away for Leslie the whole time. He is holding out no hope, yet his longing for her can never fade because their group of friends spends so much time together.

Sleep with Me
Sarah and Joseph, who met in college and get married at the start of the film, are the focal couple. Frank is the third wheel – Joseph’s best friend who used to spend a lot of time with the couple but has been backing off since the couple married. Frank has been obsessed with Sarah from the moment he and Joseph spotted her spinning her bright yellow umbrella on their college campus, but Frank kept mum and Joseph won her heart.   

The friends

St. Elmo’s Fire
Everyone in the group is aware that Kevin hasn’t been dating anyone for a long time, but they don’t know it’s because he’s pining away for Leslie. One of them, Demi Moore’s character Jules, is highly suspicious and decides he must be gay. But the rest of the gang is so absorbed in their own obsessions and Kevin does such a great job of declaring his hatred of romantic love whenever possible, that they don’t give his supposedly self-imposed bachelorhood much thought. [At this point I’m going to revert to the actors’ names because it will be easier to follow, plus the Brat Pack rules require using their real names.] Emilio Estevez, who plays Kevin’s roommate, is busy running around after Andie MacDowell – a beauty he went on one date with in college who never took him seriously as a prospect, so of course he can’t get her out of his mind. Rob Lowe, the bad boy of the group, and Mare Winningham, the good girl of the group, have a never-consummated chemistry they try to ignore in order to protect their friendship … and because he’s married. And Demi Moore (the aforementioned Jules) is enamored with the fast life, developing a drug problem and coping with abandonment issues (Her mom is dead and her father is dying.).

Sleep with Me
The group of friends in this movie is much more eclectic than the preps from “St. Elmo’s Fire.” Very California bohemian. The guys in the group have a regular poker game where a series of hilarious exchanges take place, including blow-ups between Frank and Joseph, mostly due to the frustrations of their poker purist buddy hosting the game. As far as names you might recognize, Todd Field, who went on to appear in “Eyes Wide Shut” and direct “In the Bedroom” and “Little Children,” plays Duane – a deeply cynical writer with a thing for women with no body hair. Thomas Gibson of “Dharma and Greg” and “Criminal Minds” fame plays Nigel, a mischievous, brutally honest chap who loves to instigate and is one of the funniest characters in the movie. Parker Posey and Joey Lauren Adams (“Chasing Amy”) also put in brief, offbeat comedic performances as two friends determined to sing through one of the hallowed poker games and disrupt other lives when they can. Quentin Tarantino has a now-legendary cameo breaking down the gay overtones of “Top Gun” at a party, but he wasn’t among the central group of friends, and I only mention it because that’s the biggest claim to fame the movie has.

The turning point

St. Elmo’s Fire
Leslie is getting more and more fed up with what she refers to as Alec’s extracurricular activities, so when he announces their engagement at a party without her consent (she’s been consistently turning down his marriage proposals), she confronts him. Alec refuses to believe she could have discovered his infidelities on her own, so he publicly accuses Kevin of ratting him out, causing a scene and embarrassing himself when it becomes obvious Kevin did nothing of the kind. So in classic egoist fashion, Alec declares that he wants Leslie out of their house and storms away. Instead of staying with one of her numerous girlfriends, she opts to crash at Kevin’s place for the night. How convenient. And in a dialogue that seems both effortless and awkward, Kevin ends up revealing his undying love, and Leslie is so taken with his vulnerability (and determined to lash out at Alec) that she easily falls into a sexual romp with Kevin - wearing a double strand of pearls the whole time, no less.

Sleep with Me
Tension builds throughout the movie because Frank begins a passive-aggressive campaign to push Joseph away by doing everything he can to annoy his old friend when they hang out – especially at their regular poker game. Meanwhile, as Joseph and Sarah deal with the banalities of marriage, Joseph starts to act out a bit, making Sarah insecure. Things come to a head when Sarah and Joseph have a get-together and invite Frank and his current flame – a model all the men at the gathering go gaga for, especially Joseph. Frank sees Sarah’s growing disgust with the situation and somehow thinks it is the perfect opportunity to declare his love for her and kiss her in front of everyone. His actions do not go over well. He is subsequently ostracized from the group until their friend Nigel the troublemaker invites all of them to a party. Frank’s arrival sends Joseph and Sarah into a shouting match. Joseph gets so angry that he takes off with a woman he just met at the party (Parker Posey). Sarah assumes he is going to sleep with the woman he picked up, so she winds up in bed with Frank. Like Leslie in “St. Elmo’s Fire,” Sarah goes to bed with Frank more to get back at Joseph for his presumed infidelity than to consummate a connection with Frank.  

The resolve

I won’t reveal exactly how things turn out for the couples and the friends, but I will say that I was OK with both resolutions although my heart went out to the guys on the losing end of things. Love certainly can be a losing game, but who’s to say three people can’t maintain a happy and enduring love affair? Surely there are some movies that bear that out, but that’s a blog post for another time.