Holding the Man : Great movie, sad story (spoilers ahead)
Re: Great movie, sad story (spoilers ahead)
I agree - very sad. I went in knowing it was a true story, and knowing that they had both died, so I knew there was no happy ending. The school stuff was really interesting - both the priest and the friends acceptance of their relationship. Definitely not something you expect to see in a movie (or real life in Australia in the 1970s).
Re: Great movie, sad story (spoilers ahead)
Movie was spoilt by rushed scenes and too much background music. Storyline wasnt that amazing. No wonder it has jnot receieved much attention overseas
Re: Great movie, sad story (spoilers ahead)
So very true I'm afraid. The book and the play based on the book were great. But the film failed for exactly the reasons you outlined. A TV mini series running 6 hours or so may have worked much better.
Re: Great movie, sad story (spoilers ahead)
I thought the music was fine, maybe because I liked the music they played. I do agree that it felt rushed and a mini series would have been a much better idea. The chemistry between them was great though and the acting very good, especially from Ryan Corr and Anthony LaPaglia
Re: Great movie, sad story (spoilers ahead)
I agree with you that the music was fine and in fact in at least two places, I thought its usage was particularly clever. The scenes where "I Feel Love" is stopped as John's father enters his son's room and lets him know he'll get over not seeing Tim, etc. and then the second he leaves, John gets up and goes out the window to join Tim, I thought it was really lovely how the music kicks back in, and on a note that feels like a rush, which is exactly how John exits his teenage room.
As someone who hasn't read the book, only watched the movie (thus far), I didn't feel it was rushed. There was some going back and forth with the timeline that I'm not sure necessarily helped propel the connection of the audience with the subject matter, but overall it didn't feel rushed. It could be that when you read the book/see the play first, the impression is different.
The one thing that did kind of bother me was the decision to have the same actors for the teenaged and adult Tim and John. For me, that got in the way of my suspension of disbelief to a degree, so I wondered if it wouldn't have been better having younger actors for the school scenes.
As someone who hasn't read the book, only watched the movie (thus far), I didn't feel it was rushed. There was some going back and forth with the timeline that I'm not sure necessarily helped propel the connection of the audience with the subject matter, but overall it didn't feel rushed. It could be that when you read the book/see the play first, the impression is different.
The one thing that did kind of bother me was the decision to have the same actors for the teenaged and adult Tim and John. For me, that got in the way of my suspension of disbelief to a degree, so I wondered if it wouldn't have been better having younger actors for the school scenes.
Re: Great movie, sad story (spoilers ahead)
the question about using the same actors came up in the Q&A after the london LGFF screening yesterday the screen writer and the actress Kerry Fox both replied that it would be wrench for the audience to see different actors play them so it was just a decision as to which wrench to have. they seemed to accept that it was hard for the audience, without actually admitting that the wrong decision had been made (by the director).
Re: Great movie, sad story (spoilers ahead)
Seen the stage version and way too sadno thanksthis ain't my kind of movie..i want to be entertained and not to be reminded of that dreded disease that keeps claim thousands each year.
Re: Great movie, sad story (spoilers ahead)
Pretty good movie but too rushed! I mean.. I really wanted to know more about how John's family dealt with it and how Tim's family dealt with it. The contrast would have been interesting. Did they both move out? Did they drop out of school? How did the Catholic school react to this? I mean there was tons they could have explored here.
They really should have explored this whole open relationship idea more. Who infected who? I mean, I guess you could argue "it doesn't matter now" but it's natural for the viewer to wants these kinds of questions answered.
I think the movie could have been just a bit longer, 15-20 minutes. Or a miniseries perhaps.
They really should have explored this whole open relationship idea more. Who infected who? I mean, I guess you could argue "it doesn't matter now" but it's natural for the viewer to wants these kinds of questions answered.
I think the movie could have been just a bit longer, 15-20 minutes. Or a miniseries perhaps.
Great movie, sad story (spoilers ahead)