Illuminata
Nov 17, 2009 3:46:02 GMT
Post by numbat on Nov 17, 2009 3:46:02 GMT
Illuminata, Illuminata, Illuminata!!!
I did watch this again last Wed Frannie - but it's taken me a while to think of what i really want to say about it!!! I've avoided writing anything for months, but i think maybe it's time, now i've seen it more times than i can remember.
Now i will admit at the very start that i know nothing of John Turturro, so i bring to this no pre-conceived idea of him as a filmmaker (pretentious or otherwise) or even as an actor. In fact i don't believe i've ever seen him in anything before (or, as is more likely the case, i've seen him many times but just not realised it!!!). But on to the film!!!
For me, Illuminata is simply a film about love. It comes brightly packaged and wrapped with the big garish bow that is the flamboyant ensemble cast of over the top characters. But these characters serve only to highlight the very essence of the story about life & ageing & commitment & betrayal - but above all, the nature of love itself.
"What a delusion to believe there is logic or order in the events of our lives." On first viewing, this is a jumbled tangle of ridiculous people doing ridiculous things, but the more times you watch, the more you can see that the film itself is very structured - each act being a neat package designed to set up the next act, and so on until the finale when the essence of the story reveals itself in the "play" which has been written by the very actions of the characters throughout the film. The film is about the play, but the play is actually written by the film.
"What would you have me do, compose the play for you?" These are Rachel's words at the beginning of the film, and in the end, this is exactly what she does. Rachel is so very quiet and controlled throughout, it is easy to be fooled into thinking that she is only performing the words written for her by Tuccio and that he is the driving force behind the play. But despite the fact that it is referred to over and over as Tuccio's play, Tuccio's play, Tuccio's play, for me, the role that Rachel plays in the writing of it can't be underestimated.
Interestingly however, whilst she actually writes many of the words that he ends up using in the final performance, i also believe it is his insecurities about their marriage & his middle age that are reflected in the play (in a typical male fashion - "he" can't be insecure so it must be "she" who is "i've given you my love, my strength, my youth, my life"). Enter Dominique.
Again, this film is so deceiving in many ways. The way you comprehend something on first viewing ends up completely different after the several viewings and of course, with the benefit of hindsight. Now you may disagree with me here and accuse me of wearing my ever present Ruglasses (you know the ones that have us convinced that Isolde was really in love with Marke!!!), but i believe that what is ever present in their marriage is not so much the desire of Simone to enchant Tuccio with her youth and beauty, but also the relationship between Rachel and Dominique. From the beginning when he is relegated to a walk on part by Rachel after having spent the previous day "entertaining" Simone, to the finale when together, he and Rachel pull such a performance out of the hat to have even the most hard hearted of theatre goers misty eyed, i don't believe that their relationship can be overlooked. Of course Dominique is a typical creature of the theatre - egoccentric, loud, opinionated & promiscuous - but his performance in the play (both acts) also marks him as being sensitive & easily hurt (which of course he masks in the every day by being egoccentric, loud, opinionated & promiscuous!!). So Rachel's issue with Simone is not just of her pressing her head on Tuccio's door, but also of her sleeping with Dominique. Don't forget that on the "Night of Betrayal" when almost all the characters are involved in some elicit activity, that Rachel and Dominique are not, serving to highlight them as not needing that interlude which is crucial in bringing the other characters to a point of understanding about their relationships and the true nature of their love. As i said previously, you may disagree with me here, but if you rewatch the film from that perspective, some things begin to make sense (including the way Rachel gazes wistfully out of her door before closing it after Tuccio painted "Ti amo" on the backdrop - in my mind, her Ti amo is not just Tuccio).
And while for me, the film must always be about Dominique ("i bite your mouth until it bleeds"
), the fantastic part that all the characters play in driving the story towards it's beautiful end can, quite obviously, not be overlooked. I particularly adore the role that Beppo plays in bringing everyone together for their nightime trysts and his fantastic line which sums up not just the essence of the clown but also of love itself "true freedom is the absence of vanity". He then, single handedly, starts the rumour that Tuccio is taking the play to Paris with Celimene which has everyone so overwrought and angry with Tuccio that they insist on him putting the play on once more. Without Beppo's clever hand, the ending to the play wouldn't have been written and it most certainly wouldn't have been put on for the seond time.
Then of course there is the frustrated theatre owner, who so obviously wants to be an actor himself, and his practical wife who is left with the task of actually running the theatre, poor Marco who has to go and convince Bevalaqua to come back & review the play again all the time being terrified that he's going to "pork" him, the gorgeous little boys running around and serving to highlight the decline that we take from the innocent days of our childhood to the complicated days of our adulthood. And not forgetting poor Piero who dies, i believe, from nothing more than a weak constitution after having to take a major role in the first play, much to his distress. Simone went to him after her dressing down from Rachel because in the end, all the poor girl wanted was someone who would really love her (Dominique & Tuccio's hearts both belonging to Rachel), but her love for him was, in the end not enough to save him. His death seems a bit odd and strangely unexplained, but in those days people just died sometimes and his death serves as a point of focus for all the characters who had just returned from their "Night of Betrayal" that the essence of life and death is love - and so follows the final act of the play.
Illuminata is beautiful to look at with it's rich, saturated colours and beautiful to listen to, with that haunting theme recurring throughout. But above all it is a beautifully written celebration of enduring love "Whatever i could, i've given. Life has shaken my confidence. Everything i hoped to be has not always turned out exactly as i dreamed. Except for you. If i have created nothing it seems to me that i have helped you to create. I cannot think of life without you. You are my friend, my husband, my life."
Maybe Rufus is just too good an actor to have me believe that Dominique is just shallow and self-centred. He sucks me in every time when his eyes fill with tears and he gets that lump in his throat which makes him keep swallowing (just like the one i have right now).
I just adore Illuminata. And i adore this:
The end. Finally.
I did watch this again last Wed Frannie - but it's taken me a while to think of what i really want to say about it!!! I've avoided writing anything for months, but i think maybe it's time, now i've seen it more times than i can remember.
Now i will admit at the very start that i know nothing of John Turturro, so i bring to this no pre-conceived idea of him as a filmmaker (pretentious or otherwise) or even as an actor. In fact i don't believe i've ever seen him in anything before (or, as is more likely the case, i've seen him many times but just not realised it!!!). But on to the film!!!
For me, Illuminata is simply a film about love. It comes brightly packaged and wrapped with the big garish bow that is the flamboyant ensemble cast of over the top characters. But these characters serve only to highlight the very essence of the story about life & ageing & commitment & betrayal - but above all, the nature of love itself.
"What a delusion to believe there is logic or order in the events of our lives." On first viewing, this is a jumbled tangle of ridiculous people doing ridiculous things, but the more times you watch, the more you can see that the film itself is very structured - each act being a neat package designed to set up the next act, and so on until the finale when the essence of the story reveals itself in the "play" which has been written by the very actions of the characters throughout the film. The film is about the play, but the play is actually written by the film.
"What would you have me do, compose the play for you?" These are Rachel's words at the beginning of the film, and in the end, this is exactly what she does. Rachel is so very quiet and controlled throughout, it is easy to be fooled into thinking that she is only performing the words written for her by Tuccio and that he is the driving force behind the play. But despite the fact that it is referred to over and over as Tuccio's play, Tuccio's play, Tuccio's play, for me, the role that Rachel plays in the writing of it can't be underestimated.
Interestingly however, whilst she actually writes many of the words that he ends up using in the final performance, i also believe it is his insecurities about their marriage & his middle age that are reflected in the play (in a typical male fashion - "he" can't be insecure so it must be "she" who is "i've given you my love, my strength, my youth, my life"). Enter Dominique.
Again, this film is so deceiving in many ways. The way you comprehend something on first viewing ends up completely different after the several viewings and of course, with the benefit of hindsight. Now you may disagree with me here and accuse me of wearing my ever present Ruglasses (you know the ones that have us convinced that Isolde was really in love with Marke!!!), but i believe that what is ever present in their marriage is not so much the desire of Simone to enchant Tuccio with her youth and beauty, but also the relationship between Rachel and Dominique. From the beginning when he is relegated to a walk on part by Rachel after having spent the previous day "entertaining" Simone, to the finale when together, he and Rachel pull such a performance out of the hat to have even the most hard hearted of theatre goers misty eyed, i don't believe that their relationship can be overlooked. Of course Dominique is a typical creature of the theatre - egoccentric, loud, opinionated & promiscuous - but his performance in the play (both acts) also marks him as being sensitive & easily hurt (which of course he masks in the every day by being egoccentric, loud, opinionated & promiscuous!!). So Rachel's issue with Simone is not just of her pressing her head on Tuccio's door, but also of her sleeping with Dominique. Don't forget that on the "Night of Betrayal" when almost all the characters are involved in some elicit activity, that Rachel and Dominique are not, serving to highlight them as not needing that interlude which is crucial in bringing the other characters to a point of understanding about their relationships and the true nature of their love. As i said previously, you may disagree with me here, but if you rewatch the film from that perspective, some things begin to make sense (including the way Rachel gazes wistfully out of her door before closing it after Tuccio painted "Ti amo" on the backdrop - in my mind, her Ti amo is not just Tuccio).
And while for me, the film must always be about Dominique ("i bite your mouth until it bleeds"
), the fantastic part that all the characters play in driving the story towards it's beautiful end can, quite obviously, not be overlooked. I particularly adore the role that Beppo plays in bringing everyone together for their nightime trysts and his fantastic line which sums up not just the essence of the clown but also of love itself "true freedom is the absence of vanity". He then, single handedly, starts the rumour that Tuccio is taking the play to Paris with Celimene which has everyone so overwrought and angry with Tuccio that they insist on him putting the play on once more. Without Beppo's clever hand, the ending to the play wouldn't have been written and it most certainly wouldn't have been put on for the seond time.Then of course there is the frustrated theatre owner, who so obviously wants to be an actor himself, and his practical wife who is left with the task of actually running the theatre, poor Marco who has to go and convince Bevalaqua to come back & review the play again all the time being terrified that he's going to "pork" him, the gorgeous little boys running around and serving to highlight the decline that we take from the innocent days of our childhood to the complicated days of our adulthood. And not forgetting poor Piero who dies, i believe, from nothing more than a weak constitution after having to take a major role in the first play, much to his distress. Simone went to him after her dressing down from Rachel because in the end, all the poor girl wanted was someone who would really love her (Dominique & Tuccio's hearts both belonging to Rachel), but her love for him was, in the end not enough to save him. His death seems a bit odd and strangely unexplained, but in those days people just died sometimes and his death serves as a point of focus for all the characters who had just returned from their "Night of Betrayal" that the essence of life and death is love - and so follows the final act of the play.
Illuminata is beautiful to look at with it's rich, saturated colours and beautiful to listen to, with that haunting theme recurring throughout. But above all it is a beautifully written celebration of enduring love "Whatever i could, i've given. Life has shaken my confidence. Everything i hoped to be has not always turned out exactly as i dreamed. Except for you. If i have created nothing it seems to me that i have helped you to create. I cannot think of life without you. You are my friend, my husband, my life."
Maybe Rufus is just too good an actor to have me believe that Dominique is just shallow and self-centred. He sucks me in every time when his eyes fill with tears and he gets that lump in his throat which makes him keep swallowing (just like the one i have right now).
I just adore Illuminata. And i adore this:
The end. Finally.
