Wednesday, November 14, 2012


Barricades and Battles
It's been a while since I've posted anything but things have been stressful offline to say the very least. Lets start with a burglary of my apartment and police refusal to investigate it. Retaliatory, I believe, for an article I wrote about a near riot and woeful police manpower on the Fourth of July.


Okay. On to the online and offline world:) I am so excited to see the film version of Les Miserables! It comes out sometime in December of this year. The trailers are interesting. The US trailer is rather tepid considering the depth of the story, universality of the subject manner and religious allegories throughout the film. The international trailer is twice as long as the official US trailer and actually includes battle scenes and the revolution and barricades.

Why the production company would leave this out of the trailer is perplexing. But perhaps they don't want to stir people up. Marketing in European countries is another matter. RT covers much of the unrest in European countries--including Russia--and the cries of the Russian people for revolution. It's surprising that RT would cover such stories given its source of funding. No matter. Les Miserables is universal, so why leave the barricades and battles out of the US trailer? What, no Enjorlas??? No revolution? No world you long to see behind the barricade?

It's not as if Americans can't relate to the story or as though America's genesis had nothing to do with religious freedom or revolution. Here's the international version: American fans of the musical and/or novel won't show up in droves to see this.

*****

I also plan on seeing final installment of the Twilight Saga--Breaking Dawn Part II. There is a bit of religious allegory in these films as well, not the least of which are the names of some of the characters:

Jacob Black, who opts out of being the ruler of the wolf pack to Sam but who reasserts his rightful place as chief in Breaking Dawn Part I . Jacob is the grandson of Ephraim Black, the grandson of a chief who will not bow to Sam or anyone else.

Leah: "The pathetic ex-girlfriend" of Sam, who feels unwanted.

Seth: Leah's brother who leaves the pack to join Jacob and Leah. When questioned about his decision to leave his brothers tells Jacob he will "If it's the right thing to do."

Then, of course, the final scene, Bella's transformation. It's a powerful scene and yes, it has religious overtones with Bella's ribs, broken in childbirth, are healed during her transformation. It's easy to dismiss Twilight (the movie many love to hate and ridicule). Still, perhaps the younger generation senses that there is more to the series than meets the eye.
Here is the transformation scene. I found it emotional, beautiful. Bill Condon does a wonderful job with Breaking Dawn I and II:


There is another beautiful but much more subtle scene in Breaking Dawn I. Stephenie Myers does a cameo when Bella is walking down the isle during the wedding. Bella looks at Myers, who smiles approvingly. Condon has said that he wanted the character (Bella) to gaze at the creator (author Myers.)
 
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