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Movies Forum Index » International Movies Forum » _The Miracle_
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 Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 9:17 pm |
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Let it be said that the Weinsteins did something
good in the early to mid 90s; they championed
films that were both challenging and heart-felt. They
released _The Double Life of Veronique_ before the
smash success of Kieslowski's trilogy. And they
released Neil Jordan's _The Miracle_ before the
mega-hit of _The Crying Game_. They really had
a lot to do with the remarkable strength of international
films in the U.S. during that time ... even if they
also contribute to the decline of such films by playing
too much to mainstream audience later on.
This year I don't have my DVD player on X'mas eve,
so instead of the usual _Dekalog 3_, I watched Neil
Jordan's _The Miracle_ on a VHS I picked up while
video stores were divesting themselves of tapes. This
neglected gem (still not on DVD) remains my favorite
Neil Jordan film, and one of my very favorite of all time.
Jordan is one of the few filmmakers who imbue their
characters with imagination almost equal to their own.
Here Jimmy and Rose are best friends in their late
teens, growing up on a Jordanesque Irish seaside town.
She is an aspiring writer making up stories about
tourists, nuns, and pensioners; he is a budding
musician who takes after his father becoming an
alcoholic after the death of his wife. Films about
adolescent typically make me cringe (I managed to
endure about 30 minutes of _Heavenly Creatures_
in fast forward mode before turning it off). Here,
Jordan gives his two teenagers just the right mix of
sensitivity, intelligence, confusion, longing, and
an unlikely, wise-beyond-their-age detachment and
sense of irony. Unlike the typical self-absorbed precious
monsters who think of themselves as being unique
and special in their so-mundane adolescent pain,
these are marvelous characters who are truly more
talented, more passionate, ardent, and , partly through
their perfectly lucid companionship, fully self-aware
individuals who will grow into such marvelous adults.
Watching them gives me so much joy, even when the
mood of the film darkens toward the end. So the
circus comes to town, a mysterious woman rides in
with a somewhat tawdry musical troupe
too; Jimmy becomes obsessed with the older woman
(played by Beverly D'Angelo), Rose sets herself the
task of "humanizing" the brash elephant trainer; bathed
in the glory of the night time cinematography, flattered
by Jordan's unobtrusive yet tactil camera movement
that focuses our gaze on every facet of his star-crossed
characters, serenaded by D'Angelo's memorable
rendition of "Stardust," Jimmy and Rose live out their
rites of passges -- and get to turn them into stories
with ironic twists. Jimmy's relationship with his
ineffectual father is stunningly real, funny, and touching,
and the titular encounter in the chapel is simply one of
the greatest moments of cinematic story-telling. A
hugely underrated film that should be released on DVD
*tomorrow*.
Now if I can only get my DVD player back so I can
watch _Dekalog 3_ and _2046_. |
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