EmeraldHope
The Living Force
I did not see this movie listed here and thought maybe forum members who haven't heard of it may enjoy it. I have introduced this film to just about eveyone I know and only a very few did not like it.
This film is a musical and has developed a cult following akin to Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was originally a broadway play. I have seen both the film and theatre version.
The reason I think this forum may enjoy it, is because , even though on the surface it is campy, it is also delves into deep philosophical pricnciples. Hedwig is searching for her "other half". She learns to find herself with the help of the character Tommy "Gnosis" . The songs to the soundtrack in and of themselves tell deeper stories. Throughout the film, Hedwig refers to Aristophanes' speech in Plato's Symposium. One of the best songs in the film, "The Origin of Love" is based on this. It tells the story of humanity being torn in two by angry gods and scattered via cataclysm and of losing a part of themselves. The movie is a gender bending thrill ride. It is very artistic and creative.
For example, here are the lyrics to the song " Origin of Love":
When the earth was still flat, and the clouds made of fire
And mountains stretched up to the sky, sometimes higher
Folks roamed the earth like big rolling kegs
They had two sets of arms, two sets of legs
They had two faces peering out of one giant head
And they could watch all around them
And they talked while they read
And they never knew nothing of love
It was before the origin of love
Origin of love
And there were three sexes then
One that looked like two men glued back to back
Called the children of the sun
And similar in shape and girth were the children of the earth
They looked like two girls rolled up in one
And the children of the moon were like a fork shoved on a spoon
They were part sun, part earth, part daughter, part son
Origin of love
Now the gods grew quite scared of our strength and defiance
And Thor said:
"I'm gonna kill them all with my hammer
Like I killed the giants."
And Zeus said:
"No, you better let me use my lightning, like scissors
Like I cut the legs off whales
And dinosaurs into lizards."
Then he grabbed up some bolts
And he let out a laugh, said:
"I'll split them right down to the middle
Gonna rip them right in half."
And then storm clouds gathered above
Into great balls of fire
And the fire shot down
From the sky in bolts
Like shining blades of a knife
And it ripped right through the flesh
Of the children of the sun
And the moon, and the earth
And some Indian god
Sewed the wound up into a hole
Pulled it 'round to our belly
To remind us of the price we pay
And Osiris and the gods of the Nile
Gathered up a big storm
To blow a hurricane
To scatter us away
In a flood of wind and rain
And a sea of tidal waves
To wash us all away
And if we dont behave
They'll cut us down again
And well be hopping round on one foot
Looking through one eye
Last time I saw you
We had just split in two
You were looking at me, and I was looking at you
You had a way so familiar
But I could not recognize
'Cause you had blood on your face
And I had blood in my eyes
But I could swear by your expression
That the pain down in your soul
Was the same as the pain down in mine
That's the pain
Cuts a straight line down through the heart
We call it love
So we wrapped our arms around each other
Trying to shove ourselves back together
We were making love
It was a cold dark evening such a long time ago
When by the mighty hand of Jove
It was the sad story
How we became lonely two-legged creatures
It's the story of
The origin of love
That's the origin of love, origin of love, origin of love
Here is a link to the video of the above song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YO9FpWX57E
Here is an overview of the film on Netflix:
After a botched sex-change operation, East German glam rocker Hansel (John Cameron Mitchell) becomes Hedwig and travels across the United States with a stage show, following her ex-boyfriend (and former band mate) and telling her life story. Hedwig's offbeat show slays audiences -- but in diners not clubs. Mitchell also wrote and directed the comedy, which won at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for several Independent Spirit Awards.
This film is a musical and has developed a cult following akin to Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was originally a broadway play. I have seen both the film and theatre version.
The reason I think this forum may enjoy it, is because , even though on the surface it is campy, it is also delves into deep philosophical pricnciples. Hedwig is searching for her "other half". She learns to find herself with the help of the character Tommy "Gnosis" . The songs to the soundtrack in and of themselves tell deeper stories. Throughout the film, Hedwig refers to Aristophanes' speech in Plato's Symposium. One of the best songs in the film, "The Origin of Love" is based on this. It tells the story of humanity being torn in two by angry gods and scattered via cataclysm and of losing a part of themselves. The movie is a gender bending thrill ride. It is very artistic and creative.
For example, here are the lyrics to the song " Origin of Love":
When the earth was still flat, and the clouds made of fire
And mountains stretched up to the sky, sometimes higher
Folks roamed the earth like big rolling kegs
They had two sets of arms, two sets of legs
They had two faces peering out of one giant head
And they could watch all around them
And they talked while they read
And they never knew nothing of love
It was before the origin of love
Origin of love
And there were three sexes then
One that looked like two men glued back to back
Called the children of the sun
And similar in shape and girth were the children of the earth
They looked like two girls rolled up in one
And the children of the moon were like a fork shoved on a spoon
They were part sun, part earth, part daughter, part son
Origin of love
Now the gods grew quite scared of our strength and defiance
And Thor said:
"I'm gonna kill them all with my hammer
Like I killed the giants."
And Zeus said:
"No, you better let me use my lightning, like scissors
Like I cut the legs off whales
And dinosaurs into lizards."
Then he grabbed up some bolts
And he let out a laugh, said:
"I'll split them right down to the middle
Gonna rip them right in half."
And then storm clouds gathered above
Into great balls of fire
And the fire shot down
From the sky in bolts
Like shining blades of a knife
And it ripped right through the flesh
Of the children of the sun
And the moon, and the earth
And some Indian god
Sewed the wound up into a hole
Pulled it 'round to our belly
To remind us of the price we pay
And Osiris and the gods of the Nile
Gathered up a big storm
To blow a hurricane
To scatter us away
In a flood of wind and rain
And a sea of tidal waves
To wash us all away
And if we dont behave
They'll cut us down again
And well be hopping round on one foot
Looking through one eye
Last time I saw you
We had just split in two
You were looking at me, and I was looking at you
You had a way so familiar
But I could not recognize
'Cause you had blood on your face
And I had blood in my eyes
But I could swear by your expression
That the pain down in your soul
Was the same as the pain down in mine
That's the pain
Cuts a straight line down through the heart
We call it love
So we wrapped our arms around each other
Trying to shove ourselves back together
We were making love
It was a cold dark evening such a long time ago
When by the mighty hand of Jove
It was the sad story
How we became lonely two-legged creatures
It's the story of
The origin of love
That's the origin of love, origin of love, origin of love
Here is a link to the video of the above song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YO9FpWX57E
Here is an overview of the film on Netflix:
After a botched sex-change operation, East German glam rocker Hansel (John Cameron Mitchell) becomes Hedwig and travels across the United States with a stage show, following her ex-boyfriend (and former band mate) and telling her life story. Hedwig's offbeat show slays audiences -- but in diners not clubs. Mitchell also wrote and directed the comedy, which won at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for several Independent Spirit Awards.
