BroadwayGirl107 on the RENT film. (With spoilers)- Page 8

[sanda]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 10:06pm

Well, I think I better reply to your review under this thread.

Thanks for the long thoughtful critique.

First, "one song glory",I don't think it is that a Big deal about April's suicide. Because, I don't feel that it is so important for Roger to feel guilty. Because, I don't think April's death is his fault. From the movie, I get the idea that it's April who bring the drug and AIDS to Roger. Roger may feel desperate, regret about April's death, but not necessarily guilty.

"Light my candle", I think it works well, almost the same as the stage. If you are used to the stage,I don't see why here is the problem.

"Tango Maureen", strangely, I am not very fond of this scene as a lot people. Not bad, but not great either.

"Another Day" isn't great. But the issue is, what can you do about it? The same problem is "What you own". It is kind silly but it is part of the show. From my point of view, I would rather cut "What you own" too. The movie try to add some plot to save it but failed. I can understand the problem. Maybe because I am not a rent fan, honestly the stage part didn't work for me either.
(to be continue)
Updated On: 12/13/05 at 10:06 PM

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 1:11pm

sanda, are you familiar with the actual show? I quite honestly can't figure out how you can justify that Roger does not need to feel any guilt or remorse.

I didn't really have a problem with "Light My Candle"...I simply felt a bit confused by the choice to keep this segment sung while entirely removing others...

"Another Day" isn't great. But the issue is, what can you do about it?"

Obviously nothing at this point, but had I HAD the power to do something about it during the film, I could offer numerous ways that would have worked better. I certainly know that the *ingenious* vision of it that appears in the film certainly would not have popped into my head. Unless I was going for farce.

As far as "What You Own," I think the song IS very important, so it should not have been cut, but the way it was filmed, much like the way "Another Day" was filmed was just laughable. Literally, everyone in the theatre laughed.

[Jyn326]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 1:33pm

I haven't read all the posts, but after reading the first post by Bwaygirl, I just wanted to thank you for your mature discussion of your thoughts on the movie.

I didn't see the flaws the same way you did, but I can understand why you did. After all the hateful comments floating around here, it was refreshing to hear someone express honest opinions with reasons to back it up.

Anyway, I know I'm 8 pages behind, but I just wanted to let you know I read it, and I appreciated it.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 9:32pm

Thank you, Jyn.

[Jyn326]

Posted: 12/15/05 at 12:25am

You're very welcome!

[seagirl887]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 7:44pm

I loved both the stage play and the movie. obviously the movie wasn't quite as good as the play, but there's the LIVE element of the play that you can't put in the movie. Also it would be impossible to put everything in the movie from the play in a way that would make everybody happy. The movie did stay true (for the most part) to the play, and that was the most important thing. I think bashing other people's opinions is ridiculous, if we all liked the same things and had the same opinions as everybody else, we wouldn't be unique. The things that irritated me most about the movie was that the first part of "life support" was changed, maybe cuz i was so used to it being sung, and really liked it sung, but in any respect that was annoying. also i loved "what you own" on stage, and in the movie it reminded me of a music video instead of part of a movie. I think those are the only qualms i had about the movie, but over all i think it was very well done! maybe people who loved the stage version before they saw the movie, and those who saw the movie without ever hearing and loving the music first have very different opinions on it. hearing ither people's opinions is important, it helps us see where our opinions come from, and why they are important to us. anyway...I'm glad that Anthony takes the time to read the posts and give us his opinions. it's really cool to have the perspective of someone who was acctually on the set, and was there from the day the entire project started. i guess that my two cents!

[theatrefan2]

Posted: 1/7/06 at 9:07pm

Personally, I really liked the movie. I'm sorry to hear you were disappointed with it, Broadwaygirl107! I thought that "Light My Candle" was well done and "Goodbye Love" was a great number. Yes, "Finale B" was awesome and "Rent" was great. I know that the audience in the theatre that I was at really liked it and a great deal of them were crying. "Will I?" in my opinion was ruined among other songs such as "What You Own" and "Over the Moon". Overall, I really liked it...the musical is still loads and loads better than the movie, though.

[RENTingFAME]

Posted: 1/8/06 at 1:26am

movie = good (especially for when I need a fix cause I haven't seen the show in a while)

stage production = brilliance beyond comarison.

unfortunate that the movie wasn't as good, but that's what was expected. I still really enjoyed it. I think overall the acting was fantastic and for the most part it wasn't the actors' faults if something didn't work. I don't quite like the way some things were cut, and I did miss the songs that were left out, but it's a movie and I have to respect the difference in the mediums.

I still want a filmed version of the stage production like Sweeny Todd.