Some RENT questions...for the experts.- Page 3

[angelrock25222]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 3:01pm

like lea said, she does do this a lot. her character is supposed to be a struggling performance artist. "to the stage" "this diva needs her stage" those lines allude to the fact that she is a performer. when mark tells her he sold his footage, she isnt excited beucase itll help the protest, shes happy beucase itll help her career as a performance artist

[robbiej]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 3:02pm

So...I've sat with my disappointment in the RENT film for almost a week now. The more I think about it, the more I realize that some of the best musical sequences (and some of the most important character stuff) has been cut from the film. The St. Marks sequence and the fight after the funeral are particularly regrettable.

I think the treatment of April is perhaps the best example of why I was so disappointed. The death of April would be tragic no matter what. But it's a very different tragedy if Roger and April go through the illness together...from finding out through to her death. In Elizabeth Kubler-Ross terms, Roger theoretically could go through the five stages of death with April. Of course, the depression could continue (particularly since he has AIDS as well).

But in the play, April's death is violent and includes the revelation, heretofore unknown to Roger, that he is infected with the AIDS virus. It's a completely different type of horror. It's like comparing the scene in Longtime Companion in which Bruce Davidson comforts his lover in his last moments to the scene in Stonewall in which Duane Boutte's character witnesses the suicide of his lover. It's totally different.

Updated On: 12/1/05 at 03:02 PM

[SkierRob02]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 3:58pm

"But in the play, April's death is violent and includes the revelation, heretofore unknown to Roger, that he is infected with the AIDS virus. It's a completely different type of horror. It's like comparing the scene in Longtime Companion in which Bruce Davidson comforts his lover in his last moments to the scene in Stonewall in which Duane Boutte's character witnesses the suicide of his lover. It's totally different."

I agree with that 100%. I thought the same exact thing. It makes Roger's plunge into depression deeper.

[kasim]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 4:02pm

Someone kinda answred / asked this but i still dont get it.

Benny is married to Allison, before that he dated Mimi.

Now he's helping Mimi out in rehab. But i got the impression from the funeral that he's doing more than helping mimi. So is seeing Mimi on the side? Or did he dump Allison? or?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 4:05pm

He's still with Allison, isn't he? In the play, there's that line that goes "I wonder how Allison found out about Mimi," yet it's also said... it goes something like "Muffy! Allison. Pulling Benny out of the East Village location..."

[robbiej]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 4:15pm

I forgot about that. It's at the end of the show where they wonder about Allison finding out about Mimi...doesn't Roger say something about a little birdie telling him and Collins comes in with 'Or an angel.'

It's been forever since I've listened to my OCR.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 4:17pm

Mark: I wonder how Allison found out about Mimi.
Roger: Maybe a little bird told her...
Collins: Or an Angel.

and then he goes on about how he's not tutoring again, but that he "rewired the ATM at the Food Emporium to provide an honorarium, to anyone with the code: A-N-G-E-L."

[Marquise]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 4:18pm

~ yes.
and this is just another prime example of how that libretto was butchered and how some of those relationships don't make any sense in the film.

[robbiej]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:09pm

I feel like if I listen to that OCR, I'll just get more pissed off.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:10pm

So would it be fair to say the instead of improving on the weaknesses of the original material, the film makes it worse? But we are glad the film was made anyway?
Half-assed RENT is better than no RENT?
So it is not really a good film, but it is nice to see the cast and the musical in any form?
I just wonder what Spike Lee or even someone like Tarantino would have done with it.
Oh, well. It is what it is.
Just don't expect any Oscar nominations. And I mean ANY.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:16pm

Not being in the camp that is devastated by the cuts, I was ok with what was in the film. Is it perfect? No. I feel the same way about Rent that I do the Harry Potter films. It would have been great to have had certain moments from the books in the films, but you can't. I enjoy getting to see the essence of the books in the films. If I am craving the stuff that is missing, I can go back to the books.

If I am craving the missing songs from Rent, I can go back to my CD or go see the show.

[robbiej]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:30pm

One of the major problems I have with the cuts (besides losing what I consider the best music in the show) is that so much of the story is lost. I understand the impetus to cut the recicative, but it then falls to the screenplay to fill in the gaps...which it didn't do.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:32pm

Sueleen, your most recent post very much expresses how I feel. The film hardly did anything to men any flaws already in the material, and on top of that, it only added some gaping holes. Personally, I don't think half-assed RENT is better than no RENT, but I think this film would have been made eventually anyway. I just wish it had been kept on the shelf until a different director came along (ideally soon enough to use some of those original cast members), so the film version would be something to really be proud of. I can't help but think of what other directors would do.

I know, that didn't contribute to the conversation much, but I'm busy at the moment. I'll probably comment later or tomorrow. I'm intrigued.

Robbie, I couldn't agree more about April's death. Suicide would be an enitrely different feeling...a very different kind of guilt. I think the most powerful way would be to go with what Chbosky threw in there...April didn't even DO drugs, she always begged Roger to stop; therefore he, through this habit that she so desperately wanted him to put an end to, gave AIDS to April, who then killed herself. Imagine THAT guilt.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:34pm

I can certainly respect that criticism, robbie. And, I agree that April's death in the musical is better than how it came off in the film.

[EverythingIsRENT]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:35pm

I actually hated that first Chbosky script...

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:36pm

ugh, I loved that script. There were a lot of tiny things that made me go "wtf?" but it was so RAW. It was sort of like the real thing meets a really well-crafted piece of fanfiction.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:43pm

I think the Chbosky script would have made a fabulous film. It had its flaws--most of which were easily fixable, but I think it really captured the spirit and emotional power of the piece beautifully.

My problem with it is it went into the territory of recreation instead of adaption. I think more of Larson's material could have remained intact while incorporating Chbosky's ideas to fill in holes and further develop points that were lacking.

CRAP...I really need to get back to work now, lol.

[Marquise]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:57pm

So would it be fair to say the instead of improving on the weaknesses of the original material, the film makes it worse?

~ yes, absolutely. the film did nothing to improve the material.
i wholeheartedly agree with BroadwayGirl107's assessment.
and i don't agree that half-assed RENT is better than no RENT
~ but sadly that's what is up there on the screen: half-assed RENT...

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:58pm

Well, we know how much you enjoy a full ass...

[Marquise]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 6:01pm

so true jerbs, so true...*lol*

[Chloe]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 6:02pm

Going back a bit to the issue of how Roger got AIDS, in one of the Behind the Scenes shows Adam says that he and April got it from sharing dirty needles. Don't know if this is his interpretation or something that was discussed with Jonathan when they were rehearsing.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 6:04pm

Now, that, I have to say, irritates me. I had always thought that Roger got HIV from April via sex. And, I always liked that as it provided a truth that many people don't wanna admit--heterosexuals get it from sex, too.

Updated On: 12/1/05 at 06:04 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 6:06pm

I'm wracking my brain to figure out if it's actually mentioned anywhere. To be perfectly honest, if that's something Adam and the creative team decided, that's great, but if that's going to be a point of focus, it needs to be something you'd explicitly *get* from watching the show, if that makes sense. I think it can be interpreted either way.

[robbiej]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 6:10pm

Well...in truth...if it were just Roger and April shooting up and neither were infected, they would be fine...ok...they'd still be junkies, but you know what I mean.

There'd have to be another person involved or they had to have it before hand.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 6:11pm

Well, I had always imagined that one of them got it via dirty needles and gave it to the other via sex. Of course, it could have happened in any combination, but that Roger got it from sex was what was most poignant to me.