One of the first things I did on getting the internet connection today was to listen to the songs from the film Rock On. It’s a big deal cos I have no knowledge of rock apart from reading Pink Floyd’s lyrics. I am of course a devoted fan of Indian Ocean, but have never associated it with rock music. It has elements I guess, and they are primarily performance oriented like rock, but I need to be enlightened on what actual genre their music falls under. So, what am I saying? That I will explore more of rock? I am not sure I will take all that initiative. But if ever I do, I will have to credit this film for it. My friend, with whom I saw this film, is a rock fan and she tells me the music is not ‘filmy’ and is authentic to the spirit of rock. And it’s the music which will live on. For the film is a no show.
The characters are well cast, they have the ‘look’. But apart from Debbie, no one becomes the character. I couldn’t find a story being told in the film, even if it is a oft done story. Maybe it is the influence of hindi cinema’s emotionalism or maybe it is my familiarity with the American ‘lets talk’ culture, but the film is much too unexplained. It is not understated communication, rather it is the lack of any effort at connecting with the mind of the viewer. It never takes us thru the process and the pain of the breakup. And never tells us why they managed to get back. We keep waiting for something which will put the film together for us as an experience, and that never comes.
And yet, I hear, the film has connected. The reason, if one were not to fall into cynicism and proclaim that any film manages an audience these days, i think is in the music- it has energy, joy, pathos, and lyrics to match the moods.
5 comments:
socha hai
u read pink floyd lyrics? which ones, and why? :)
the wall series. teenage angst that lives on in old age.
The friend you saw the movie with says it really is a no show. But the gay angle you mentioned is interesting. It might explain why Akhtar's character breaks up with his girlfriend after a row with his bandmate. The girlfriend is a displacement for the actual love object and when the latter goes so does the former. And come to think of it, I found the scenes between Akhtar and his wife so frigid! But I think it's all probably unintended.
the unintended is what makes it really interesting. it brings out the forces behind the conceptualisation
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