MOVIE ENDINGS: Ooh La La / If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out

I don't love 'Harold and Maude' as much as the people who really love 'Harold and Maude' --of which there are many-- but I do love the ending. It's so subtle and beautiful and wonderful that it makes you want to scream YES YES YES YES THIS IS WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT!!!!

In fact, I just did that. Give me a moment to compose myself.

Yes.

I guess you need to know the whole film to truly feel the ending, but maybe not. There's something so sweet and quiet about it that it could resonate with you simply by watching the video. The whole bit with Cat Steven's "Trouble" beforehand is wonderful, masterful filmmaking. But for me, what really makes me SCREAM SCREAM SCREAM GOING YES YES YES THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!!!! -- is from 3.20 on the video.

It slowly tilts upwards. We see him. He's still alive.

We cut to a closer angle.

Then he starts playing.

And we hold on this one shot as he turns and walks away -- the beautiful chords of 'If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out', and then Cat Stevens fades in as Harold dances to the left of frame. YES YES YES THAT IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!

And then there's the ending of 'Rushmore'.

I love the idea that a world exists where a guy can make a hand gesture to a DJ, and by that alone he'll know to play 'OOH LA LA' by THE FACES! I mean, that's just not the world we live in is it. But that's why we have movies! We get to geek out and imagine life really is that COOL.


I don't know if it's the whole film or just the final scene that I love or maybe just the fact that 'Ooh La La' is one of my all time favourite songs. You know how some songs, you just feel like, YES, THAT IS ME! THAT SONG IS ME! 

Well that's how I am with 'Ooh La La'.

So any film that ends with slow motion dancing to the track is going to be one of my favourite films.

"I wish that  I knew what I know now, when I was younger."

Yes.

Isn't it sad that movies have to end? Sometimes you want them to last forever. They give us these wonderful characters for a couple of hours, we get to love them, and then they take them away!

Luckily, 'Ooh La La' and 'If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out' are regular visitors to my headphones, always with me.

Care to share?

Tweet

Wild World

I was floating around Spotify the other day and came across this version of Cat Steven's 'Wild World', it's the demo version. I love that about Spotify. It's like the early Napster days. You thought you knew what music you liked, but somehow you'd find yourself in a whole other place. You'd go look for an Oasis song, but then you'd find an Oasis cover by a Dutch band. And then you'd download it but it'd not really be a Dutch band but a rare Bob Dylan song. You'd find out the real name of it and listen to it, and then listen to a live version and then listen to a cover version by some kid in Texas. And you'd constantly be finding new bits of unexpected magic.

Spotify is bringing that back. It's not quite the same, everything is official; so you don't find bootlegs and obscure live tracks. But pretty much anything official, you can find.

And I came across this version of 'Wild World'.

Technically, I'm sure, the released version is much better, more complete, but this one, in it's raw form, is surprisingly powerful. You believe him even more than you do in the famous version. It's simple, it's quietly powerful - he sings "Oh baby, baby it's a wild world" and you really feel that he's singing to someone. You feel like they're in the room with you.

It's great when you find a piece of art where someone means something. Most artists don't hold on to who they are. How can you? The money is not in personal expression, it's in compromise. Used to be people would invest time and money in the Dylan's, Woody Allen's and Chaplin's, because It'd pay dividends a few years down the line when they were fully grown.

Now they just force the work out of them, take any juice they can find and then drop it. Nobody stays relevant for more than a year or two.

That's why it's so powerful when you find something that resonates. Find me a song from the last five years as honest and personal as this 'Wild World' demo, I doubt you can find it. Maybe it's hidden on YouTube or MySpace somewhere, but I doubt it's caught traction in the wider world.

There was this girl on the X Factor a couple of years back. She was all over the place but she had something unique. Was it talent? I think so. Did I like her music? No. But she had attitude and ideas. and she was only 16! I don't even need to tell you her name because, if you don't know her, it doesn't matter -- she has no relevance now. She's a footnote at best.  They took her and turned her into something bland and normal. I was in a cafe with a friend earlier and they were playing her video today. I hardly recognised her. She was full of make-up and bland singing to a forgetful track. Everything unique and original they'd sucked right out of her. 

You never get that back.

That's why you have to hold onto it for dear life.

The great artists in film held on to who they really were and experimented, and stuck by their instincts. Were they often wrong? Yes. Did they make bad films that flopped? Yes. But they learned from them. They kept coming back.

Artists get longevity as a reward for their persistence. That's why you have to be in it for the long run. It takes years to get great. Most of us are still mostly failing, but it's a process. You stick at it.

It's like Cat Stevens says in the song:

"But if you wanna leave, take good care,

Hope you make a lot of nice friends out there,

But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware"

There's no point being scared of failure. You get stronger every time you create something. And you learn to take criticism. The more you discover yourself, the more the criticism comes. People hate Ricky Gervais, but more people love him.

I think what I like about the song is that it feels like an old friend. An old friend that you need. A wise figure that says to you "Hey, y'know what, it's a wild world."

"Oh baby baby, it's a wild world, 

It's hard to get by just upon a smile"

But we're doing okay, I think, don't you? We're creating. We're making it happen. That's what it's all about. 

Care to share?

Tweet

Open-Air Screenings Bring A Slice Of Movie Magic To London.

I love open-air cinema. It's quite a rare treat in London because of the miserable weather. But any time somebody foolish attempts it, I always make sure I am there. Because when it does happen, it's magic. I get to live my Cinema Paradiso fantasy.

So this is Somerset House.

And here are film lovers.

As the day began to fade, the smell of cinema was in the air.

And before we knew it the time had come to watch 'Don't Look Now' (Nicolas Roeg, 1973) - starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. Prior to the film we were treated to an introduction by

Steven Frears (Director, 'High Fidelity,' 'The Queen,' etc)

People were gripped by the classic piece of cinema, the beautiful
surroundings, and the rare London calm.
But for me, the best part of the night was in Covent Garden,
hearing this wonderful man since a bunch of Cat Stevens songs.

'Don't Look Now' is part of the Film4 Summer Screen series. With notable films such as 'Shawshank Redemption' and 'Slumdog Millionnaire' already screened, we're left with 'Strangers On A Train', a double bill of 'Cool Hand Luke'/'Road House' - and it ends on Saturday with 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark.'

Raiders is sold out but Thursday and Friday have limited tickets available on the door, from 5.30pm onwards. See you there. If you love films and are in London, this is the perfect way to enjoy a film, along with 2000 of your closest friends.

Care to share?

Tweet