Two Wood(s)

I wish it were higher res on the ‘tube, but this is such a beautiful, heartbreaking, perfect vignette. All show and no tell. Extremely hard to do. And Across the Universe is such a great, underrated film — probably because it was a musical.

Evan Rachel Wood and Carol Woods (the lead female singer) were just perfect in this bit, and Evan gave (IMO) her career-best performance in the film in toto. Also, the line that Carol Woods’ sings starting at 2:43 might be the best single phrase in music history. Just brilliant direction by Julie Taymor and editing by Franรงoise Bonnot.

Scenedom

Such a lovely, real film. I like how it shows without telling that Sandie is disassociating from all the being used and abused, and that the scene brackets that with the puerile, platitudinous insincerities from men who do not at all care about her as a person.

And because I’ve watched the behind-the-scenes footage, I know at 2:13 when Sandie looks down and starts to move a little awkwardly, it’s because she (rather, the actor Anya Taylor-Joy) has been told not to run into the ornate horizontal ring-light that she’s standing in the middle of. This works in the context of the film as Sandie’s mental state is deteriorating — but it’s also fun having that deeper knowledge of the constraints the actual actor is working under to make the scene.

It’s just such a good film. Love all the color — very unlike most modern films. Highly recommended.