This film is said to be pretty closely based on Jonathan Larson's life and experiences, best known for the hit musical Rent about New York's bohemian scene. He is nearing 30, and is beset with the age old questions of balancing or choosing between mostly mutually exclusive alternatives - pursuing the artistic dreams he loves, or the stability of well paid employment, and the different friendship and social circles both could deliver.
I found the ticking clock timebomb wearisome and irritating as portrayed, although I suppose this is what Jonathan felt. The endless repetition of worries from procrastination about the yet to be written one most important song the new musical needed was equally irritating - perhaps it touched a raw nerve personally.
But the solution to this, when the electricity goes off late in the last night before the workshop to introduce the show to possible financiers, producers and others is just so good. I've no idea if it's true, but I would love it to be. Jonathan goes to a swimming pool to cool off (mentally as well as physically) then sees the staves with the song's score on the bottom of the pool, intertwined with the lines of the tiles . The 30' depth marker transforms into a treble clef. He sings it underwater (OK, not possible, but who cares) and the gaping void in the show is filled.
To me its challenge was in the breathless urgency about just about everything, that somehow didn't seem justified. But when the poor Jonathan's life trajectory is revealed, I felt a bit guilty about being so impatient and judgemental.
I found the ticking clock timebomb wearisome and irritating as portrayed, although I suppose this is what Jonathan felt. The endless repetition of worries from procrastination about the yet to be written one most important song the new musical needed was equally irritating - perhaps it touched a raw nerve personally.
But the solution to this, when the electricity goes off late in the last night before the workshop to introduce the show to possible financiers, producers and others is just so good. I've no idea if it's true, but I would love it to be. Jonathan goes to a swimming pool to cool off (mentally as well as physically) then sees the staves with the song's score on the bottom of the pool, intertwined with the lines of the tiles . The 30' depth marker transforms into a treble clef. He sings it underwater (OK, not possible, but who cares) and the gaping void in the show is filled.
To me its challenge was in the breathless urgency about just about everything, that somehow didn't seem justified. But when the poor Jonathan's life trajectory is revealed, I felt a bit guilty about being so impatient and judgemental.
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