Snapshots From a Dream

What is this thing that builds our dreams yet slips away from us ....

Monday, January 15, 2007

Great Moments From Cinema - 43


On The Road…With The Band

Movie: Almost Famous (DreamWorks and Vinyl Films; 2000)
Director: Cameron Crowe
Screenplay: Cameron Crowe
Major Cast: Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand and Kate Hudson

Film Synopsis: A coming-of-age film about a 15 year old boy, Fugit, who as a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine gets a chance to tour with the rock ‘n roll band ‘Stillwater’

My Favorite Moment: All the band members singing the song ‘Tiny Dancer’

Why I Like It: This is a movie made with a lot of heart. Crowe has written a semi-autobiographical film about his early days as the Rolling Stone reporter and he shares his experiences with such passion and enthusiasm, that we can’t help but fall in love with it. He shows a rare gift of avoiding sentimentalism and yet tugs the emotional strings. It is set in the 70’s towards the end of golden age of rock music and we can see how much Crowe was influenced by music in his early life. It’s a celebration of his youth and our privilege at being invited for an unforgettable summer wherein he lived a lifetime. It is not just a feel-good movie, it is our cinema therapy.

Fugit has grown up in a household of an overbearing mother played magnificently by McDormand. She wants him to be a lawyer but ever since his rebel sister introduced him to it, Fugit has been in love with rock music. Crowe pays homage to all the great artists of the era when in one scene we see the wide-eyed young kid scan trough his sisters LP collection which includes music by all the legends. He starts writing for his school paper and gets noticed by editors at Rolling Stone who send him to cover a rock concert. There he meets two people who will change his life: a lead guitarist (Crudup) of an up and coming band called ‘Stillwater’ and a beautiful ‘groupie’ (Kate Hudson in a career performance). His young heart falls in love immediately with Hudson and she is also fond of him, though her real love is music itself and she worships Crudup. Fugit impresses the people at Rolling Stone and is assigned to tour with ‘Stillwater’, much to the chagrin of his mother. On the road, Crudup takes him under his wing and thus begins Fugit’s initiation into the real world.

One night, Crudup has an argument with his band and gets high on drugs. Next day as the tour bus picks him up, the mood is somber and everyone is on the edge. Then one person starts humming Elton John’s ‘Tiny Dancer’. This starts a chain reaction as everyone joins in gradually, including the disillusioned Crudup. Music is the strongest bond holding all of them together and they know it. As Fugit turns towards Hudson and tells her that he has to wrap up the tour and go home, she looks at him, waves her hand in front of his face and says “You are home.” Sometimes a person’s path is chosen for them. Fugit’s true love in life is Rock ‘n Roll, not law. This is where he belongs and that is perhaps what Crowe is telling us about himself. All the people in that bus have so much love for something which they cannot explain to others. But through this scene we really understand it and also understand them.

The film is extremely well written and incredibly involving. Our heart goes out to Fugit as sometimes he faces disappointment in his love for Hudson and his hero Crudup. But at the same time his sprit and self-belief never waver. After all, he only turned out to be someone called Cameron Crowe.

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