Most of what I know about Los Angeles came out of the movies. As far as I can tell, it’s a glamorous place filled with beatifully glamorous and dramatic people - stars and artists and money men. The Go-Go’s sang about their town, “Bet you’d live here if you could and be one of us.”
White Oleander
by Janet Fitch is an LA drama, with some really beautiful, really messed up people. Poor Astrid is left to foster homes when her mom gets arrested for killing her lover. So young Astrid goes on a huge adventure, hopping from one messed up situation to another. She goes through some intense changes, while her mother’s life is on hold in the penn.
The movie is a pretty good adaptation, but don’t be discouraged. If you’ve seen it already and haven’t read the book, you’ll get a few extra adventures they didn’t have time for in a two hour film. So do check it out.
One thing I thought was strange in the movie was the silence. Most movies will fill the spaces with music, but when Astrid moves from one place to the next, she goes in pure solitude, no soundtrack to guide her way or smooth her transition. She is alone.
So, every time we hear the violins at a dramatic point in a movie, my man says to me, “Violins are so dramatic.” But not in this film. Here, the drama is in the sheer lack of violins.
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on Sunday, November 12th, 2006 at 8:50 pm and is filed under US and Canada.
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