"The biggest surprise in a man's life is old age."

Fear not; this is not a film review. I seldom discuss films (no seriously check the blog, I don’t) because film is so subjective the majority of the time its not worth arguing about. However I watch a lot of movies and I know I’ve been affected when I wake up the next morning and can’t stop thinking about what I saw the night before. And that’s really the whole point of movies, right? To somehow be affected or moved by what you have seen. The immediacy is the hook, any decent movie will hold your attention by a variety of different, textbook, Hollywood tricks. But it’s the lasting impression that separates a film from being pure entertainment to an actual work of art. Rarely films accomplish this, however in my opinion (it’s my blog so I can say this) “Elegy” did so gracefully.

“Elegy” is based on a Philip Roth short story and it’s literary tone is probably what made it successful, mixed with amazing performances by Penelope Cruz and Ben Kingsley of course. Actually Roth wrote “The Human Stain” which starred Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman and wasn’t half as good, so now that I think about it the acting was a major factor. Anyway, like I said, this isn’t a movie review! Just trust me and watch it.

In the film Ben Kingsley’s character talks about how the meaning of a novel changes as you get older. I think that’s perfect and strange. The words on the page don’t change, but you have changed, thus the meaning of those words has changed. This isn’t a giant revelation, I’m aware of that, but it’s so simple it’s often overlooked. I pulled out a few old books from the collection (small collection) and am going to test the theory. I encourage you to do the same. Or not.