#me watching period drama
I was talking with one of my friends yesterday and somehow we ended thinking about what we called “evocative films”, you know, the kind of film that is A Mood, the kind that might have full scenes with no dialog and with the image of the place, sound and music, makes you feel a certain way.
I thought about Pride & Prejudice (2005), from the sunrise with the piano (I mean, what an opening scene!), to all the walking, the rain,Mr Darcy just appearing from the fog, and of course THAT CLIFF. I mean, I’m sure you saw the image at the top of the post and HEARD the music XD
I think period films (and series) are especially evocative, so here are some other films I thought about that are a MOOD. Please reblog or comment with your choices of this kind of films (or series!). Remember to click on the links so you can see the video of what I mean.
If you didn’t get pulled into the world of Thomas Shelby while he’s riding his horse int he noisy 1919 Birmingham, then I don’t know what you are doing. But that is not my favourite Mood scene, that’d be the series 2 finale (7 year old spoiler I guess?), with the fog and the open grave, no music and a knot in our collective stomachs. Chef kiss.
1920s China, the high mountains and river of Yizhou in Guangxi, and a Perfect score by Alexandre Desplat. The locations of this film are beyond gorgeous, and the mood they set you in while you listen to Lang Lang playing Satie, is the perfect evocation of melancholy for a time and place you don’t even know. Just check these scenes of Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. Just perfect.
If you’ve never seen Orlando, then you are missing a very young Tilda Swinton being the ultimate shapeshifter she is, starts as a man in the Elizabethan period and changes into a woman through time. Based on the Virginia Woolf novel, I see a maze and I’m THERE. Also, yeah, I really like fog.
OF COURSE Jane Eyre had to be here, as I mentioned in a previous post, that film is A Mood. Love the colours, the silence, the fabrics, the house, the landscape, Michael Fassbender (lol). And honestly, I just LOVE Mia Wasikowska in all period films, I feel she’s got a very Victorian face (does that make any kind of sense?).
Along with all of the race and colonialism issues with this movie (remember to be critical of the media you consume! But it doesn’t mean you cannot enjoy it!), it is such a mood and the music is just PERFECT. EPIC in the best sense of the word. One of my favourite parts is the cut with the match, and I mean, I even love the intermission music (yeah, I have seen this film way too many times).
Come on, it is in the title. This film is such a mood, with few dialogs and iconic music, and it leaves you with a very particular feeling that will return each time you happen to see a still from the movie, when you listen to Shigeru Umebayashi’s music, see the retro 60s aesthetics of Hong Kong, or when you stumble into “aquellos ojos verdes…”. Also: Tony Leung.
Finally, I added two more that are not period but MAN I love so much:
For people with strong stomachs, this series is just perfect, and the incidental sounds and non melodic music played along the perfectly curated visuals, this series is an entire mood: dark, deep, and disturbingly beautiful. One of my favourite scenes is Will sleepwalking, showing his full vulnerability; and of course, any and all dinner scenes. Each time I rewatch this series, I am left with a knot in my stomach and find new stuff to see and feel.
The Last Life In The Universe (2003)
This Japanese film is quite small, and everything starts bad and goes on to be worse and worse (WARNING: it features a lot of suicide idealisation). A young Asano Tadanobu stars in this movie that is sad, quite and moody, that talks about death and people finding love (for others and themselves).
