Dispatches from Home -I don’t want realism. I want magic!
Greetings!
I’ve learned from experience that it takes me a week or so to recuperate from the draining, emotional high that a play–especially a musical like “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum–conjures within me. During that time, the haunting words of Blanche DuBois in “A Streetcar Named Desire” echo through my mind like a soothing elixir: “I don’t want realism. I want magic!” And what better way to escape from the caustic, trying realism of this world than by immersing oneself into the magic of another world created by Hollywood? The shimmering movies of Keira Knightley are the ticket to that world!
“Atonement.” “Anna Karenina.” “The Duchess.” I’ve binge-watched these evocative movies twice, watching just the movie the first time, and then watching it again with the director’s commentary on the movie’s creation. I love the “making of” just as much as the movie itself! Sets, costumes, locales, dialogue, and accents are all background players that lure me into their world, like the mythical sirens of old.
Their magic is only enhanced by the luminous quality of Miss Knightley’s natural beauty, which is augmented by her chestnut-colored eyes and those incredible Joan Crawford eyebrows. She can also fill to perfection a period, haute couture evening gown or a billowing confection of crinoline, satin, and lace. To me, she is a modern-day Garbo, who, like Knightley, looked best in period pieces.
Well, so much for the late-night ramblings of an old fool who loves escaping from this world into a magical one. A kingdom comprised of luscious beauties and dashingly handsome gentlemen callers. A make-believe world of smoldering love that lurks in the darkened corners of grand old houses, and evokes a way of life and a misty, water-colored universe that was and can never be again.
(Originally posted August 2016)
