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Hairspray  - by Adam Shankman (2007)

I went to see Hairspray just because I have seen the Broadway show it adapted from a couple of years ago. HLXF warned me I might not like it but I decided to go anyway. I like the beginning of the film very much. The girl sang this sweet melody
with such a clear voice. It's a story that ambition, dedication and love wins. The first half of the film is nice with many cool songs. But the second half is kinda boring and tedious. Anyway, it's just a movie for killing-time, not really worthy of recommendation.


Back Street - by Robert Stevenson (1941)



This one is a romantic story adapted from Fannie Hurst's novel(1931). A cliche love story between a shopgirl in Cincinati and a banker from NYC. The views of the years around the turning of the 20th century are impressive. The girls' heavy-laced white shirts, gaudy hats with feather or laces, the Victorian dresses, the town's small streets, horning steam trains, big boats with huge wheels, excited people around a bicycle, and all of these are incredibly vivid. Ray( by Margaret Sullavan) and Walter (by Charles Boyer) fell in love with each other in this small town when Walter was on a business trip. They went to a picnic and there were two amazing views here. The focus was a gray sky and white cloud (should be very blue sky but given this is a black-white movie) and slowly the lens moved down and we see a bunch of hills of hay stacks. They were lying along one hay stack and looking at the cloud and dreaming. Then Walter talked about his leaving the next day and Ray was emotional. Well, then Walter mentioned his fiancee waiting for him and the sweet scene turned into sad. Ray lay back and mused upon the cloud. She told Walter that the cloud was then looked like a swarm and if it turned into something else he'd have left. She murmured to the cloud and expected not change so soon. The next shot was the sky decorated with packed clouds. And the lens were turned downside smoothly and we saw hay stacks and then it's just Ray herself lying besides the stack. The comparison of the two shots were so strong that it made the second view very lonely and sad.

The story must have been a topic back in the early 20s century since it talked about their love underground for their whole life. But it's  kinda cliche and I felt sick of Walter. He is such a typical selfish guy who was ambitious so he stayed with his wife(the daughter of his boss) for career and a happy family life, but he kept Ray as a mistress since he claimed to love her. Ray gave up her whole career just staying at home and waiting for him. He lied but then made them up by a kiss or loving words. He died of a stroke because he was fired, may or may not attribute to his story with Ray.  He kept that little of part of him with Ray for all her life. At the end, he asked his son dial a call to Ray and passed away on the talk with her with broken calling of her name. This is the part that finally moved me. Aging and death are always cruel and thus incredibly touching.

It must be an ideal life for a man: the life with a respectful career, a happy family, a dutiful wife, lovely children, and of course a not neglectable mistress. LOL~~~

When I collected my belongings and walked out of the cinema, I heard over these several men talking about how beautiful Sullavan was and how elegantly she dressed. hehe~~~