Pyaas for Ether...

Memoirs of a fool's youth
Sunday, December 07, 2008

You know what is the difference between some bad incidents and bad memories? The incidents you may had forgotten but the latter one will be still haunting you. Shown more or less aptly in the psychological drama - Flashbacks of a Fool, Daniel Criag plays a fading star Joe Scott who burns his hollow life with coke, sex and drinks only to come back and face himself one day when he gets the news of death of his childhood best friend, Boots' death. This takes the protagonist, and the movie, into an extended flashback to a sea-side town in 1970's Britain.

In his teenage Joe is seen enjoying his childhood with Boots. As a teenage boy he gets in a tentative relationship with a school-girl called Ruth. Although he loves Ruth from heart he takes the life on a casual note and ends up with a guilt from an unintended accident which leads to the death of a small girl. Unable to confront himself, he runs from away from England on the day of funeral and lands up in US.

Movie shifts to present and Joe decides to confront his fear and returns to England for a difficult meeting with Ruth, who had gone on to marry Boots and has been a left a poor widow now.

The characters have been played very distinctively and director makes sure each one justifies his/her presence. The initial dialogues of each character defines his/her individuality markedly. In the outset only the following dialogue vividly explains the character of Joe.

Ophelia (helper/secretary): Don't you have any philosophies in life other than self indulgence?

Joe: I really do not like looking at myself from your eyes. Your happiness doesn't interest me, mine does.

Also you cant help but appreciate how the backdrop has been chosen for all the shots. The fact that the director Baillie Walsh has earlier worked in music video direction does have a positive impact on the movie, as its visually and symphonically more appealing than average. And the song that has been his favourite in his teenage years have been using not only as the backdrop but also as the theme for the movie. "That song was a key to the writing of the script because the lyrics are so pertinent to the script.", he adds. This song, "If there is something" of Roxy Music is first played when young Ruth brings Joe to her home and both dance on this song. Lyrics of the ending part of the song goes like:

Shake your hair girl with your ponytail,
Takes me right back when you were young.
Throw your precious gifts into the air,
Watch them fall down when you were young.
Lift up your feet and put them on the ground,
You used to walk upon when you were young.

Young Ruth dancing to "If there is something"

The expressions and dance movements have been done so elegantly that the viewer catches the song even deeper. You may not like the song in first minute, in case you download and hear, but the gripping saxophone and guitar mix comes from 1:30mins past start and then the late 70's British glam era grabs you with force. I personally felt the song did justify to be the theme or the storyline did justify the song. Later on when Joe has to meet Ruth, which he never does, he leaves her few pounds and a letter with the lines, "Shake your hair girl with your ponytail, Takes me right back when you were young.", reading which she breaks out in tears marking end of the movie.

It is not a kind of movie that will appeal to everybody and thus has a limited viewership, but if you can connect with the plot, its surely worth the money for one time.

Labels: Experiences, Movie Critics, Music