Passion for Film/ Ending of Class

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYRtAhDna7g

    In 2020, I watched a movie that changed my perspective on film. I no longer saw it as just a source of entertainment, but an art form. The movie was Dexter Fletcher's Rocketman (2019). This is a biopic about Elton John's life but takes a creative direction by conveying scenes from Elton's life through his music and emotions. I remember watching this movie over the summer after we got put on lockdown and being wholly entranced. The scene I attached above is the scene that I felt a feeling I can't even describe. This was the moment when Elton realized he wanted to get better, so you see him leaving his sold-out show at Madison Square Garden to enter rehab. This comes as a full circle moment since the beginning of the movie starts with Elton entering the doors of rehab but it looks like a concert. Elton leaving a sold-out show to enter rehab is not how it went in real life, but Fletcher conveyed it this way to symbolize the intensity of that moment and how Elton had to leave this "superstar" life to get better. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" has been my favorite song of all time ever since I saw this scene because of how powerful and influential it was in the film. A cool aspect the director added was in the beginning scene, Elton is wearing elements from The Wizard Of Oz because of the yellow brick road aspect. He has on a silver shirt for the tin man, a straw hat for the scarecrow, a red and blue jacket for Dorathy's dress and shoes, and he puts on the fur coat when following Bernie out for the cowardly lion. This could symbolize how Elton was acting like a coward for not stopping Bernie before he leaves. The melody of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" plays in vulnerable parts of the movie throughout which makes this scene even more impactful. Elton wearing the devil costume also symbolizes him becoming his demons, and you see parts of his costume start to fall off when walking through the rehab doors. Throughout the film, as Elton talks about his life in the rehab facility, he takes more and more of the costume off until he is just in a robe. This is him leaving those demons behind, which makes the scene of him leaving rehab to "I'm Still Standing" in all white even more meaningful because he is officially sober. I would go to say this movie is flawless so it's overwhelming thinking of what I'm going to write in this post because there is so much, but I'm going to try. 

    The movie isn't told from a non-fiction standpoint, as I mentioned previously. An example of how Dexter Fletcher went about making this movie is the scene where Elton performs "Crocodile Rock" for his first audience ever. There is a moment in the middle of the performance when Elton and the audience start to float off the ground, which symbolizes how Elton felt when he performed for an audience for the first time. Weightless, invincible, reborn, and life-changing. Elements like this are used throughout the whole movie, from Elton taking off like a rocket after he performs "Rocketman" to forgiving the toxic people in his life in rehab and hugging his younger self (they weren't really there). His music is used throughout the movie to give a musical feel, such as the use of "I Want Love" at the beginning of the film when each member of Elton's toxic household sings different parts, each part relating to themselves in a way. Other songs of Elton's were used in this way like when "Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting" is played to show the birth of his "rockstar" persona. This is the song when the actors switch from the younger one (Kit Conner) to the older (Taron Egerton). Speaking of Taron, its an absolute crime he wasn't nominated for an Oscar. He luckily won the Golden Globe but the film itself didn't receive near as much the praise from the academy as Bohemian Rhapsody, which was a movie made about the band "Queen" a little before Rocketman was released. Rocketman is leaps and bounds better than the other movie, and I say that having seen Bohemian Rhapsody BEFORE Rocketman...and I never thought it was as good. Taron and the film deserved so much better.

    When I was brainstorming some potential future careers years ago with my family, my sister had pointed out Cinematography to me. I didn't know what that was so she used the description, "The people who put together that Goodbye Yellow Brick Road scene you love so much". She told me they were the people who decide what goes into that scene cinematically. Ever since, that's what I wanted to do. I just love that artistic part of film making, working on making the scene as breathtaking and impactful as possible. I would love the opportunity to have a creative hand in the process of making a film at some point in my life, so when I chose to minor in Film/ Screen Studies, I had this dream in mind. This class has opened up that passion even more and made me see that I could be good at being a cinematographer. I watch movies now from any analytical standpoint and feel I have really good ideas and critiques about movies I watch, in which I love to share. If you are reading this and you haven't seen Rocketman yet, go watch it and reach out to me. I'd love to discuss it with you. I loved this class so much and look forward to continuing my love for film in the rest of my college career.