Reckless Girls

I enjoyed the Book of the Month so much I decided to renew my subscription again this year. My January selection was Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins (the other options were Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly, Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho, and The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis). I enjoyed The Wife Upstairs (a contemporary retelling of Jane Eyre) by Hawkins so I was really looking forward to this selection. Lux McAllister was at loose ends and working as a waitress in San Diego after dropping out of college to care for her dying mother when she met a wealthy and charming playboy named Nico Johannsen. He planned on sailing around the world on his boat, the Susannah, and she impulsively followed him to Hawaii to join him on his voyage. However, things don't work out as planned and she is now stuck working as a housekeeper at a resort hotel while he makes desultory attempts to repair his damaged boat. Their luck seems to change when they meet two college students named Brittany and Amma who want to hire Nico to take them to Meroe Island, a mysterious and deserted atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a grisly past. The $50,000 they are offering will repair the boat and allow them to resume their journey so Nico accepts and Lux, who is dying for an adventure, comes along. When they arrive at the island, they are dismayed to see a catamaran anchored in the harbor belonging to a wealthy Australian couple named Jake and Eliza. They all eventually become friends, especially after the four of them partake of the food and wine offered by Jake on his luxurious boat, and they enjoy their time in paradise. Soon they are joined by a mysterious stranger and the tension mounts as the island becomes less and less hospitable and secrets about each of them are revealed. The narrative alternates between Before, when each character's backstory and motivations are slowly revealed, and After, when the events on the island take place. There are also articles and interviews pertaining to the history of Meroe Island interspersed throughout which add to the foreboding atmosphere and sense of unease. Most of the characters are unsympathetic, including the main narrator Lux, but they are compelling and I was definitely invested in finding out what happens to them. Some elements of the plot do require the suspension of disbelief but I enjoyed it for all of the twists and turns and I appreciated the commentary on class and gender. I would definitely recommend this to fans of thrillers with the proviso that there is quite a bit of profanity (which, in my opinion, is used for shock value rather than character development).

A Hero

Last night I went back to the Broadway to see A Hero, another independent foreign film on my list, and I found it to be incredibly compelling and thought-provoking.  Rahim (Amir Jadidi) has been in debtors' prison in Iran for several years after being unable to repay a loan.  His girlfriend Farkhondeh (Sahar Goldust) found a purse full of gold coins at a bus stop and wants him to use them to pay back his creditor Bahram (Mohsen Tanabandeh).  He is allowed two days leave from prison and attempts to sell the gold coins but, because of fluctuating prices, it isn't enough to pay the entire debt and he doesn't have anyone to provide a guarantee for the remaining balance.  He starts to have second thoughts and decides to find the owner of the purse and return it.  When the administrators of the prison learn about what he has done, they contact the media to interview him for a human interest story because they need some good publicity and he becomes a celebrity of sorts.  He is given leave from prison again, a charity raises money to help him pay back the debt, and the local council offers him a job.  However, several minor inconsistencies in the story come to light which threaten to turn public opinion against him and things quickly spiral out of control.  I found the character of Bahram to be the most fascinating because he is viewed as the villain of the story just for wanting what is rightfully his and questions why Rahim is being celebrated for simply doing the right thing.  I also really enjoyed the moral ambiguity surrounding all of Rahim's actions because he often does the right thing but for the wrong reasons and it made me think about what I would do if faced with a similar situation.  I think the emphasis on social media is really interesting because it gives an exaggerated view of both Rahim's heroism and duplicity and it shows how easy it is to change public opinion with a rumor.  Jadidi is incredibly appealing in this role and he is somehow very sympathetic even when Rahim makes one bad decision after another.   This is a simple story with complex themes and I highly recommend it.

Drive My Car

There were quite a few new releases at my favorite art house theater this weekend but Drive My Car has received so much critical acclaim lately (including the Golden Globe for best foreign language film) that it was on the top of my list last night.  Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a theater actor and director, and Oto (Reika Kirishima), a television screenwriter, are a married couple with a complicated relationship living in Tokyo.  He eventually discovers that she is having an affair with a young actor named Koji Takatsuki (Masaki Okada) but he chooses to ignore it and rebuffs her attempt to discuss it.  When she dies unexpectedly of a brain hemorrhage, he takes a job directing a multilingual version of the play Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov at a prestigious festival in Hiroshima.  He requests accommodation an hour away because it is his practice to review his lines by listening to a cassette tape of the play recorded by Oto while driving but, for liability reasons, the festival organizers insist that he have a driver at all times and hire Misaki Watari (Toko Miura), a taciturn young woman who is also mourning the death of a loved one, to drive him.  Yusuke casts his wife's lover to play Vanya, a role he once played to acclaim but can't bring himself to reprise because of the emotional weight of it, and rehearsals are fraught with tension.  As Misaki drives Yusuke to and from rehearsal, they help each other to live with their guilt and grief.  This film is three hours long, with a slow and meditative pace, but there is so much to unpack that I hardly noticed.  I was absolutely captivated by the use of Uncle Vanya as a symbol for the regret Yusuke and Misaki feel about the death of their loved ones, the use of Yusuke's Saab 900 as a symbol of both sanctuary and escape, and the use of multiple languages within the play as a symbol for the understanding the characters seek.  I loved the emotionally restrained performances of Nishijima and Miura because their journey to self-discovery and healing is all the more poignant when it happens.  I also loved the ethereal mood of this film and the many profound silences that permeate it, including a scene where Yusuke and Misaki simply hold their lit cigarettes out of a sunroof in a moment of solidarity that needs no dialogue.  I loved this film so much and highly recommend it because it is definitely a journey worth taking.

Hamilton at the Eccles (Again)

Even though I recently saw a performance of Hamilton at the Eccles Theater, I decided that I had to see it again during the SLC run so I bought another ticket for last night.  I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing this musical and I actually anticipated every song even more than I usually do!  The standouts for me were, once again, Julius Thomas III as Hamilton and Darnell Abraham as George Washington.  Thomas has a beautiful voice and I always love his versions of "Dear Theodosia" and "Hurricane" every time I see him perform.  Abraham (one of my favorite actors in the role) is incredibly powerful in "Right Hand Man" and "One Last Time" and both of these songs gave me goosebumps and earned thunderous applause from the audience.  The role of Aaron Burr was played by the understudy, Manuel Stark Santos, and I think he did a great job.  I was especially impressed with his performance in "The Room Where It Happens" because there was a mishap with the table and he handled it so well.  I also really enjoyed his versions of "Your Obedient Servant" and "The World Was Wide Enough" because I could really feel his anger and then his remorse.  The role of Eliza was also portrayed by the understudy, Milika Cheree (she played Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds the last time I saw it), and I honestly preferred her to Victoria Ann Scovens.  Her characterization of Eliza was different than any I have seen before and I loved her renditions of "Helpless" and "That Would Be Enough" but her performance of "Burn" was so powerful that I had a tear in my eye (that has never happened before).  I was less than enthusiastic about Rick Negron as King George when I saw him last time and, while he is definitely not as flamboyant as others I have seen in the role, he grew on me last night.  I laughed at his shenanigans during "I Know Him" and "The Reynolds Pamphlet."  I also really enjoyed watching Paris Nix as Thomas Jefferson.  I thought he was fine in his previous performance but last night he really seemed to feed off of the crowd, especially in "What'd I Miss," "Washington On Your Side," "The Reynolds Pamphlet," and "The Election of 1800" (I loved his reaction to winning the election).  The crowd last night was really boisterous and appreciative and even applauded in the middle of songs, particularly when Washington stormed the stage in "Right Hand Man" and during the dance break in "Yorktown."  I loved the energy and it was so much fun to be a part of it.  I am so glad that I had the opportunity to see it again!

Note:  I love that I ended 2021 and began 2022 by seeing my favorite musical!

Robert Trevino Conducts Walker, Grieg & Stravinsky

I was so happy to be back at Abravanel Hall last night for my first Utah Symphony concert of 2022 because it was absolutely amazing!  The orchestra began with Sinfonia No 4 "Strands" by George Walker.  I was not at all familiar with this piece (or this composer) but I really enjoyed it because it is very dramatic.  I particularly loved a theme played by a solo cello as well as themes played by the timpani and percussion, especially the gong at the end.  Next came Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto.  I was really excited for this because it is one of my favorite pieces and the orchestra and soloist Benjamin Grosvenor performed it brilliantly.  The instantly recognizable opening notes played by the piano gave me goosebumps and each successive repetition of the theme during the first movement was equally thrilling (the entire audience gave a rousing round of applause after this movement).  The second movement was my favorite because it is a just a bit melancholy and I loved the interaction between the piano and the solo horn.  I also really enjoyed all of the Norwegian folk dances featured in the third movement.  Grosvenor's fingers literally flew up and down the keyboard so he was very entertaining to watch.  He received a well-deserved standing ovation after which he performed a beautiful encore featuring Dance of the Beautiful Maiden by Alberto Ginastera.  After the intermission, the concert concluded with Petrouchka by Igor Stravinsky.  This ballet tells the story of three puppets who are brought to life at a fair in St. Petersburg and Stravinsky's music is incredibly stirring.  I could almost picture the action in my head as the orchestra played.  I especially loved the fanfare played by the brass to announce the carnival barker, the drum roll that announces the puppet show, and the theme played by the flutes as the puppets are brought to life.  All of the Russian folk music used as the puppets dance is quite exhilarating and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole piece.  This program will be performed again tonight and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).