Film Review - Judy
Jan. 11th, 2020 09:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatCan't get rid of this persistent cough that comes about once or twice a day. If it doesn't disappear by Feb, I'm telling the doctor about it at my next appointment.
Happens when I cry or laugh, or have a sinus flare up.
Co-worker told me his was related to blood pressure meds, and my mother said she had something similar. So that might be it? Don't know. Thinking maybe allergies. The flips from hot to cold weather and back again, with rain and dampness are horrid for allergies to mold and dust. And my allergies were particularly nasty today.
Saw the bio-pic Judy finally which is adapted from Peter Quilter's play End of the Rainbow and focuses on the last year of Judy's life in London doing Talk of the Town. It is set in 1969, and Judy was 47 years of age.
From LA Times Archives - Obituary of Judy Garland in June 1969
Judy Garland, who paid a tragic price for the life of the show-business superstar, died in London Sunday. She was 47.
It was the quiet end to a stormy career. Although she had tried suicide countless times, Scotland Yard said there was no indication she had taken her own life.
Her fifth husband, Mickey Deans, 35, found her dead. Illness had plagued her constantly, but it was not immediately determined what caused her death. An autopsy was scheduled today.
She had suffered from hepatitis, exhaustion, kidney ailments, nervous breakdowns, near-fatal drug reactions, overweight, underweight and injuries suffered in falls.
The film ends long before she dies. It ends with her final performance in Talk of the Town and ...it was tearjerker for me. But Judy Garland was a tragic figure and she is portrayed marvelously by Rene Zeweilleger -- to the point in which RZ is unrecognizable in the role and all I see is Garland. RZ sings the songs -- which works because by this point, Garland's voice was more whispy and throaty. It wasn't quite as pure as it was earlier in her career.
The film does not portray Louis B. Mayer and MGM well, nor her various handlers. She's described as impossible -- but she was also pushed and prodded and destroyed by the business she's in. In some respects the film is more of an indictment of the patrichial culture and entertainment industry that used and fed off of Garland than Garland herself. She's the victim, who refuses to be portrayed as one, yet is all the same. Extraordinarily talented, she is charmed and used by every man she comes across, but often slips through their fingers and makes their lives hellish in the process.
It is equally an indictment of a society obsessed with image, looks, and its own selfish awards. People don't come off well in the movie. Although at the end there is a lovely scene that explains why Judy keeps performing for them...and keeps wanting to. Her need for external validation -- makes one think narcissism, but no not quite. When she's on, she's extraordinarily kind to her fans.
The film is not easy to watch. It's painful in places. Cringe-inducing. And much like the other music bio-pics that I've seen, Judy is plagued by drugs and alcohol and smokes like a fiend. The life she leads is grueling and demanding. She has no home, hotel to hotel. And while she loves her kids -- she can't be with them and has to leave them with her ex-husband/their father finally, Sid Luft. But with all that said, RZ's performance is riveting and surprising. It's not mannered, or mimicry. She imbues her Judy with a joie du vivre and pathos that is startling and real, and pulls the viewer inside. Making it impossible not to feel empathy for her and rage for her detractors.
I recommend it with reservations. I cried during it. And there were moments, I wanted to switch it off or walk away. It is not easy to watch, and the portrait it paints is a painful yet educational one. I would not have wanted Judy Garland's life and I can't help but wonder what would have happened if those around her, had been kinder and far less self-involved.
Happens when I cry or laugh, or have a sinus flare up.
Co-worker told me his was related to blood pressure meds, and my mother said she had something similar. So that might be it? Don't know. Thinking maybe allergies. The flips from hot to cold weather and back again, with rain and dampness are horrid for allergies to mold and dust. And my allergies were particularly nasty today.
Saw the bio-pic Judy finally which is adapted from Peter Quilter's play End of the Rainbow and focuses on the last year of Judy's life in London doing Talk of the Town. It is set in 1969, and Judy was 47 years of age.
From LA Times Archives - Obituary of Judy Garland in June 1969
Judy Garland, who paid a tragic price for the life of the show-business superstar, died in London Sunday. She was 47.
It was the quiet end to a stormy career. Although she had tried suicide countless times, Scotland Yard said there was no indication she had taken her own life.
Her fifth husband, Mickey Deans, 35, found her dead. Illness had plagued her constantly, but it was not immediately determined what caused her death. An autopsy was scheduled today.
She had suffered from hepatitis, exhaustion, kidney ailments, nervous breakdowns, near-fatal drug reactions, overweight, underweight and injuries suffered in falls.
The film ends long before she dies. It ends with her final performance in Talk of the Town and ...it was tearjerker for me. But Judy Garland was a tragic figure and she is portrayed marvelously by Rene Zeweilleger -- to the point in which RZ is unrecognizable in the role and all I see is Garland. RZ sings the songs -- which works because by this point, Garland's voice was more whispy and throaty. It wasn't quite as pure as it was earlier in her career.
The film does not portray Louis B. Mayer and MGM well, nor her various handlers. She's described as impossible -- but she was also pushed and prodded and destroyed by the business she's in. In some respects the film is more of an indictment of the patrichial culture and entertainment industry that used and fed off of Garland than Garland herself. She's the victim, who refuses to be portrayed as one, yet is all the same. Extraordinarily talented, she is charmed and used by every man she comes across, but often slips through their fingers and makes their lives hellish in the process.
It is equally an indictment of a society obsessed with image, looks, and its own selfish awards. People don't come off well in the movie. Although at the end there is a lovely scene that explains why Judy keeps performing for them...and keeps wanting to. Her need for external validation -- makes one think narcissism, but no not quite. When she's on, she's extraordinarily kind to her fans.
The film is not easy to watch. It's painful in places. Cringe-inducing. And much like the other music bio-pics that I've seen, Judy is plagued by drugs and alcohol and smokes like a fiend. The life she leads is grueling and demanding. She has no home, hotel to hotel. And while she loves her kids -- she can't be with them and has to leave them with her ex-husband/their father finally, Sid Luft. But with all that said, RZ's performance is riveting and surprising. It's not mannered, or mimicry. She imbues her Judy with a joie du vivre and pathos that is startling and real, and pulls the viewer inside. Making it impossible not to feel empathy for her and rage for her detractors.
I recommend it with reservations. I cried during it. And there were moments, I wanted to switch it off or walk away. It is not easy to watch, and the portrait it paints is a painful yet educational one. I would not have wanted Judy Garland's life and I can't help but wonder what would have happened if those around her, had been kinder and far less self-involved.