Lease

Film Lately I've been watching the film version of the musical RENT which I know had something of a mixed critical response with critics and fans of the stage musical. I was wary, particularly because when I asked a friend about it, someone who really likes musicals they said, 'And I bloody hate RENT' and that parody scene from Team America, "Everyone has AIDS". But having not seen or heard the original I was able to go in with an open mind. And against my expectations, really enjoyed it.

For all I know, this might be as much of a hash job as Milos Foreman's misunderstanding of Hair, but these eyes it's a beautifully shot, passionately sung piece featuring some really engaging performances. A shorthand would be Friends with problems although a closer touchstone for me structurally would be St. Elmos Fire but set in New York City amongst the artistic set. It has a real emotional kick in places and although I could see that some might consider the subject matter, in relation to homelessness, drug use and AIDS have been soft pedalld, within the artifice of a musical, it really worked for me.

Apparently Spike Lee had been trying to mount a version in 2001 with people like Justin Timberlake and Britney Murphey, which might have been commercial but couldn't get an agreement from the rights owners and ton the basis of this version that wouldn't have worked. By largely retaining the original Broadway cast, director Chris Columbus is able to make the most of the obvious chemistry between them which really increases the believability of the relationships. There's an element of commemoration here of the show, its fans and its late creator -- but not to the degree that potential new RENT-heads feel divorced from the work.

It's a film filled with great individual moments -- such as Rosario Dawson's luminous number in the opening act which begins at a strip club and ends in the apartment of a potential special friend. There's the tango between Anthony Rapp and newcommer Tracie Thoms and of course the really effective opening, Seasons of Love in which the cast appear on stage, as though to present the opening of the play or production (question for Chris if he's read this far -- is that the extra song that was shoehorned into the production of Hair that we saw at LIPA? It's the only song in the piece that I knew beforehand). Oh gosh, and 'Light My Candle'. And 'I'll Cover You' and ... it's one of those films/plays/musicals/whatever.

It's a beautiful looking film too. I'm not sure if it was intentional but it looks like it was shot in the eighties, something about the lighting design perhaps, and that suits the period in which the film is set. For once the steady-cam works for rather than against the performers and the editor hasn't been afraid to cut along with the songs, emphasising key lines where possible something that recent musicals have been afraid to do because of a certain cheese factor, but that's not too evident here, perhaps because there's something generally outrageous about the thing anyway. So yes, would recommend, although I just know that someone is going to disagree with me...