Amelia

I saw Amelia, with Hilary Swank and Richard Gere. I had very low expectations, so even a mediocre film would have satisfied me, and I was satisfied on that basis. It was Saturday afternoon, a rainy miserable day, and I needed something to get me out of the moment. I thought Amelia would be tolerable for a couple of reasons. FIrst of all, I figured it would be stunningly, beautifully, filmed, and I was right. Every room, every cigarette lighter, every Scotch and Soda shimmered in art deco delight. You could almost taste the cherry red enamel high gloss finish of one of the planes she flew. And all this is before anyone takes flight. The flight scenes only added to the visual enjoyment.

The second reason I thought it would be ok was that biography films are usually that, namely, "ok" and not much more. They're usually not terrible because there is an intrinsic interest all of us have in the course of someone's life. In this regard, I think bio pics of lesser well known figures are generally more interesting than those of iconic figures. After all, we kind of know most of the details of Lincoln's life. But aside from the fact that she was a famous aviatrix, who wore her hair in a mannish way, who was lost in the Pacific while attempting a circumnavigation of the globe, I knew next to nothing about Amelia Earhardt. Interestingly, the film tends to downplay, rather than exalt, her accomplishments. In fact, it appears that that there really wasn't much more to know beyond the facts related in the sentence that preceded the one you are reading now.

But, the aerial photography, and the beautiful facial close-ups keep one watching. For those of you who don't think Hilary Swank has a beautiful face, I was referring to Richard Gere, who certainly does. And her face is very interesting if it isn't classically endowed.

Without knowing anything about her, I kind of suspected that she was gay. I had no reason to think it, and I can't say I ever discussed it openly. But, her mannish style and aggressive spirit in an age when women were not encouraged to have those things might have made me ask the question, were I so inclined. The film shows her as being very heterosexual, with the exception of one rather interesting scene. She is sitting with her soon-to-be-lover and she looks at another woman sitting across the room, and remarks on how beautiful she is. Her companion says that she always notices women, or something to that effect. But, the topic is never explored further.

Naturally, I was waiting to here Joni Mitchell's song, "Amelia" which is very evocative, but the score was original, suggestive of the 1930's, and the insertion of a post-modern ballad of sorts, would not have fit.