Friday, June 15, 2007

From Want or Need?

Have you ever almost bought something, but assuming you could just pick it up later, set it aside, and on the way home find your self wishing you had picked it up. So the following week you contact the store, only to find it sold, and so begins a quest that would even leave Samwise Gamgee more confused than the desire to throw some silly ring into a fiery pit (although the quest I speak of seems similar to any wouldbe collector).

Well, your monkster generally has three types of films I feel the need to actually own, with the first type being any film dealing in someway with the Christianity (this could be "The Passion" to "Spitfire Grill " to "Sergeant York"). The second type, being that I am the Musical Monk, would be anything music related (this could range anywhere for "Almost Famous" to "Hello Down There" to even "A Knights Tale"), with me generally passing on most musicals (exceptions for me are "West Side Story" and "Godspell"). The last, as I am also a wee bit of an artist (and as a metaphor, I guess we are all a bit of thee Artist) would include films with animation (although, Hayao Miyazaki excluded, most anime is crapola). This is a bit broader a category, as it can range from classic Disney to my pals Wallace and Gromit, to finally the film of which this post is about.

Volare Volere is a early 90's italian made film, in which a lonely man slowly becomes a cartoon character, and also a film that, in the US, slowly became impossible to find. Never being released on DVD, and myself with a great distaste for video tape and/or "Pan and Scan" films, had turned the desire to own this on laserdisc, into a wannabe monkish mini-obsession. I have periodically checked video stores that once specialized in LDs, as well as my ever e-Baying, in the hopes of finding this little oddity.

I have in fact been looking for it for longer than I have been a Christian, and so I had actually forgotten to consider my little quest under that world view. The film also deals with some less than chaste subjects, with the man's love interest being somewhat of a prostitute (although she doesn't really have "sex" with her clients), and if I remember correctly, the man dubs American "adult" films into Italian (yes, I don't know why they call them adult, as only a childish person would have anything to do with them). So, maybe I don't need to own this little film.

The problem is, that I did the above pondering in hindsight, as two weeks ago, I found and purchased the Widescreen LD of the film from an e-Bayer (sounds like over the counter e-medicine), and it arrived the day before my lil' trip to lovely Richmond, Virginia (where I be at present). Before I left, I kept staring at the cover, trying to decide if I should pop it in the LD player (well of course I still have one, why the heck would I buy a laserdisc if I couldn't play it . . . .oh, yeah, I guess that's kinda what this post is about,huh? ). Should I watch it?, should a Wacky Wannabe Musical Monk even own it? This might be a question too great for my lil' under caffeinated brain , and may require the services of the Dawn Patrol and/or the Three Massketeers (although I believe they are presently with Paul Cat, thwarting a liturgical rebellion a little West of Sheboygan).

Oh, what is a Wannabe Monk to do?

Imaginary Reader: um, Did you pray about it?

Oh, well, I was getting around to that.

IR: um, shouldn't that be the first thing you do

Well, of course, but I have been busy with, um this blog, and the hotel has a pool, and . . .

IR: hmmm, the other voices in yer head and I have been talking

Other voices!!!, Talking!!!

IR: yes, and we feel, that as we also converted when you did, except for you know who, we feel that we cannot stay under these circumstances

No, No, please stay, I'll pray now, and maybe even re-sell the film?

Good Gug'gamunda , sometimes having a conscience can be down right annoying (O:

3 comments:

Unknown said...

i say watch it, and, after awhile, see if you still want to own it!

D'artagnan said...

I will have committee with the voices, if they're still talking to me (O:

Anonymous said...

I love Miyazaki too!! Particularly Totoro and Castle in the Sky.

I haven't seen this other picture you're talking about, so I can't give an informed opinion. If it's not graphic, and the point of the story goes beyond some of it's baser aspects, I would say "why not".

I think one of the best, most deeply Christian movies I've ever seen is Terry Gilliam's "The Fisher King", and that has profuse swearing and at one point the protagonist is seen working in an adult video store. But it all serves the story, which is a really really heavy meditation on the sin of Pride contrasted with humility and the action of grace.