27. The Rose &...

Lyrics

Some say love it is a river
That drowns the tender reed
Some say love it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed

Some say love it is a hunger
An endless aching need
I say love it is a flower
And you it's only seed

It's the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
Who cannot seem to give
And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed
That with the sun's love
In the spring
Becomes the rose


Besides Goldie Hawn, there is no actress I dislike more than Bette Midler. Any time I see her she seems to play her (often annoying and irritating) character in the most irritatingly possible way. Her songs are slightly more tolerable and this song could have been way worse. Still, I am quite surprised that this song, sung by Bette Midler for the 1979 movie The Rose (link between movie and song is obvious here), is placed so incredibly high on this list. 'Quite surprised' is actually an understatement. There are of course (lots of) far better songs, but then there are also lots of far better songs than, say, Angels. But I am aware that in the Netherlands there a lot of people who are fans of Robbie Williams, and more specifically of Angels. And even outside of the Netherlands that song is sometimes considered a classic. In this case, I've never actually heard any Bette Midler song on the (Dutch) radio, The Rose is not usually considered as a classic song and as far as I know Bette Midler is not a very popular actress here. And I don't think that, since I live here, the movie The Rose has ever actually been broadcast on Dutch TV.

The Movie: The Rose (Mark Rydell, 1979)

I believe that our present time is the best time to live if you are a music fan (or a film fan, but I'll get to that in some other post). I won't argue that there was much better music made in the 60's and 70's than now, but we have more access to that great music now than ever before. And there still are modern bands like The Black Keys who make great music. Yet, sometimes when I see concert footage (real or fake) from the 60's and 70's I do wish to have been able to live in those times. To feel the amazing electricity that seemed to be bursting out of everything and everyone during such concerts and to have the feeling that you are watching something truly special and unique. The scenes in The Rose in which Midler is singing, either in concert venues or in bars, had this effect on me. Those scenes also show that Bette Midler could have easily been a greater and more interesting performer than she is now. She didn't need to be a singer of sappy, melodramatic love songs or an actress who seems to have specialized in whining characters. She could've been a fantastic rock singer and an energetic actress. Through these scenes the movie also manages to chillingly convey that this bizarrely and incredibly energetic atmosphere is at least partly only possible because of the fucked up lives these performers are having. They are, for various reasons, so frustrated with  'ordinary' life and have so many bottled up emotions, that they need a place where they can let all of this rage and frustration go and the stage is such a place. The movie thus suggests that when we see some great performer doing his/her thing on stage, we are not only witnessing greatness, but also someone who is tragically and often unsuccessfully fighting his/her inner demons. Unfortunately this is the only interesting thing the movie manages to say/convey about its subject. Even more unfortunately, there aren't that many singing scenes and the rest of the movie is not only unentertaining, but also pretty crap.

Somehow this is already the second movie by the relatively unknown and unacclaimed Mark Rydell, I am discussing here. I also wrote pretty negatively about his previous one, The River. But that one is a masterpiece compared to this one. That at least had characters one could care about and often had some wonderful shots. This movie is shot in a very banal and uninteresting way. And while it must be admitted that Midler gives it her all in the concert scenes, she also gives it her all in the dramatic scenes. Which means that we get a lot of irritating and melodramatic screaming and crying. And I really mean a lot. The plot concerns the last tour of The Rose, which is the stage name of Midler's character. During this tour The Rose very often screws up either her manager or her boyfriend. She then fights with them, while screaming a lot. After such a fight we see her crying and regretting her behavior and running away, only to come back in tears and restart the whole process. I can almost always feel sympathy/empathy for movie characters whose lives have gone off the rails (either through their own fault or not) and who therefore do nasty, hurtful or idiotic things to themselves and to others. But usually there is the suggestion that the troubled character can be a good or at least interesting person. We have for that person to change because we feel that he can have a good life if he does. There are no such suggestions here. I felt that if her life was better The Rose would be just as much a malcontent as she is now. There are also many scenes that have no logic in relation to the plot and the characters and seem only added because the filmmakers felt they needed more drama. Many films are guilty of this, but I don't think I've ever seen it done as shamelessly as here. In the middle of the film there is a short period during which The Rose is actually happy with her boyfriend. Suddenly the movie introduces a character from The Rose's past, Sarah, played by a horrible actress, who after washing Midler's hair starts passionately kissing her. During this kissing The Rose's boyfriend suddenly walks in on them and naturally drama ensues. This Sarah is only seen in this one scene, she is never mentioned again and never before or after that does the movie hint that The Rose might be bisexual or that she had had a bisexual relationship.

I could write more, but there is nothing interesting to say anymore about this movie. Besides I have enough of it. This is one of the most unpleasant and stupid movies I've ever seen.