Aliens, Bible and Beethoven

I just came back from my cousin Sigrún’s house wherefrom my sis Sigrún tore me whilst I was getting into watching some scary film, notwithstanding being scared shitless the whole time. It made me think of the film I saw last night. I never really write film reviews, I am not really good at that, but this films calls for a blog entry.

So, I went to see Knowing. I didn’t know it was a thriller and sci-fi, but I soon realised as much as the trailers shown before were all from films I will never ever watch due to their scary theme (I like sci-fi, it’s thrillers I can’t handle). Half-way into Knowing I was slumped down in my seat watching the screen through my fingers with face averted and only one eye open, pinching my next-seat neighbours’ thighs repeatedly. They laughed; they don’t understand real intense film fear. Empathy, folks, the world really needs more empathetic people.

What I liked and disliked about Knowing (don’t read if you haven’t seen it)
Biblical images. It’s about the end of the world, so it’s rather depressing and alarming. I like how it’s realistic that way, without last minute heroic saving of the universe. There are some scary personages in the film which you learn, at the end, are actually good. Not evil, at any rate. In the last scene there are four of them together, and I don’t recall seeing more than four at any point, though covering one’s face with fingers is one sure way of missing out on details. If I am right, that there weren’t more than four such personages, I like how it made me immediately think of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Their role is not so much as the Bible’s Book of Revelations claims, ie the more conventional view, but more like what Zechariah says. On Wikipedia I found this:

Z also sees the Horsemen (Zech 6:1-5). During this, first come the Red, then White, then Black, and finally the “Grisled and Bay” (the Pale Horses by implication). They are referred to as “the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.”

According to this they are spirits, and serve the Lord of all the earth. In the end of the film when the personages take the children onboard the space ship, aha, they “beam” themselves up into in, and when doing so wings seem to form on their backs and shoulders, reaching up a little ways and also reaching down as if to propell them upwards. Very cool. So they are angels! These four personages are able to whisper to chosen ones, chosen humans, and give them instructions which will save them on the earth’s last day. Not only save them, as the chosen ones seem to be one girl and one boy from various places of the earth, which are taken to another planet by the personages, where in time they are to multiply and replenish the earth. In the scene showing the kids we know entering the new world they are running through a field of beautiful yellow flowers, or wheat?, and in the distance we can see other space ships departing after depositing their chosen ones in some lovely spots. Our kids are running towards a beautiful tree! How utterly Biblical! The tree (of good and evil?) is awaiting the little ones, they are in a perfect pastoral environment (garden of Eden?), they were chosen to salvage the human race, to start anew a new generation of humans far far away from their planet of origin. Intriguing. Rather leaning to the LDS way of seeing things. This ideas of life on other planets intrigues me every time, as I know it must be so. Why else is it so vast, “out there”?

Alien stuff: I love sci-fi. I’ve written abt the personages/4 horsemen/aliens above. I loved in this film how an alien race comes to earth with good intentions. They’ve been planning this for a while. I liked how their space ships were depicted, very cool and more imaginative than what you usually see, incorporating more cosmic energy-alluding images rather than just hard-shell rocket/disc/cone-shaped vessels based on our ideas of vessels … I have run out of vocab! I didn’t like it when our personages turned themselves back into their real form, as their real form was that of those we normally see in sci-fi movies: the elongated pale two legs/two arms/one head, you know. That’s so old. Someone think of sumfink new, alright?

Music: Early on in the film they play Beethoven’s 7th, 2nd movement. It is my favourite piece of classical music, yet I haven’t listened to it in years. I forgot about it, oops! It was so perfect in the film, so dramatic and moving and gorgeous, and I was so glad to be reminded of it. The numbers in it represent my birthday, which may have been why I bought my first cd with it on initially, hehe, and then I grew to love it. Very fitting too that this reminds me of numbers and a significant date as it ties in with the movie’s story line.

The piece, or this movement, grabs your heartstrings immediately, and this initial theme is repeated throughout with variations. When the cellos and basses start you can feel ‘em in your gut. The gravitas. Then when the violins take over so melodically, you just wanna be them, be able to express yourself like they do, and I can’t help but hum along, as they are so melodic in their seriousness. Cellos and violins continue playing their notes, and an extra layer is added onto the previous part as the violins split their chords, almost requiring us to decided on whom to focus our attention, and then the drums enter the fray. The many and distinct parts, so moving as they vary from piano to forte (thus I’ve run out of vocab, again!) all sounding together pretty nigh on bring me to tears.

When I listen to this piece I so wish I could read music. I wish I understood note values, tempo markings, dots and ties, plus could play strings, flute, obo, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpets, and of course, timpani. Then I’d be able to play this on my own :)

Go here to listen to Columbia University Orchestra’s version, beautiful. You’ll feel as if you are in a big concert hall, as you can hear pages turned and some noise from the audience, coughing and such.

Go here to hear another version, very beautiful, a bit fast paced but I like it that way. For some reason whoever posted this chose to make a slide-show of Scarlett Johansen to accompany it. Enjoy!

For the best experience, don’t look at beautiful Scarlett. Just turn your speakers up high and close your eyes. Allow yourself to be taken captive by Beethoven’s best piece.