Roald Dahl for one, acknowledged that magic is to be found in the most unlikely places, so here is an example.
The other day I watched this film, and the minute it opened with the graphic titles and music (by Procol Harum) I was glued to the screen. Life Lessons by Martin Scorsese sucks you right in. It shows Nick Nolte in the epic role of Lionel Dobie, successful painter in a mid-life crisis and Rosanna Arquette as his sexy assistent and lover.
In a nutshell: They have their (love)story, but aren’t equals and fall out. He is obsessed with her, struggles and shouts, but can’t prevent her leaving. Despair etc, but when the next sexy art student finds him, the story starts all over again… the end.
{I took so many shots, as each still tells a story!}
Throughout the story emotions run high, and find their way in music and paint. A heavy Whiter Shade Of Pale making it all quite melancholic and unbearably painful at times.
But!
The unlikely spot for magic here is the bathroom at a party. The background of their last frustrated argument is this over-the-top-happy, cheap and cheerful piece of toothbrush art. Great! When lives fall apart it’s always nice to have some distraction to bridge the moment 😉
wow in the background
Life Lessons is part of New York Stories, 3 short films directed by Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola and Scorsese, made in 1989.
This is the music. {But try not to look at the clip, it’s a school’s Christmas play compared to the movie described above!}
