2008 Woodie Awards
Rent Leaves Broadway Scene For a Big Screen Debut
Christopher Erat
Issue date: 11/7/05 Section: Entertainment
The award winning rock opera Rent, by Jonathan Larson, is another in a continuing line of Broadway shows which are becoming Hollywood movies, Les Miserable and The Phantom of the Opera among its predecessors.
The Broadway hit has made a great transition from stage to silver screen. While people may comment that there is nothing better than seeing a play on a Broadway stage, there are definitely benefits to film, and Rent takes advantage of all of them. The visual, the angles, and the close ups made an already awarding winning story that much better. The director now controls what is seen on the screen and whether you are focused on the main character or a sideshow shot. Nothing can compare to seeing the up close expression on the uptight building owner's face when two of the homosexual female characters start kissing.
The movie tracks the lives of eight friends over the course of a year in a variety of different points in their lives. Some are homosexual, some are infected with AIDS, but almost all are trying to figure their lives out, and of course how to pay for rent when they have no money. Unlike many other plays which have an abstract message which takes place in the distance past but makes parallels to the modern world, Rent demonstrates issues which are present today.
Taking place between December 1989 and December 1990, Rent brings to light many issues which people face and are not always as aware of. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), and who and how you can get it was still not very clear to many people. The movie does a great job of showing how a variety of people can be infected with HIV/AIDS without it seeming like eighth grade health class. It showed how people did live and survive with it; nevertheless it also showed how people died from it. It brings a topic which many see as faceless numbers and statistics to people with real lives and real problems, once again bringing poverty, illness, and AIDS back into the minds of people, many of whom have swept the issue under the rug.
Even though the film touches on some very real and concerning issues in society, it is still a rock opera. This rock opera is a musical in the true sense of the word, where almost the entire movie was filled with music. There were small bits of dialogue, but they were few and far between and acted only as a transition between songs. The incredible score of music along with the collection of actors and dancers made the movie seem to fly by.
While Rent does not premiere until November 23, a preview showing in Kansas City, Missouri was greeted at its conclusion with a room full of cheers and applauses. If the next Broadway plays that become movies are anything like Rent, the box office already has one ticket sold.
The Broadway hit has made a great transition from stage to silver screen. While people may comment that there is nothing better than seeing a play on a Broadway stage, there are definitely benefits to film, and Rent takes advantage of all of them. The visual, the angles, and the close ups made an already awarding winning story that much better. The director now controls what is seen on the screen and whether you are focused on the main character or a sideshow shot. Nothing can compare to seeing the up close expression on the uptight building owner's face when two of the homosexual female characters start kissing.
The movie tracks the lives of eight friends over the course of a year in a variety of different points in their lives. Some are homosexual, some are infected with AIDS, but almost all are trying to figure their lives out, and of course how to pay for rent when they have no money. Unlike many other plays which have an abstract message which takes place in the distance past but makes parallels to the modern world, Rent demonstrates issues which are present today.
Taking place between December 1989 and December 1990, Rent brings to light many issues which people face and are not always as aware of. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), and who and how you can get it was still not very clear to many people. The movie does a great job of showing how a variety of people can be infected with HIV/AIDS without it seeming like eighth grade health class. It showed how people did live and survive with it; nevertheless it also showed how people died from it. It brings a topic which many see as faceless numbers and statistics to people with real lives and real problems, once again bringing poverty, illness, and AIDS back into the minds of people, many of whom have swept the issue under the rug.
Even though the film touches on some very real and concerning issues in society, it is still a rock opera. This rock opera is a musical in the true sense of the word, where almost the entire movie was filled with music. There were small bits of dialogue, but they were few and far between and acted only as a transition between songs. The incredible score of music along with the collection of actors and dancers made the movie seem to fly by.
While Rent does not premiere until November 23, a preview showing in Kansas City, Missouri was greeted at its conclusion with a room full of cheers and applauses. If the next Broadway plays that become movies are anything like Rent, the box office already has one ticket sold.