August Rush, a 2007 Academy Award-nominated drama directed by Kirsten Sheridan is one of the best movies that I have ever seen. The main character, Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore), was an 11 year old prodigy who could just listen to anything and turned it into music. I myself would entitle him, 'The Modern Day Amadeus'.
There are two scenes that serve as hints of what the boy will become. The first one was the scene where he made the gesture of the conductor in a park. It is pretty obvious that this boy will be a virtuoso conductor sooner or later. The other one is the scene where he was playing the church organ. This grandiose scene depicts the boy to be ' an angel' or ' the chosen one'. Definitely he will be great. It is evident when he was brought to Julliard; he was honored to have his music, August Rhapsody, to be performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra with him himself as the conductor.
In my point of view, the movie introduces various aspects of music to the viewer. Evan's mother, a famous concert cellist named Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) symbolizes the Classical, while his father, Louis Connely (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), an Irish guitarist and lead singer from a rock band, represents the popular. Their love story has been quite sentimental and melancholy, yet it is expected for musician couple. I like the juxtaposition of the music between the couple most. Other music that has been introduced includes jazz, R&B, Techno, country, gospel, blues, 20th century instrumental music, rap, et cetera. Basically, the representation of both high art and low art has been rather balance. 'Music is everywhere, if you care enough to listen' has been the central message of the show.
In a review by USA Today, Claudia Puig commented that "August Rush will not be for everyone, but it works if you surrender to its lilting and unabashedly sentimental tale of evocative music and visual poetry." The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the film positively, writing "the story is about musicians and how music connects people." (source: wikipedia)
Although the ending was a bit of a rush, overall I felt satisfied.
There were many times when I was driven into tears as I marveled through the story. A very big applause - Bravo!
There are two scenes that serve as hints of what the boy will become. The first one was the scene where he made the gesture of the conductor in a park. It is pretty obvious that this boy will be a virtuoso conductor sooner or later. The other one is the scene where he was playing the church organ. This grandiose scene depicts the boy to be ' an angel' or ' the chosen one'. Definitely he will be great. It is evident when he was brought to Julliard; he was honored to have his music, August Rhapsody, to be performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra with him himself as the conductor.
In my point of view, the movie introduces various aspects of music to the viewer. Evan's mother, a famous concert cellist named Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) symbolizes the Classical, while his father, Louis Connely (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), an Irish guitarist and lead singer from a rock band, represents the popular. Their love story has been quite sentimental and melancholy, yet it is expected for musician couple. I like the juxtaposition of the music between the couple most. Other music that has been introduced includes jazz, R&B, Techno, country, gospel, blues, 20th century instrumental music, rap, et cetera. Basically, the representation of both high art and low art has been rather balance. 'Music is everywhere, if you care enough to listen' has been the central message of the show.
In a review by USA Today, Claudia Puig commented that "August Rush will not be for everyone, but it works if you surrender to its lilting and unabashedly sentimental tale of evocative music and visual poetry." The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the film positively, writing "the story is about musicians and how music connects people." (source: wikipedia)
Although the ending was a bit of a rush, overall I felt satisfied.
There were many times when I was driven into tears as I marveled through the story. A very big applause - Bravo!
