|
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| If
we become obsessed only with that which serves our desires -- we run
the risk of becoming as empty and meaningless as the people in this
film, who, for all their searching for fun, never find happiness. |
(2004) Film Review by Darrel Manson |
| This
page was created on October 20, 2004
This page was last updated on
December 11, 2004
—Review by Darrel Manson
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections
—Blog
with Darrel Manson
Dial up modems will take a few moments |
| CREDITS |
| Directed
by Stephen Fry
Screenplay by Stephen Fry (screenplay)
Novel by Evelyn Waugh (novel Vile Bodies)
Cast
(in credits order)
Emily Mortimer .... Nina Blount
Stephen Campbell Moore .... Adam Fenwick-Symes
James McAvoy .... Simon Balcairn
Michael Sheen .... Miles
David Tennant .... Ginger Littlejohn
Fenella Woolgar .... Agatha
Dan Aykroyd .... Lord Monomark
Jim Broadbent .... Drunk Major
Simon Callow .... King of Anatolia
Jim Carter .... Chief Customs Officer
Stockard Channing .... Mrs. Melrose Ape
Richard E. Grant .... Father Rothschild
Julia McKenzie .... Lottie Crump
Produced
by
Chris Auty .... executive producer
Gina Carter .... producer
Miranda Davis .... producer
Andrew Eaton .... executive producer
Stephen Fry .... executive producer
Caroline Hewitt .... co-producer
Neil Peplow .... executive producer
Jim Reeve .... executive producer
Steve Robbins .... executive producer
Michael Winterbottom .... executive producer
Original Music by Anne Dudley
Cinematography by Henry Braham
Film Editing by Alex Mackie
MPAA: Rated R for some drug
use.
Runtime: 106 min
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM,
and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG
|
| TRAILERS
AND CLIPS |
| —Trailers,
Photos |
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| SYNOPSIS
|
 Our
young hero, Adam (Moore), needs to get enough money to marry the beautiful
Nina (Mortimer). His friends - eccentric, wild, louche and entirely
shocking to the older generation, seem one by one to self-destruct,
to crash and burn in their endless search for newer and faster sensations.
Their world is that of the very young, wild, party-loving creatures
new to gramophone records and the telephone - this is a self-consciously
modern generation that cannot keep still for a second. They are known
to the press, who follow their every move, as the Bright Young Things. |
 Review
by
DARREL MANSON
Pastor, Artesia Christian
Church, Artesia, CA
http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch01198
Darrel has an incredible love and interest in the cinematic arts.
His reviews usually include independent and significantly important
film. |
 There
are those who seem to believe that the rules don't apply to them,
or at least that they are governed by different rules than most
people. It's not just those who end up in the celebrity "trials
of the century" that seem to come along once or twice a year, or
those whose money give them access to the halls of power. Sometimes
it is those who are just raised to believe that they are a privileged
class.
Evelyn Waugh wrote a series of satirical novels about the British
upper class in the 1920s and 1930s. With great wit he exposed the
vapidity of their world. Stephen Fry has adapted one of those novels
(Vile Bodies) into Bright Young Things.
A group of rich and titled young adults party their way through
life. They relish the celebrity they gain through the gossip columns.
They don't care about scandal: that is what makes life interesting.
 On
the edge of this crowd is Adam Symes, a penniless writer who is
trying to get enough money to marry Nina Blount. Adam's luck runs
hot and cold. One minute he wins £1000, the next he has given it
away on a bet and it is likely gone forever. Each time he gets money,
he tells Nina they can get married, but shortly, he has to tell
her "not yet." Certainly Adam would like to be just like the others,
but there is just something missing from his personality.
What we see as we watch this crowd is that they are totally self-absorbed.
They really know nothing about what the world is like or what things
are important. They care only about their own egoistic hedonism.
They seek, not a greater good, only their own pleasure. It is this
narcissism that is missing from Adam. Even as he takes part in their
world, he also exhibits a bit of unease about the excessiveness
of their lifestyle.
At one point later in the film, one of this group of hedonists,
now in a mental hospital, tells of a dream where they are all driving
cars in a circle having to go faster and faster. This is what their
world has become -- constantly having to do more and more for excitement,
but getting nowhere in the process.
Of course, stories like this make it easy for us to point fingers
at the rich and privileged and how they do so little with their
lives. Waugh certainly had easy targets for his wit in the upper
class of his day. But what makes the stories enduring is not how
they poke fun at the privileged, but the ways in which the stories
are more universal -- shedding light on our lives as well.
It is always easy to be lured into the seeking of pleasure. We all
enjoy having a bit of fun and excitement. And we should treasure
such experiences when we have them. Jesus' first miracle was creating
wine from water. He was accused by his opponents of being a wine-bibber
and friend to sinners. Jesus enjoyed life; we should as well.
But when that kind of enjoyment becomes the focus of life -- if
we become obsessed only with that which serves our desires -- we
run the risk of becoming as empty and meaningless as the people
in this film, who, for all their searching for fun, never find happiness.
Fry does make some changes in Waugh's story, including tacking on
a happy ending. The happy ending is a good addition, not just because
it leaves a better taste in our mouths, but because it reinforces
the idea that real happiness is not to be found in drugs or money
or excitement, but in the sharing of life with others.
—Blog
with Darrel Manson
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| —Blog
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