We watched Tommy for the first time in decades last night. It's an even better film than I remembered. The film says important things about the nature of enlightenment and the commercialization of religion--o wonder none of the critics understood it.
1/8
1/8
The performances are stunning. Except Jack Nicholson--they should have gotten someone for that part who could sing that melody. He butchered it. Tina Turner is absolutely terrifying. Elton John is delightful. The Who are brilliant, particularly Roger Daltrey and Keith Moon.
2/8
2/8
We're all agreed Eric Clapton is an asshole, but he plays an ethics-free grifter so maybe it was typecasting. Oliver Reed is absolutely odious.
And then there's Ann-Margaret. I don't have to say more. Wow.
The music holds up well too. And for fans of the original opera...
3/8
And then there's Ann-Margaret. I don't have to say more. Wow.
The music holds up well too. And for fans of the original opera...
3/8
... there is maybe an additional half hour of new songs and new verses that weren't on the original studio album. The story was confusing given just the 75 minutes of the groundbreaking first release back in 1969, and the new material and visuals fill it all in,
4/8
4/8
It's a tale of one man reaching a personal revelation and enlightenment after suffering a lifetime of horrendous abuse, and becoming convinced his path would work for everyone--while the very people who abused him seek to turn his life and newfound peace into cold hard cash.
5/8
5/8
But enlightenment is personal, and the Religion Industry perverts everything that once was good. Still, the message is clear--seek the divine where you find it.
6/8
6/8
This verse sums it up:
"If I told you what it takes to reach the highest high
You'd laugh and say, 'Nothing's that simple.'
But you've been told many times before:
Messiahs pointed to the door
And no one had the guts to leave the temple."
7/8
"If I told you what it takes to reach the highest high
You'd laugh and say, 'Nothing's that simple.'
But you've been told many times before:
Messiahs pointed to the door
And no one had the guts to leave the temple."
7/8
I sit on my deck right now in the Colorado mountains and ponder the world, lamenting the rise of pseudo-religious fascism right here in America.
Buddhist monks, victimized by millennia of abuse and genocide, laugh a lot. This movie explains why.
8/8
Buddhist monks, victimized by millennia of abuse and genocide, laugh a lot. This movie explains why.
8/8
If you watch the movie, turn off all the lights and crank the sound up as loud as you can. It's intended to overwhelm your senses. Do it.
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