starting late, really late in (the pink) lane

just saw beginners and what a joyous experience it was.

for more than an hour, i laughed, smiled, cried and fell in love so many times with the characters of ewan mcgregor, christopher plummer and melanie laurent.

beginners is about christopher plummer (hal) who came out of the closet at seventy five (there really is no exact time when to come out and admit to the whole pink world who you really are. so you closet fairies, just take your own sweet time. you'll get there.) after his wife of forty five years died, got a younger man for a lover, joined various gay groups, held parties at home attended mostly by his newfound gay best friends, some in flamboyant outfits, wore fashionable clothes including colorful scarves, bought a lot of books, and filled his home and garden with flowery potted plants. 

i wanna be like him when i grow old (but ewan should be my lover, not my son). chos! i love!

it's about his son, ewan mcgregor (oliver), who accepted with an open heart his father's homosexuality, even a bit late in life. while he was happy for his father, oliver himself was leading an unhappy life. he has been sad ever since he realized his parents' loveless union and witnessed how his mother suffered in silence, alone most of the time because his father was busy at work.

it's about ewan's girlfriend, french actress (i was about to say ingenue, but she is not anymore after appearing in the humorless but box office sensation inglourious basterds) emily laurent (anna), who has a dark past that has been haunting her and preventing her from having a happy life.

while hal has fully embraced who he is, a bit too late though, oliver and anna are still afraid to let go and discover the joys of falling in love,  commit to a relationship and live life as freely as they can, unshackled from their unhappy childhood.

the irony is, just when hal is having a time of his life (living life as an older gay man after his wife died) death comes knocking.

i won't spoil the fun by telling the whole story.

suffice it to say that the film is about being true to oneself, no matter what the society and everyone else thinks, about coming to terms with one's past, facing the present with courage and looking forward to what the future holds -- happy or sad. pink or blue.

all the three actors are so good, they deserve an award or two. christopher plummer deserves all the awards and accolades that he received from this film, including the best supporting actor from the academy. ewan does sad very elegantly. his talking to a dog doesn't sound ridiculous at all, but sweet. i just want to hug him and sing him to sleep.

i especially love the chemistry between christopher and ewan (they really look like real father and son. i suddenly miss my late father after watching this. how i wish i had that kind of relationship with my distant and quiet old man.) and between ewan and melanie. they should make more movies together.

the beauty of the movie is that it does not exploit the hardships that its characters are suffering, it does not try to manipulate the audience by forcing them to cry during those dramatic moments, highlighted by an oscar-bait soundtrack. so passe.

instead of the trite, formulaic, even stupid movies such as war horses (i so hate this film. so trashy) and hugo, the academy should have chosen beginners as one of the best films of two thousand and eleven.

usually, i hate movies that teach us a thing or two about life and love. but i will make an exception for this one. lessons learned, thank you very much.

i love the soundtrack too.

watch it. promise, you won't regret it!

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oh and the film is inspired by the writer/director's father. triple love!!

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here is the trailer in case you care: