Saturday, December 24, 2011
Leaving Las Vegas by Mike Figgis, 1995 (UR)
with Nicolas Cage (Face/Off), Elisabeth Shue (Deconstructing Harry, The Saint) and Julian Sands
Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.
I was expecting some full speed reckless emotionally intense movie, with two people living on the edge, on a 90's soundtrack and neon light vintage Vegas. Wasn't quite far, except with it, I would have missed the point. The way to story is told above is some sort of "official summary" you find on IMDB. It is true, but the movie is not so much about Ben, or about Ben seeing Sera. The movie is built from a perspective where nothing seems valid, valued, until we get it from the eyes of Sera. Once she appears on screen, looking at him, this is when you start actually looking at him, and not some drunk. You start seeing the beauty within him, how he evolved to become that man that at the end of the movie you'll learn to love. And it is through her as well that the movie evolved, and looking at her, you get to love even more her than him. She is an angel. She is beautiful, but not only as a beautiful woman. She has a beautiful gift for love and emotion, and maybe all is because of the actress Elisabeth Shue. She is all in nuances, get her role perfectly, through rage, resignation, love, innocence, realization, generosity, she gives so much. The movie stops, or end, whatever way you want to say it, and you cry. You have fallen in love with Sera and Ben. (now, to be fair, I find Elisabeth Shue amazing in any movie she plays in, from the not too good "The Saint" to "Deconstructing Harry", so I will never be sure whether she is simply brilliant or I love her. :)
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