Elegy

Elegy (2008)
Directed by Isabel Coixet
Length: 112 minutes
Rated R for sexuality, nudity, and language




It seems more and more movies featuring big actors are either being released straight to DVD or with little fanfare. I was fortunate enough to hear about Elegy via entertainment magazines (I highly recommend reading either 1) Rolling Stone or 2) Entertainment Weekly to stay abreast of all that is going on in music, television, and film) and was pleasantly rewarded with a very moving film featuring some talented actors at their best. Elegy is the kind of movie that makes you analyze the relationships in your own life and take stock of just where you want to be in ten years.

Based on the novel The Dying Animal by Philip Roth (The Human Stain), Elegy is the story of David Kepesh, played by the Oscar winning actor Ben Kingsley (Shutter Island, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time), a well cultured man that teaches, critiques, and lives as an overall connoisseur of the arts. However cultured David may be, he has avoided committing to one woman and lives his life going through one woman to the next. This all changes when David meets his lovely student Consuela Castillo, played by recent Oscar winner Penelope Cruz (Nine, Vicky Christina Barcelona), who he quickly develops a new and unusual attachment to. While the premise may not be the most original idea ever, the beauty comes from the story layered over the relationship between two lovers separated by almost thirty years in age.

Ben Kingsley delivers another gem of a performance in Elegy. As the film develops, you quickly realize that this isn't just about two lovers and their relationship, but instead it is about a man coming to grips with his own mortality. David has been content to run through one woman to the next, until he meets Consuela who he quickly develops feelings for. As their relationship becomes more real, David struggles to accept the fact that a woman so young could actually love him as well as change his opinions on relationships and love that have dictated his life and profession. As friends die around David, old lovers grow older and more distant, a son repeats his father's mistakes, David begins to realize just how important Consuela truly is to him. The journey David takes to this moment of clarity really is the beauty and tragedy of Elegy.

You know it is a good movie when it makes you examine your own life and evaluate your own destiny. As I watched this film, I kept praying I don't wind up old and alone like David and his casual lover. But beyond actually being alone, Elegy causes you to think about marriage and the beauty in such commitments. Over the last few days, I've vowed to myself that I want to avoid being the old couple that grows more and more distant as a marriage drags on; Elegy might make you consider how dedicated you truly are or could be to one person and how you might do things differently.

This isn't a light movie. You should certainly watch this with the intent of reflecting; when you have two great actors presenting a beautiful piece of art that causes the admirer to ponder, you know it's good. Please do not let this film pass you by: you should make an effort to check out this moving film that incites reflection on multiple levels.

Final Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Favorite Quote:
David: "When you make love to a woman, you get revenge for all the things that defeated you in life."