Review of THE SOLOIST

THE SOLOIST

STORY: A "human interest" newsman, who has lost his passion for life, rekindles his passion when he finds a homeless man, a consummate musician, whose aesthetic passion for music transcends his mental condition and social disabilities.

MESSAGE: Passion brings life to living. Pursuing your interests is what makes life fulfilling. Helping others can be done only if they wish it and only if you do it gradually, in a way they can accept the help. Psychiatry is an inexact "science" with its multiple, questionable diagnoses that confuse patients, and with the fact it throws mind-altering drugs at these diagnoses. The alternative to psychiatric labels and meds is giving people permission to be who they are.

WIN: The hero first sees the homeless man as a news story, then invests himself in it and sees a genius who could use a helping hand. The movie made good use of devices that show how the mind works, such as showing that a happy person can become an unhappy person when certain external things trigger deep sleeping neuroses. It had a nice touch (one which I wrote in my film before I saw this one) of relating the elation of the human spirit due to exquisite music to the flight of birds (symbolizing exteriorization of the spirit from the body, you might say, something which often happens when people are elated). The two main actors did really well at accurately portraying the emotional levels of their characters. I met a homeless person once in Glendale who only responded when my friend stopped cheerful communication and changed to "everything is hopeless" communication. The man began chattering on about this and that, similar to the homeless character in the movie. I heard from a policeman on 6th St in Los Angeles that one quarter of the homeless people are failed products of psychiatry, and this gave that credence.

LOSE: The movie portrayed that no more could be done for the musician at the end, who was too far into his world to even perform for audiences. This is false. His insanities are obviously mentally caused and can thus be remedied (not by psychiatry, which has no cures, but by means which actually work). Also, the passion rekindled by the reporter was shown in his love relationship. As a passionate writer, I would have also liked to see his passion for writing, probably his personal stuff, be elevated as well. Aesthetics begets aesthetics, I've found.

EFFECT ON ME: It made me want to nurture my own passions. It made me want to let people know that the working of the mind is no longer a mystery. It made me realize the depth of passion and practice it takes to truly be a master at one's art form.

Sincerely,
Becky Mate
Script Consultant
www.virtueinthearts.com