The Soloist

On Monday night a group of us went to see the film The Soloist at Cineworld. It was fairly busy when we arrived and, completely caught up in the excitement of using my new Unlimited Card for the first time, I didn't even bother to ask what film we were seeing as I followed the rest into the screen.

The Soloist turned out to be a very moving film, I found. Although I can't comment in great detail about the technical aspects at the moment, I did find the cinematography to be very skillful. Some of the camera shots used were very effective in portraying the intense emotions of certain scenes, for example, when the central character of Nathaniel Ayers plays his cello for the first time again after so many years of living on the street.

There were many key themes present in the film which I also found to be very powerful. Most importantly I think, the film's main purpose was to expose the gross injustices that exist in modern society. It was quite apt, therefore, to have the setting for the film in a city that is renowned world-over for glamour, fame, wealth and prosperity - Los Angeles. This made the contrast between the wealthy and the destitute much more prominent. Furthermore, certain scenes placed together helps to highlight this: for example, a particular scene contains images of a high-flying LA Times conference with people in tuxedos and the like which is immediately followed by a scene depicting the poor in one of the city's massive homeless slum areas. 

However, in addition to simply exposing the many injustices in modern society, I think The Soloist also attempts to challenge the core values of that society. Looking beyond the obvious contrast between the homeless people and the wealthy, I feel there is also a more subtle message trying to be conveyed. The largely faceless wealthy people in the film to me represent the materialistic values of society while the homeless seem to represent the basic values of human beings. The wealthy allow their lives to be dominated by flashy technology and the prospect of riches and material possessions. The poor and homeless people, however, have much lower expectations of life and therefore their perceptions of life and their values are entirely different I think. For example, there are many instances when the audience witness brief displays of what life is like for various minor characters in the homeless shelter. Although many are handicapped, many appear to have mental and physical deformities, most have very little possessions it is clear that they are not downcast; they have not given up hope and are not bitter or resentful about their lives or their grim surroundings.

Another point I feel needs to be mentioned is the presence of music throughout the film. Obviously the music of Beethoven features heavily as it is strongly linked to the plot. This worked well I feel because it could be used as effectively as any other screen music to create moments of tension or illustrate joyous or angry moments with the characters. Moreover, I think the use of music within the story was also an important factor which contributed to the theme of materialist values versus basic human values. I may be talking mince here but just go with it: the music is clearly a symbol for the arts and creativity which represents the values held by homeless people. In contrast to this, however, the people whose main interest in life is to earn money and lead a materialistic lifestyle do not care about the beauty of music or the arts or creativity. They may of course listen to music, go to the theatre and art galleries or whatever else but the point is that they do not appreciate the true beauty of the creative world as they are their lives revolve around the prospect of material possessions and making money.

One final point I would like to mention is the stage in the film that really hit the message home to me and made me think "wow". The final shot of The Soloist depicts the people in the homeless village in slow motion with beautiful and, in a way, triumphant and joyous music in the background. Between this the screen goes black and words appear telling that there are over 90,000 homeless people in Los Angeles and that the film was based on a true story. I truly found this a very powerful scene and probably the most poignant and engaging for me in the whole film. 

Clearly then, I feel The Soloist is a very interesting and moving film that helps to address many important issues in life and expose the harsh realities of homelessness and such things while also digging deeper into the human psyche to question the audience and their values in life.