I really wanted to like this movie. The visuals are spectacular and the filler shots of vintage Los Angeles are amazing. A lot of work and care went into crafting all of the visuals, from the scenery to props and the whole railroad itself. The story has some serious possibility, even being based on an actual railway (the Yosemite Valley RR did exist and ended operations in 1945 and an 18 yr old kid named John McFadden who worked at the Pacific Electric Railway DID try to save the RR). But, alas, that's where it ends. The acting was painfully flat and almost felt like a first reading of a script at a high school play. None of the characters were even very compelling, except the YVRR itself. There were a couple of throw away scenes that depicted the racism against Asians, but they could have easily landed on the cutting room floor with no loss to the movie. The soundtrack is appropriate, but the abysmal acting kills this movie. It breaks my heart to say it, but with just better acting and a slightly better script and you have a great love letter to railroading history.
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Duellist13 February 2008
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jim-31410 April 2005This is among the most beautiful films of the last decade, in more ways than one. I was lucky enough to see the film once in the theater. I wanted to own a copy. It was a long time coming to DVD but I recently learned that it was finally available, and so I purchased a copy. The absolutely extraordinary cinematography by Rob Sweeney doesn't hit you on a TV screen with quite the same punch that it does on a full sized theater screen, but even so, first time viewers should still get a good sense of just how visually exceptional this movie is. The movie has many virtues, the greatest of which is probably its look. Even when showing us ordinary domestic details the black and white photography has a luminous, magical, dream-like quality that is magnified all the more when the camera turns to the natural spectacle of Yosemite park where most of the movie is set. Not only does the texture of the imagery make you want to bathe your soul in it, but every frame, without exception, is as beautifully composed as any produced by the great directors and cinematographers of the 30s and 40s. Additionally, the movie integrates documentary footage from the late 40s with seamless technical facility. Aside from the look of the film, the story movingly follows the obsessive dream of a young man who tries to rescue a defunct pre-World War II short-line railroad. His effort arises partly from his interest in engineering, partly from what he seems to view as a proper way to live in the world, and partly from his grandfather's experience as an early railway laborer. His story is bound to touch anyone whose obsessions (professional or aesthetic) have ever been viewed with distrust or contempt by those around him, anyone who has found value in something others reject, and anyone who does not necessarily believe that all progress is good progress. That he fails in his mission is inevitable; that the inevitability of his failure seemed clear from the start, perhaps even to him, only makes his story more moving. Other interesting elements of the movie include the relationship of the main character with a loner (Michael Stipe) that gently hints at the blurred lines between friendship, professional association, and sublimated romance. The movie's matter-of-fact presentation of late-40s bigotry directed at Asian-Americans is yet another of its uncommon background elements. If you want some sort of fast-paced action, or a plot that tells you exactly what you should think, look elsewhere. If you want an exceptional example of visual storytelling that integrates the historical and the personal and is rich in ambiguities, you can hardly do better than "The Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day."
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AZINDN17 July 2002Black and white film making is elevated into the heavens with Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day. The story of a young Chinese- American struggling to resurrect the historic Yosemite Valley Railroad is a visual treasure. Unlike the brilliant black and white DP's of film noir, this film gives new energy to the screen. The slow pace of the story might put off some, but the pace is perfect for allowing the viewer to look behind the action at the lush setting of the Yosemite park.
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drosse6727 January 2003This movie bears a major resemblance to the Czech classic Closely Watched Trains, in not only setting (railroads) but also the "losing of one's innocence." Only this movie is not nearly as witty and very much in love with itself. The only aspect that was interesting was the cinematography--you would not think that black and white would do Yosemite Valley justice, but it still looks beautiful. And Michael Stipe's minor character in this movie is just like you'd expect him to be....quirky and somewhat distracted. I saw this film several years ago and the photography and the convoluted plot were the only things I really remember. It's not surprising that this film is not available anywhere.
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dmaestoso12 February 2002Film begin with quote taken from Matthew 13:46. "Who, When he had found one Pearl of Great Price, went and sold all that he had and brought it."
Very moving railroadmania theme, particular with revolving familiar Los Angeles scene, ie. Los Angeles Passenger Union Terminal (LAPUT) name. Pacific Electric's downtown streetcar routes which aren't there anymore and maintenance shop is a rare interesting layout. Right theme and excellent scope on begone Southern Pacific Railroad (also owned Pacific Electric) exposing former corporate culture. Good job, I think, with historical restoration and award-winning 1996 Sundance Cinematography Award led me to wrongly believe that this film took place in 1950's, era which part of nationwide customary act to abandon railroad lines. Great film to watch those with an entrepreneurial mind with preservation cause. -
burgwinkel10 June 2013One of the most subtly moving films I have ever seen.
It doesn't tell you what to think, it doesn't tell you what to feel; it doesn't tell you anything at all. And for some people that is unbearable. But, it gives you everything.
This film, widely forgotten by many yet passionately loved by a few, ends with a poem which has proved presciently self-referential:
Lo! some we loved, the loveliest and best
That Time and Fate of all their Vintage prest,
Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before,
And one by one crept silently to Rest.
--The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
I am glad films like this were once able to be made. Perhaps they still can be made, I don't know. This one is a beautiful gem. -
Scoats2 September 2008I liked this one a lot. Definitely not an everyday story, and it was told well. The pacing was excellent.
The bit with fancy private rail car to go to Washington DC seemed a bit forced, like "hey we've got a fancy private rail car we can use, let's write it into the script!"
I had no issues with the acting. Well maybe Michael Stipe was too Michael Stipe in his role.
This is a nice little movie. It looks cool, like Jim Jermish's one with Johhny Depp as the accountant in the old west.
90 minutes well spent. -
nunculus17 January 2001Precious bitsy amateurish-sounding dialogue. Hipsterish appearances by Michael Stipe and Henry Gibson (warming up for his MAGNOLIA rocks glass.) A twee setting (railroads in Yosemite!) The earnest, clunky, not-quite-acting acting familiar from homely Sundance cinema. If you want the very definition of everything juiceless, pop-less and minor about the thing that is called "independent filmmaking," you've got it here. The director, Christopher Munch, exudes the personality of an annoyingly soft-spoken, painfully touchy college English major directing his first play and wishing the actors would just be QUIET AND HEAR WHAT HE HAS TO SAY!
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therealshell8 February 2004I remember seeing this at the Toronto Film Festival in 1996, in the then still small Varsity 1 Cinema on Bay & Bloor (the teensy Varsity 1 was a great place to see a movie, being the place where I saw "Dawn of the Dead" for the first time, y'know, the censored version) - What can I say about "Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day" ? It is very dull, not unlike watching paint dry, or attempting to summarize Proust.
I have no idea what the director Christopher Munch was getting at with this plodding, though beautifully photographed film; he has a knack for making very slowly-paced films, witness his first film, the fairly impressive "The Hours and the Times", which was about an imagined (though frequently rumoured) affair between Brian Epstein and John Lennon - That film is scarcely an hour long, but seems much longer.
"Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day" has something to do with trains, as far as I can recall (I fell asleep), and it's 87 minutes seem like an eternity; bonus points for an odd Micheal Stipe performance, where he seems to be channeling Andy Kaufman.