Eliot Movie Make-up
By Joy Curtis
This movie was very insightful, giving context to The Wasteland, a poem which would otherwise still be virtually undecipherable. (As the movie said, even the footnotes lead the readers in the wild goose chases!) Some of things illuminated most people would probably feel deserves a "duh" rather than an "ah ha!" but if you look a little closer, the movie reveals a lot more than the surface information. For instance, the poem is clearly complex, a point reiterated throughout the film. However, as the experts revealed the complex weave of the poem, they also spoke about the "jazz rhythms, urban symbols, ancient mythology, everything." I didn't think of The Wasteland as jazzy, though there was a definate beat to it. Approaching the lines with a syncopated rhythm in mind, however, made for a much more enjoyable experience. It is also interesting that Pound, this elusive poet, had a heavy influence on this rhythm, apparently cutting large portions of the original Wasteland until the "music" could truly come out.
A part of the film which I really enjoyed is the part where they describe Eliot's finding of his own voice through the use of other poet's voices. I'd like to think, though, that he doesn't just find his voice through other poets' voices. Rather, I think he found a lot of his voice in The Wasteland through the voices of people in London. The accents, the speech patterns, the rhythms, the topics discussed, it all points to "real life" in London. I feel Eliot found his voice for this poem by watching other people and listening as/about what they spoke.
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