The Poverty Jet Set

A couple nights ago, Audrey and I went to see what is surely going to go down as one of my all time favorite films. It’s a quiet little piece called “Old Joy” and… wow. Just, wow.

It’s one of the films that embodies what I regard as the highest forms of art — as simple as possible, yet exemplifying profound truths. This film is about sorrow, worry and confusion in the chaos of modern times, but also about beauty and stillness and nature. I think the characters are metaphors for some vague duality that exists politically in the American left (and inside me) — the hand wringers that can’t get over the dread of apocalypse and the free spirits who can’t get their hands dirty to make positive change.

One of the things I loved most about it is through these themes, it’s a quintessential Poverty Jet Set story. These dudes are saddened by today’s darknesses, yet they continue to search for peace. They are travelers. They are looking for value in things immaterial — friendship, beauty and peace. Kurt, played by Will Oldham, especially, is a seeker.

I could rant on about this film, but as it has literally less than twenty lines of dialogue, to write more would be a sin. Go see it, as soon as you can.

Technorati Tags: adventure, film, freedom, americana, oldjoy, povertyjetset

This entry was posted on Friday, November 17th, 2006 at 2:23 pm and is filed under film. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.