Fate sometimes acts like a bitch, it takes one's life at the commencement of a promising career, making an immediate legend out of him. You pay the biggest price to become a star who'll never die
This is the fate of legends who can't afford to become old, to get civilized, to host TV shows or do concerts in Las Vegas, or simply remember the good old days
You die early to become immortal. Indeed, life is a bitch!
"The Buddy Holly Story" is a movie about one of these legends that prematurely deserted our world, but whose style of music never ceased to appeal and influence coming generations : Buddy Holly, one of the most influential Rock and Roll pioneers. His career didn't last more than one year and half, yet he would change the face of music forever, inspiring many generation of singers, among them, The Beatles and Bob Dylan he would even inspire one of the most touching and beautiful songs ever, Don McLean's famous eulogy about that tragic February day where "the Music died"
And I started mentioning the tragedy; because I'm sure everyone who watches the film has the accident in mind, anxiously waiting for it. The apprehension becomes sadness as we're absorbed by the character's charisma, his good-hearted nature and enthusiastic attitude. We're sad because we develop an obvious fondness for Buddy Holly, this tall nerdy guy whose physical appearance would fit more for an astrophysics student. He's fun and gentle, but undeniably talented and perfectly aware of this talent. Buddy has the little something sparkling behind his legendary horn-rimmed glasses, that outshines the band. And after his buddies left the group, I understood why the movie wasn't titled "The Buddy Holly and the Crickets Story". HE is the legend.
And this is the story of the legend. From his beginning in the ice skating station, to his confrontation with the racist Nashville music manager and the New York producer, we respect Buddy Holly, both the artist who knows his value and the man of principles who means business. This respect is stimulated by his incredible show in the iconic Apollo theater, where he handles a skeptical black audience with a nervousness repressed by humor, "we didn't expect you either" before giving a virtuoso performance that would launch his stardom. His whole life is lead by a dedication to his work, and an extraordinarily frenetic energy communicated during his concerts, while singing "That'll be the Day" or "Rock Around with Ollie Vee". I don't think there was any moment my feet stopped following the rhythm, and while watching him swaying his hips and walking on his toes, I couldn't help but think that Elvis Presley's status owes something to Buddy's precocious death.
And if his life is dedicated to music, his heart is for Maria Elena. The film is not just a chronicle on Rock and Roll music or a 50's time capsule, it's about a man whose convictions don't only affect his approach to music, but to love, too. "The Buddy Holly Story" is a poignant love story with a nice little humorous touch as in the scene where Buddy asks Maria's aunt if he can date her niece. Maria will inspire Buddy Holly's famous love songs including "True Love Ways", "Words of Love", becoming the heart of his music, before being forever known as the "widowed bride". A sad destiny for a woman we wish she could have prevented Buddy from going on this doomed winter part tour, if she wasn't pregnant. Ironically, Buddy's commitment indirectly killed him, while he could have become an established and sedentary artist comfortably seated in a TV driven stardom. In a flash of realization, Buddy understood that his life was on stage.
And all our admiration to Buddy relies on Gary Busey's extraordinary performance. I never thought the man I remembered as Mr. Joshua from "Lethal Weapon" and countless forgettable villainous roles, could blow me away like he did. But after watching Steve Rash's film, my respect for Busey increased, so did my sorrow to learn that his career may have been more successful if it wasn't for an accident the actor had in the 80's. When you pull such an authentic performance, I'm sure you can handle anything. A very well deserved Oscar nomination for a performance harder than Jamie Foxx in "Ray" because, there are many mimics, speech mannerisms or attitudes immediately indicative of Ray Charles while Busey had to resurrect Buddy giving him an unknown aura, a personality, likable and complex, and last but not least, he did the whole singing and dancing. It's a perfect example of a great performance carrying a whole film with a solid supporting cast. Though I wish, the movie gave more screen time to Ritchie Valens who deserved, like the Big Bopper, more than two seconds of him dancing with the maracas in the climactic singing scene.
And what a climax, what a thrilling moment that conveys so many opposite feelings, a joyful and exhilarating sensation of freedom and an anticipated sadness, because we know these guys are living the last moments of their life. I was waiting for the scene in the plane but unconsciously I didn't want to see it, as it would have ended the movie in an extreme negative mood. So I was surprisingly satisfied with the ending of the film. Buddy shouts "See you next year" the image freezes and the rest is Rock and Roll. An abrupt ending indeed, but conveying extremely well the brutality and the shock that was Buddy Holly and his companions' death.
I kept staring at the image a long time contemplating that face that revolutionized music and incarnated an era of insouciance, my eyes were meditating, and my heart was crying, as if something really touched me deep inside
"The Buddy Holly Story" is a movie about one of these legends that prematurely deserted our world, but whose style of music never ceased to appeal and influence coming generations : Buddy Holly, one of the most influential Rock and Roll pioneers. His career didn't last more than one year and half, yet he would change the face of music forever, inspiring many generation of singers, among them, The Beatles and Bob Dylan he would even inspire one of the most touching and beautiful songs ever, Don McLean's famous eulogy about that tragic February day where "the Music died"
And I started mentioning the tragedy; because I'm sure everyone who watches the film has the accident in mind, anxiously waiting for it. The apprehension becomes sadness as we're absorbed by the character's charisma, his good-hearted nature and enthusiastic attitude. We're sad because we develop an obvious fondness for Buddy Holly, this tall nerdy guy whose physical appearance would fit more for an astrophysics student. He's fun and gentle, but undeniably talented and perfectly aware of this talent. Buddy has the little something sparkling behind his legendary horn-rimmed glasses, that outshines the band. And after his buddies left the group, I understood why the movie wasn't titled "The Buddy Holly and the Crickets Story". HE is the legend.
And this is the story of the legend. From his beginning in the ice skating station, to his confrontation with the racist Nashville music manager and the New York producer, we respect Buddy Holly, both the artist who knows his value and the man of principles who means business. This respect is stimulated by his incredible show in the iconic Apollo theater, where he handles a skeptical black audience with a nervousness repressed by humor, "we didn't expect you either" before giving a virtuoso performance that would launch his stardom. His whole life is lead by a dedication to his work, and an extraordinarily frenetic energy communicated during his concerts, while singing "That'll be the Day" or "Rock Around with Ollie Vee". I don't think there was any moment my feet stopped following the rhythm, and while watching him swaying his hips and walking on his toes, I couldn't help but think that Elvis Presley's status owes something to Buddy's precocious death.
And if his life is dedicated to music, his heart is for Maria Elena. The film is not just a chronicle on Rock and Roll music or a 50's time capsule, it's about a man whose convictions don't only affect his approach to music, but to love, too. "The Buddy Holly Story" is a poignant love story with a nice little humorous touch as in the scene where Buddy asks Maria's aunt if he can date her niece. Maria will inspire Buddy Holly's famous love songs including "True Love Ways", "Words of Love", becoming the heart of his music, before being forever known as the "widowed bride". A sad destiny for a woman we wish she could have prevented Buddy from going on this doomed winter part tour, if she wasn't pregnant. Ironically, Buddy's commitment indirectly killed him, while he could have become an established and sedentary artist comfortably seated in a TV driven stardom. In a flash of realization, Buddy understood that his life was on stage.
And all our admiration to Buddy relies on Gary Busey's extraordinary performance. I never thought the man I remembered as Mr. Joshua from "Lethal Weapon" and countless forgettable villainous roles, could blow me away like he did. But after watching Steve Rash's film, my respect for Busey increased, so did my sorrow to learn that his career may have been more successful if it wasn't for an accident the actor had in the 80's. When you pull such an authentic performance, I'm sure you can handle anything. A very well deserved Oscar nomination for a performance harder than Jamie Foxx in "Ray" because, there are many mimics, speech mannerisms or attitudes immediately indicative of Ray Charles while Busey had to resurrect Buddy giving him an unknown aura, a personality, likable and complex, and last but not least, he did the whole singing and dancing. It's a perfect example of a great performance carrying a whole film with a solid supporting cast. Though I wish, the movie gave more screen time to Ritchie Valens who deserved, like the Big Bopper, more than two seconds of him dancing with the maracas in the climactic singing scene.
And what a climax, what a thrilling moment that conveys so many opposite feelings, a joyful and exhilarating sensation of freedom and an anticipated sadness, because we know these guys are living the last moments of their life. I was waiting for the scene in the plane but unconsciously I didn't want to see it, as it would have ended the movie in an extreme negative mood. So I was surprisingly satisfied with the ending of the film. Buddy shouts "See you next year" the image freezes and the rest is Rock and Roll. An abrupt ending indeed, but conveying extremely well the brutality and the shock that was Buddy Holly and his companions' death.
I kept staring at the image a long time contemplating that face that revolutionized music and incarnated an era of insouciance, my eyes were meditating, and my heart was crying, as if something really touched me deep inside