Guilty Pleasures is a documentary that I enjoyed watching. Contrary to what I expected, it turned out to be what I call a romantic comedy documentary. I'm not sure if the term exists within documentary genres, but I've noticed the rise of more documentaries that capture love stories. Or maybe I'm just drawn to that genre and seeking them out.
Like Guilty Pleasures, a good romantic comedy documentary is heartwarming and it leaves you smiling at the end. I find these kind of documentaries a nice escapist break from reality.
And like the Mills & Boon romance novel, on which the documentary was based, it mirrored that escapist world. Director Julie Moggan said in a Q&A following the screening at this year's Birds Eye View festival, that she'd come across a news article that stated, every four seconds somewhere around the world, a Mills & Boon is sold. That inspired her to make this documentary and to seek out Mills & Boon readers around the world.
And like a classic Mills & Boon book, the documentary featured characters that were going through personal struggles in their romantic lives. It featured a number of female Mills & Boon readers and their partners, but the woman that stood out most for me was Hiroko a Japanese housewife. I just found her likeable.
I could have sworn the whole thing was scripted. Hiroko read Mills & Boon and fantasised about being swept off by a prince charming during a ballroom dance. She was looking for a kind of romance that she did not encounter in her marital life. But reading about it was not enough for her, and she decided to embark on a ballroom dance course to make that dream come true.
In the process she sort of fell in love with her handsome dance instructor. But as time continued, her ambitions grew and wanting to participate in a dance competition, a costly matter, her husband decided to join her. Together they embarked on dance lessons in preparation for the grand competition. In Hiroko's case, her dream for prince charming became a reality in her marriage and on top of that, they won the competition, a happy ending to her journey.
The thing that stood out most for me was the structure of Guilty Pleasures. It was cut in a way to mirror reality versus fantasy. Like the action of reading a romantic novel, specific scenes would enable that escapism to take place. Aided by a romantic score, I felt it most during Hiroko's dance scenes.
On the other hand, reality would return once the novel was put down. This was particularly strong in the case of Shirley, an English woman. Mills & Boon helped her escape into her own world. Shirley was in a loving relationship, but having to struggle with her partner's depression. It served as a strong reminder to real life in contrast to her Mills & Boon world.
The other striking character in Guilty Pleasures was Stephen, the North American cover model. His presence in the documentary served to present us with an iconic picture, symbolical of the typical hero. Structurally, the interludes with him, tanned and well-built, driving his racing boat, arriving like a knight in shining armour, dramatised this escapist world. The sun was always shining and the sky was blue in scenes featuring Stephen. It was a backdrop fit for a Mills & Boon cover, in contrast to some of the grey scenes that reflected the mundaneness of real life outside the novel.
Like Guilty Pleasures, a good romantic comedy documentary is heartwarming and it leaves you smiling at the end. I find these kind of documentaries a nice escapist break from reality.
And like the Mills & Boon romance novel, on which the documentary was based, it mirrored that escapist world. Director Julie Moggan said in a Q&A following the screening at this year's Birds Eye View festival, that she'd come across a news article that stated, every four seconds somewhere around the world, a Mills & Boon is sold. That inspired her to make this documentary and to seek out Mills & Boon readers around the world.
And like a classic Mills & Boon book, the documentary featured characters that were going through personal struggles in their romantic lives. It featured a number of female Mills & Boon readers and their partners, but the woman that stood out most for me was Hiroko a Japanese housewife. I just found her likeable.
I could have sworn the whole thing was scripted. Hiroko read Mills & Boon and fantasised about being swept off by a prince charming during a ballroom dance. She was looking for a kind of romance that she did not encounter in her marital life. But reading about it was not enough for her, and she decided to embark on a ballroom dance course to make that dream come true.
In the process she sort of fell in love with her handsome dance instructor. But as time continued, her ambitions grew and wanting to participate in a dance competition, a costly matter, her husband decided to join her. Together they embarked on dance lessons in preparation for the grand competition. In Hiroko's case, her dream for prince charming became a reality in her marriage and on top of that, they won the competition, a happy ending to her journey.
The thing that stood out most for me was the structure of Guilty Pleasures. It was cut in a way to mirror reality versus fantasy. Like the action of reading a romantic novel, specific scenes would enable that escapism to take place. Aided by a romantic score, I felt it most during Hiroko's dance scenes.
On the other hand, reality would return once the novel was put down. This was particularly strong in the case of Shirley, an English woman. Mills & Boon helped her escape into her own world. Shirley was in a loving relationship, but having to struggle with her partner's depression. It served as a strong reminder to real life in contrast to her Mills & Boon world.
The other striking character in Guilty Pleasures was Stephen, the North American cover model. His presence in the documentary served to present us with an iconic picture, symbolical of the typical hero. Structurally, the interludes with him, tanned and well-built, driving his racing boat, arriving like a knight in shining armour, dramatised this escapist world. The sun was always shining and the sky was blue in scenes featuring Stephen. It was a backdrop fit for a Mills & Boon cover, in contrast to some of the grey scenes that reflected the mundaneness of real life outside the novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment