Railroad Mysteries

Like road movies, train movies are about the journey and not the destination. The air of mystery permeates the train compartments. The closed quarters make for a perfect locked room mystery setting.  The passengers are never who they appear to be.

The mystery in "The Darjeeling Limited" is Francis' undisclosed real purpose for the trip with his brothers. Mysterious identities abound in "Shanghai Express." Yasmina Reza creates suspense as the soliloquies roll on between two passengers sitting across from each other. The mystery is whether they will eventually speak to each other. Soliloquies stall the remake of the ne plus ultra of mystery trains, "Murder on the Orient Express." 

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The Darjeeling Limited

(2007, dir. Wes Anderson)

Brothers travel through

India to shed baggages -

Amid blues, yellows.

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Shanghai Express

(1932, dir. Josef von Sternberg)

"Grand Hotel" on wheels.

Dietrich, butterfly-lit, with

Wong holding her own.

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The Unexpected Man (1995)

by Yasmina Reza

Soliloquies soon

Before connection between

Strangers on a train.

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Murder on the Orient Express

(2017, dir. Kenneth Branagh)

Promising journey

Derailed by Branagh's Poirot

Monologues on screen

Water Creatures

May I begin with "Part of Your World," sung by Ariel from "The Little Mermaid"?

Because of Ariel (and Dyesebel) I pretended to swim and lay on the sand at the beach like a mermaid. I did not realize that this was a song about coming out until my college professor pointed it out to me. I listened to Howard Ashman's lyrics with new ears. My professor was right. 

The characters in the works below have a desire to be part of another world. The water creatures in "Rusalka" and "The Lure" want to be on land. In "The Shape of Water" and "SpongeBob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical," the land creatures want to be in the water world.
Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" endures in "Rusalka" and "The Lure." They are not cruelty-free. "The Lure" has savage mermaids that eat human hearts. The otherness of the water creatures create ideal vehicles for themes of intolerance. "The Shape of Water" and "SpongeBob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical" feature struggles against intolerance. There's a price to pay when joining another world. Typically one loses her voice - literally and figuratively. In all four works, music bridges the separate worlds. 

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Rusalka

(1901, composed by Antonin Dvorak, libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil)(2016-2017 Season, The Met: Live in HD, dir. Mary Zimmerman)

Nymph walks on land for
Lover, then betrayed. Water,
 Moon music pervade.

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The Shape of Water

(2017, dir. Guillermo del Toro)

Del Toro makes an

Adult fairy tale, monster

Musical movie.

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The Lure

(2015, dir. Agnieszka Smoczynska)

Killer mermaids sing

And dance in Polish. Surf and

Turf cannot unite.

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SpongeBob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical

(seen 2/2018, Palace Theatre, Music & Lyrics by Various, Book by Kyle Jarrow, dir. Tina Landau)

Bikini Bottom

On Broadway. Pastiche songs preach

Optimistic views.