Would you . . . - Lost Horizon (1937) Discussion

[–] thatcat1960-1 18 years ago

I suppose it would depend on who I had left behind. If I had to decide between utopia and those cherished ones I chose to share my life with, I would have to go back.

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[–] houchin-1 18 years ago

I think a point worth making here is that in the Hilton/Riskin view "no mind in the 'crazy world' is in its right state" (if I may be permitted to paraphrase Sam Johnson). This is evidenced by the complete transformation undergone by Lovett, Barnard and Gloria Stone, who arrive bearing the mental scars of a sick society (vanity, senseless materialism, nihilism) but are only finally able to become their true selves in the healing atmosphere of Shangri-La. Thus, while one might have ties 'back home', the decision to leave or not would be made by a different person', as it were: the more authentic individual one had become. Can we guess what we might think or do as finer, more noble creatures in a perfect, timeless world? As it is, we are all swimming in the same dirty water and can only foster such a vision in our hearts.

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[–] rbkpi-1 16 years ago

I would have to agree with you. If I had someone back home who was my significant other ; who I deeply loved and cherished, then I would want to return to her. However, if I were able to bring her to Shangri-La, I would go back with her so that we could share our love for centuries. Now, if I had no one back home to go to, I definately would stay, but only if I could find a woman that I could love.

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[–] rbkpi-1 16 years ago

I would have to agree with you. If I had someone back home who was my significant other ; who I deeply loved and cherished, then I would want to return to her. However, if I were able to bring her to Shangri-La, I would go back with her so that we could share our love for centuries. Now, if I had no one back home to go to, I definately would stay, but only if I could find a woman that I could love.

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[–] dede-33 18 years ago

Anyone who would leave such a place would have to be masochistic. I first saw this movie as a child in the 1950s.
How can we turn the entire world into Shangri-La? Is there something in the water?
Steven Spielberg should remake this film. I have written him but recieved no reply. Who should play Colman's part? Tom Cruise is old enough now and passionate enough. Hugh Jackman has the accent but too young. Harrison Ford would do it well. Too bad Sean Conery is too old to do it.
A modern version would be very interesting I think. With all of the sattelites now it would be hard to have people believe in a hidden valley. I have wondered if the people viewing the sattelite pictures have looked for it.

It is too bad there is no such place...........or is there?

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[–] dede-33 18 years ago

Anyone who would leave such a place would have to be masochistic. I first saw this movie as a child in the 1950s.
How can we turn the entire world into Shangri-La? Is there something in the water?
Steven Spielberg should remake this film. I have written him but recieved no reply. Who should play Colman's part? Tom Cruise is old enough now and passionate enough. Hugh Jackman has the accent but too young. Harrison Ford would do it well. Too bad Sean Conery is too old to do it.
A modern version would be very interesting I think. With all of the sattelites now it would be hard to have people believe in a hidden valley. I have wondered if the people viewing the sattelite pictures have looked for it.

It is too bad there is no such place...........or is there?

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[–] Equinox23 18 years ago

Alas there is no other Ronald Colman.Tom Cruise wouldn't have a single clue what it is all about,in fact none of the above could ever replace Ronald Colman.Anthony Hopkins once was suggested as a successor but he doesn't have his splendid looks.Ronald Colman was/is the most beautiful man I've ever seen but his outer beauty is equaled by his capacity to physically show the innermost feelings and thoughts of the person he portrays.Most of his portrayals are therefore definite ones like Beau Geste,Sidney Carton or Robert Conway. I believe Steven Spielberg must be aware of this,so why waste time on a remake and not watch the nearly superb original.

As for Shangri-La, why not visit San Ysidro but then I'm afraid it has changed a lot.Just start building it yourself-I guess it will somehow work out if you just believe.

Greetings from my own little Shangri-La,

Daniela

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[–] dede-33 18 years ago

Anthony Hopkins is (my opinion) a much better actor than Ronald Coleman. You need to watch him again in "The Lion In Winter" he was beautiful then maybe not as Coleman but he had a better range as actor. He moves me. I always feel sorry for Ronald Coleman or rather the characters he portrays. Even though I am 62 I still find him sexy to watch.

Sophia Loren said it best " After a while Beauty is boring.........
As far as Tom Cruise......I would watch Tom read the phonebook. But this clearly is a matter of taste. I think "Born On The Fourth July" was nearly brilliant. Maybe because I am born on the fourth of July. "A Few good Men" remains my favorite... for me this is sex appeal.
Brad Pitt is also very easy on the eyes. He has a watchableness that supercedes (spelling?)any acting flaws. "Seven Years In Tibet" was very underrated. Nicholas Cage sometimes surprises me.
I have been to California and it is very beautiful. Earthquakes are not my thing. You are happy there and I am glad but I didn't think it was Shangri-La.
It doesn't have the mind set; too many people, most are too self absorbed. Now I live at 6,200 feet where there are fewer people. No shangri-La but so very beautiful it takes my breath away. It makes one believe in GOD. I am so lucky to have found this heaven.

love your name, Daniela! mine is Davidea (Dah vee dah)

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[–] Equinox23 18 years ago

Dear Davidea,

You're surely right as to the fact that mere beauty becomes dull in the end,but that's the amazing thing because though he was most beautiful and certainly aware of it Ronald Colman never seemed to let himself be corrupted by this.I wouldn't dare saying this but since I'm not the only person feeling and seeing it there is surely a point to the fact that if you look at him you sense a depth of thought and sensitiveness that is unique.Yes,certainly he is sexy but he reaches far beyond and I'm afraid this will never get boring at all.As for his acting talents just look at how economically he uses every move and how the slightest move adds dimension to his portrayal of a character.It seems very easy but it definitely is hard work.
I'm actually living in the Rhineland in Germany and once I read an article in a newspaper entitled "Paradise is located on the Rur" actually dealing with the city of Aachen or Aix-La-Chapelle.The Rur is a small river here and sometimes I believe whoever wrote the article or the book it is about was right.

Your name is lovely as well and thank you very much,

Daniela

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[–] dede-33 18 years ago

Of all of Ronald Coleman's many attributes you didn't mention his deep but wonderfully resonate soft voice. He is a delite to the senses. As an Aquarian, I believe, he actually felt deeply for his characters. When I said some of his movies are sappy I was thinking of "Random Harvest." It would never fit in this time just like "Penny Seranade" with Cary Grant. Modern Day women would never put up with it. How I love to visit, in the old movies, a by-gone era. One can realize how difficult life could have been. When a movie can pull you in so deeply that you can almost smell a difference in the air and the emotions linger long after the movie is over, That is my delight. One movie that brings me there is "Heartland" which stars Rip Torn and Conchetta Farrell. Have you seen it? I also like Cate Blanchette, especially in "The Missing." You can almost feel the place and time. Brilliant! What movies move you?
My mother's parents came to the USA 100 years ago from Odessa but they were German, Eisenkerch. Too bad I came along so late not to know them. As a child when we would visit Grossmother she lapsed into German. My mother and she would chat along in German and I was lost. When I was old enough to visit my grandmother on my own she spoke of hearing the mermaids singing in the Black Sea. I have a picture taken in the "old country" and in it is my grandparents when they were in their twenties along with their parents and their parents parents and their parents.

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[–] Equinox23 18 years ago

It 's remarkable yes because the voice was the last thing I discovered about him.In Germany movies are usually dubbed and since I've senn Ronald Colman first in German television when I was about 12 or 13 in the early eighties his voice was the one of a German actor.Later on I got lucky because on the Dutch and Belgian tv,which I was able to receive, movies are subtitled.So I heard the original voice about two years later.It's so compassionate.You see I believe that people can disguise a lot but the tone of the voice will reveal a lot about them.
As for tearjerkers I think concerning Mr Colman "The Light That Failed" really moved me the most-apart from Lost Horizon of course.Especially the scene when Dick Heldar ,already blind, holds on to Bessie.Now Heldar is certainly no charming character, but this holding on became actually physical to me when watching it,maybe it's because he knows he's damned and Bessie could be his last resort.
You made me think a lot now about movies that really moved me.And the one that moved me the most till now-and it moved me so much that I left the showroom with tears in my eyes and I wasn't able to relate the story to other people without starting to sob-is not a feature movie but a piece of art.It's a short movie by German artist Rosemarie Trockel entitled "z.B. Balthasar,6 Jahre", which means "e.g. Balthasar,6 years".It was shown on the Biennale in Venice in 1997. It's a black and white short and it's about two small children, a boy and a girl, moving through a landscape.The landscape appears to be peaceful at first sight but along the way the most terrible things are happening like an eagle slaying a lamb or hare,but all the while these innocent children are moving on to a small chappell on a hill.There they stop and build themselves a swing and start to play.This is accompanied by some beautiful music.At the time there was still war in Yougoslavia and this movie was dedicated to an imagenary museum for Sarajevo.It was so terribly beautiful in the true sense of the words.Thank you for reminding me!!
Of course I also cry when watching films like The Dead Poet's Society but it never lasts this long.
It's nice to hear that you've got German roots,mine are German,Dutch and just a little bit English from a long,long time ago.

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[–] dede-33 18 years ago

Robin Williams can be remarkable in some films. One movie was so hard for me to watch that it took four tries before I could get all the way through it. That was "Awakenings." The scene where Robert De Niro asks for help made me cry so hard I had to stop the film. i belong to Netflix which is a movie rental place via mail. one can go on the internet and browse till your hearts content then build a queue and they send three to you. When you send them back they send more. They have many thousands of DVDs but nothing for Balthasar or z.B. Balthasar, 6 Jahre. Any ideas where I might look for a copy?

My father was Italian. If you saw "Scent of a Women" with Al Pacino that was my father. When younger he looked alot like Anthony Quinn especially in "La Strada." Have you seen it? I saw a book of photographs of Yugoslavia once. It was fantastic. Such a beautiful country but I have not seen it in person. I don't like to go where people don't like Americans. I have witnessed why but we are not all like those spoiled brats. I have been to Spain twice. I love it there. The food is so good. There is a German restaurant in Dolores about 10 miles from me. While there once I ordered Saure *beep* and put it on my mash potatoes. the owner came out and told me that was not how I should eat it. But I love it like that.

As for music supporting a movie........did you see "Somewhere in Time?"

Davidea

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[–] Equinox23 18 years ago

Dear Davidea,

I'm afraid you won't get a copy of Balthasar anywhere because it is a work of art and I suppose that there are only a few copies around and that they are most certainly very expensive.It really was an exhibition in one of this beautiful palazzi,I remember it was some double name with Dubois in it.It's already great to get into one of those.The most beautiful though is the Palazzo Grassi-which has been turned into an art museum for good now.I've googled "Rosemarie Trockel" and "z.B. Balthasar,6 jahre" and apparently it was on exhibition in Houston in 1998 but this was the only hit.
If your father is Italian have you ever been to Venice?
Don't ever bother about how things ought to be eaten as long as you like it.Could it have Sauerbraten cause this is very Rhenish?
I've come to learn though that the food considered to be German in America is sometimes unknown to me as was a German chocoate cake I was offered on my only trip to the USA till now.
I haven't watched "Somewhere in Time" but the story ouline seems interesting and if timetravel by selfhypnosis was possible I'd surely try it though Einstein's theories would make it impossible.

Daniela

P.S.: I know La Strada and have watched it though not recently and it is quite emotional!!!And also Awakenings is great and the original Oliver sacks is such a nice person at least from what one can see on tv or read in his books!!

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[–] dede-33 18 years ago

I am interested on your opinions about the work of Ingmar Bergman. I finally saw "The Seventh Seal." The first time I watched it, although his technique was unusual, I didn't understand all the fuss. Then later, it haunted me so that I watched it again. Riddled with symbolism, It sort of took me in. I am now a big fan of Bergman. I will get "Strawberry Fields" soon. I saw part of it on TV and ordered the DVD.

Late last night I stayed up to watch "Tomorrow is Forever" with Claudette Colbare, Orson Wells and George Brent. It made me feel angry but I"m not sure why apart from the fact that it is a true TEAR JERKER! Sort of a "Random Harvest" without the happy ending and sex appeal. Hollywood seldom made downers back then.

We seldom get German made films here. I don't know why. I have copies of a lot of Italian films. I love Sophia, Gina and Verna. I bought a copy of "How to Murder your Wife" 14 years ago when my son was 10 and he fell in love with Verna Lisi. When I die I want to come back as Verna......all that perfection..

It is raining very hard right now. No hiking today. I live in Colorado. It is very very dry here yet I have seen more rain these last four months than the entire 13 years I have lived here. What is it like where you are? I imagine the Fall colors must be spectacular. Do Germans celebrate Holloween? Silly holiday really.

I am thouroughly enjoying your messages. Write whenever you can.

Davidea

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[–] Equinox23 18 years ago

I'm marvelling at the fact that indeed every registered member at imdb should be able to read this and I also wonder where it might take us and who will join in.I had to do some research as for the correct English titles of the movies but I'm certain they are right.
Concerning Ingmar Bergman and especially "The Seventh Seal" I must say that I happen to have attented a seminar on the Middle Ages at the academy where I've studied."The Seventh Seal",which I had watched before was shown by tutor to illustrate medeval myths and symbolism for it deals with the idea of the danse macabre-death dance and of course with the plague.But then it goes way beyond this showing how the perception of the world might vary and how some people might have a deeper perception of what is going on and others might just be ignorant to this-not every character in the movie is able to perceive Death coming.A movie by Bergman set in a similar time is "The Virgin Spring".To my mind it's even more archaic in its outset and the outcome is most strange.I wonder if you know it?!It's dealing with a young vain girl and how she became a sort of saint.Fanny and Alexander is also nice.Bergman has a way to create images that are hauntingly good and accurate.
Virna Lisi-yes I know her especially because of her performance in the movie "Queen Margot" where she is Catherine de Medicis.She plays a woman that surely and deadly knows how to employ and apply poison and she is the one responsible for the ST Bartholomew's Night Massacre-awfully good performance.This movie was and is one of my favourites although the massacre is shown in every gruesome detail.
I'm so sorry that at the time I'm not able to watch a lot of movies but I hope it will change again when my two smaller children won't need so much attention any more.So I cannot say too much on German movies at the moment but Tom Tykwer is a great young director and The Perfume is his latest movie starring Dustin Hoffman.He's directed also Run Lola Run aka Lola Runs.
I live in the Rhineland as I've said before and people here are only too glad to have an excuse for some celebration.Therefore Halloween has already been well adopted and because All Hallows-the first of November-is a holiday here they take this opportunity.Only eleven days later carnival is commencing on the 11th of November at exactly 11 past 11 am.
Coming back to the initial Lost Horizon and Shangri-La I forgot to mention that Maharishi is allegedly living in the neighbouring Dutch village-that is if he still alive.In case you don't know Maharishi he is better known as the guru of the Beatles.
Loking forward to your reply,
Daniela

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[–] dede-33 18 years ago

"The Perfume" is not available here yet but I did order "The Virgin Spring" and "Queen Margot." I will let you know when I view them. "Fanny and Alexander is already on my queue. Yes! I know the Maharishi by reputation only. Paul McCartney was in the news just now seems his divorce is getting increasingly nasty. Franka Potenta is in "The Bourne Identity" and she is so good. I really like her. I think i looked a little like her when I was younger. I will send for "Run Lola Run" too. I read a lot and Ludlum is one of my favorite writers. If you get a chance to see "Heartland" or "Sleepers" I would value your opinion. I know you must be busy with two young ones I am so jealous. I only had one boy and he is all grown and gone. Some days I roam around the house lost because i was so focussed on my son. He loves movies too. I miss him the little boy I mean. He was such great fun. Enjoy every moment with your children. Hug and kiss them because later you will wish you had done that more.
You have carnival on November 11th , what is it like? What is the Rhineland like? I imagine it is something like the Napa Valley in California with acres of grapes. I love that German wine that tastes something like pumkin pie. We have Thanksgiving the last Thursday in November. This holiday is focused on food and since I grew up in an Italian household we feast like Italians. That means not only do I roast a stuffed turkey with all the trimmings like candied yams, creamed onions and cranberry sauce but I make a lasagna too. I make it from scratch even making the noodles. I taught my son how to cook now he brags that he is a better cook than I am. He married in June and I will go visit this Christmas. They live by the Ocean on the east coast about 2,000 miles away. Just two more months!
How many languages do you speak? I know Danke and bitte but little else in German. I know more Spanish than Italian. Your English is very good indeed.

Davidea

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[–] Equinox23 18 years ago

Thank you!!I speak German,English,Dutch,seulement un peu French and I've studied Russian for one year but do not remember a lot.Well carnival starts in November and ends on Mardi Gras,that's why it's often called the fifth season.It's mainly an indoor celebration with people dressing up in costumes and making funny speeches. There's also a special form of show dance.Then on the last six days beginning with the thursday before Mardi Gras at 11 past 11 am the festivities are taken out into the open with carnival processions from sunday till tuesday.The thursday is especially dedicated to the women for on this day women rule-esp old women!!If you happen to be in Cologne on that day and at the appointed time it just might take several hours to get home although you just have to walk a few hundred meters.This happened to a friend of mine since she was offered drinks and kisses from the crowd that suddenly rushed out into the street.
Though I live in the Rhineland I'm afraid there are no grapes growing here or not as many as to start selling wine because I live way up north-west of Cologne in the very west of Germany.The land is flat and very low-no mountains!!!-but very fertile.There is a lot of farming and like in the Netherlands very few forrests.
Another great movie is "the Eighth Day" or "Le Huitième Jour" by Jaco van Dormael starring Daniel Auteuil.I'll try to watch "heartland"-there seems to be only a US,a Canadian or a French version-and "sleepers" I remember having watched a long time ago I guess I'll have to refresh it.
As for the children it's really,really nice to have them around but as Emmanuel Levinas has pointed out it's quite easy to be just and kind where there are only two parties involved but as soon as a third party gets involved things become complicated.That's just the way it is!!!
I'm sorry to hear that your son is living this far away.It must be awfull at times.

Daniela

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[–] dede-33 18 years ago

Carnivale lasts from November to March? Wow, that is a long celebration. I will look for a copy of "The Eighth Day" I just watched "Snatch" and although I didn't understand all the diolog I thought it was a real good movie. Did you ever see "Thelma and Louise?" Is woman's lib an issue there? Another good one is "Places In The Heart." We have a TV show that is extremely popular in the UK and Australia. It is called "Desparate Housewives" very funny. Do you know of it?

Davidea

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] coolbluegreen 18 years ago

My version of paradise certainly does NOT contain Tom Cruise. Ick. I agree that Spielberg could remake this film and do a really good job, if he restrained himself (when he doesn't -- Temple of Doom, etc. -- the results are disastrous). He did a sublime job with ET and The Empire of the Sun and if he brought that sensibility to this film, we could have a wonderful remake.

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[–] dede-33 18 years ago

If not Tom Cruise who? How about that Australian Looney Tune that played The Gladiator.Surely not Hugh Grant (double ICK) It needs a gentleman Too bad Meryl Streep and Judi Dench are too old. they could play the female lead. How about Cate Blanchette? perhaps they should make it modern and cast a Female in the lead? So how would you cast the remake?

Davidea

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[–] macredho1510 16 years ago

Stay

PSN= KickoMail
I like folding@home

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[–] dustinthewind25 16 years ago

hey macredhol510 - thx for getting my thread back on track :)

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[–] macredho1510 16 years ago

Sorry dustin I had just finished watching the movie and felt like posting my opinion no need to be nasty about it tho. Geesh.
PSN= KickoMail
I like folding@home

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[–] dustinthewind25 16 years ago

Macred - I wasn't being nasty. I was serious. I posted this thread a while back, wondering what people thought, and then suddenly the thread got taken over by two people talking about NOTHING to do with my original post, so I was really happy that somebody got it back on track by answering the original question. Believe me, I was not being nasty, I was really glad you posted. Sorry for the mix-up.

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[–] stevenvh 16 years ago

Leave, definitely. It's been a while since I watched LH, but I remember thinking I'd die of boredom if I had to stay there. The film is not one of my favorites.

--
I never make mistakes. Once I thought I did, but I was wrong.

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[–] hobnob53 16 years ago

I agree. Leave. Shangri-la is a hierarchical, elitist society, even a selfish one, if you think about it. Confining, both physically and mentally. No real fulfillment, spiritually, intellectually or socially. Essentially a gilded cage, and ultimately, as empty as one.

A society that achieved its goal of bringing in "new blood" by kidnapping people, giving them no choice to return, and by the way somewhere along the way dispatching the original pilot? This contradicts everything they say they stand for.

But mostly, it's because man is meant to confront life. In Shangri-la you're running away not only from your own problems but the world's. The only hope for a better world is to try to make it. One person can do only so much but millions working together in freedom and with purpose can accomplish a great deal. Civilization is kept and advanced by those who stay and fight, struggle and create, work to uplift and help their fellow man, not by hiding away from the world's problems. There can be comfort enough in life without sealing oneself off from others, and true knowledge, fulfillment and achievement is attainable only by those who experience and learn from life, live it broadly and to its fullest, and who leave behind a legacy of bettering in some small way our planet and our fellow human beings.

Plus, I'd be bored there, too.

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[–] fast_fierce_and_funny 15 years ago

I think whether you'd go or stay depends on how you happen to view the world.

Conway stayed because after his years of being a diplomat, he likely realized that men are bent on destroying one another, and that there is only so much one person can do to help people get over their tendency toward war and destruction.

However, you and I might want to leave simply because the outside world is all we've ever known, and we might have people we care about waiting for us there. In Conway's case, he was lucky enough to find someone he cared for in Shangri-La. His brother, on the other hand, had someone in the outside world he wanted to get back to (Conway mentions that his brother should take the job that "Helen's father is offering" to him if/when they return).

I can understand why some people would be anxious to leave, but I would probably want to stay, myself. Why don't you kidnap me, ship me off to Shangri-La, and then ask me how I feel about it all? :)

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[–] spirit_30 15 years ago

I'd stay too ... I would be like Barney ... Lovey and the woman ... ah ... I wait until the next trip. Oh ...I'd most definitely would stay ... and start really exploring my inner self ... with out the stress of having a roof over my head or food to eat ... or bills to pay ...

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[–] skiddoo 13 years ago

Leave. There is so much to learn on the planet and in the universe. I have a inquiring mind. I love nature--all sorts. Shangri-La is far too confining, and even if it weren't sexist and racist, it is lacking in any sort of real challenge, just hanging onto the past. One can only read about the outside world rather than experiencing it and making one's own mind up rather than accepting an author's filter. As Cat Ballou said, "There are still places I want to go and things I want to do. I don't want to die." I would find Shangri-La to be an exceedingly slow death. I love people and cultures. I don't want to be closeted away with a few people who are self-sufficient for many, many decades to come. I want to be part of the solution, to help others, to make a positive difference. I don't see what value my incredibly long life would have if I couldn't be out among those who genuinely need me. Philosophers might want to spend the rest of their lives in an ivory tower but I'm a big fan of reality even when it isn't pretty. I admire and respect those who do good works and improve the world, not those who opt out. There just isn't enough scope in Shangri-La for me. I'd be tossed out on my ear for working for equal rights, reestablishing the native culture and language, teaching the people to the same level as the lama instead of apparently stopping at an everlasting grade school level (seriously, how stupid are those kids not to be farther along after all those years than that--is it from inbreeding?), and letting the people live in the lama's mansion rather than being there as servants and going home to their huts. I would also try to make the whites get their lily white hands dirty instead of getting all the white collar jobs.

I'd be just as much of a wash out if I tried to join the Amish. It's too limiting. I have a life list of things I want to get to and I hope I will always have more to add to the list. My new year's resolution is always to do something I've never done before. Two years ago I got around to jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, tandem. I wanted to know how I would react and what it was like. I had an adventure that was all my own, not what an author said it was for him or her. I want to keep stretching and growing, going beyond my comfort zone. That wouldn't work at all in Shangri-La. :)

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