MovieChat Forums > Uptown Girls (2003) Discussion > four questions -- your help please!

four questions -- your help please!


I've just watched "Uptown Girls" again, this time on YouTube (yes, the complete movie is there in 9 parts), and four questions occurred to me again after I had first seen the movie in the theater a few years back:

1. Who bought the guitars at the auction? The phone caller was never identified. Some say it was Neal, the rock singer; others say it was Ray (Dakota Fanning) who bought them. Anybody know for sure? Or did the screenplay writer decide just to leave it to our imagination?

2. What is the name of that quiet piano piece that plays when Ray returns, disappointed and hurt, from her recital that Molly failed to attend? It's used more than once in the film. I looked at the list of songs on the soundtrack listed by the IMDb, some of which are instantly recognizable, but I don't know which of the remaining titles applies to the piano piece.

3. What is the ballet term Molly uses when she is responding to Ray's mother after Molly's been fired? I kept replaying that line on YouTube over and over and still couldn't figure it out, so I went to "Memorable Quotes" and found the scene quoted, and this was the line I was looking for: "Do you know what etage your daughter's at in ballet?" I then went back to YouTube and replayed the scene again, and sure enough that's what it sounds like -- "etage". (Molly pronounces it something like "eh-TAZH".) But what does that mean? I tried looking up "etage" in the online dictionaries and even Googled it but came up with nothing, or at least nothing that made any sense in the context Molly uses it. Does anybody with a background in ballet know if "etage" is the correct word, and if so, what it means? Or did the "Memorable Quotes" poster just misunderstand the word?

4. And finally, did anybody find it strange that Molly never apologized to Ray for failing to show up at her recital? Ray comes home in the limo in the rain, gets out and storms into the hotel, and in the next scene Molly shows up at Ray's bedroom door the next morning, cheerfully chirping away in conversation -- but not one word of apology. By this time they had established something of a rapport and the beginnings of a real friendship, and I thought it was just plain odd, and even insensitive, for Molly not to say, "I'm sorry I missed your recital, Ray, it was inexcusable." (You'll remember that Molly had been clubbing the night before -- again.)

If any of you out there can answer these questions, I'd be grateful.

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Re: 4, I don't think Molly realised that Ray wanted her to attend. She says to Ray's mother that it's her night off, and the reason she goes up to her is because she's shocked that she's not at Ray's recital - I don't think she realised until then how negligent Ray's mother is. So when she breezes in to cheer Ray up, it's because she thinks Ray is upset that her mother missed her recital, when I think it's more likely that Ray was upset that Molly wasn't there.

I assumed Neal bought the guitars - he idolised Molly's dad, and he'd just signed a record contract so was apparently rich. I don't think Ray would have had access to that sort of money, even if she could have had whatever she wanted.

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My gosh, that's helpful! Thank you, seriously. You helped clarify things for me about the non-apology, and about who probably bought the guitars. When I think back about it -- and I'll probably watch the movie again just to make sure -- I guess Ray never really asked Molly to come to the recital while they were having tea but only reminded Molly that that was coming up, and that Molly never really committed to coming to it. You obviously are a closer watcher of detail than I am. :-)

Excellent logic on the guitar purchase. I hadn't thought it through like you had, and you're probably right. To take it a step further, I'm assuming (maybe because I'm a softy and like happy endings) that Neal returns all the guitars to Molly as a gift to her, because (a) he's sweet on her, (b) he finally took her advice to stop thinking about only himself, and (c) he knows how much those guitars meant to her, since they were all she had left of her dad. And like you said, because of his record deal he was now rich, which means he was able to pony up $75,000 at the auction and not feel any impact on his wallet.

As for the other two questions, maybe someone will answer those also. I went through the entire soundtrack list and found all of them on YouTube videos, and NONE of them are that quiet piano piece, the one which plays when Ray comes back to the hotel in the limo in the rain, and again when Molly finds Ray sitting in the teacups alone and joins her. Such a beautiful piece. I'd really like to know the name of it. I've heard it before in other films, although I can't recall which ones. And as for that ballet term, well, I'm really lost on that one. I don't know zip about ballet techniques and terminology, so it's going to take someone with a background in it to explain what "etage" means -- assuming that's the correct word.

Thanks again for your help, wastedfairy. Your insights certainly weren't "wasted" on me. :-)

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hello,

i am the writer of /sheets..../molly..../night of love

[1]neal buys the guitars,

[2]the melody is not sold anywhere to my knowing
and as far as i know it was written by JOEL MCNEELY
IT MIGHT LOOK FUNNY
but one of these is the title of that melody,
[2] 01m10 down mix
[3] 01m12/13 down mix
[4] 04m05 down mix
[5] 04m07 down mix

[3] ooh that one i have no idea about, i'm sorry.

[4]well, yeah molly should have said she was sorry i agree.

peace,
carlos melendez

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Thanks for your input, Carlos, and may I say it's an honor to be in touch with the writer of those GREAT songs. I see you've posted at other places on the board, and I'm sure everyone is delighted that you took the time to respond to each of them. One quick question -- are you by any chance the same Carlos Melendez who sang with Menudo some years back?

Thanks again for your help. At least now I know the piano piece was written by Joel McNeely! As far as Molly's apology, another responder said (you can read it above) that it was Ray's mom who was supposed to be there, not Molly because it was Molly's night off and Ray knew that, so Molly wasn't obligated to apologize. I agree with that in the most precise sense, but the more I think about it, the more I believe I still would have handled it differently had I been in Molly's shoes, because this is still a little girl we're talking about. Even if I wasn't obligated to apologize because I technically wasn't invited, I could only imagine how hurt Ray must have been that her mother was not there for her recital. So I think I would have said to Ray when I showed up the next morning, "Ray, I know you're upset because you're mother wasn't there, but you know what? I should have been there too just because you're my friend, and for that I apologize. It'll never happen again. I *pinky-swear* promise I'll be at your next recital." I think by the time of the missed recital, Molly was already figuring out that Ray was a fragile and vulnerable little girl, typically of children at that age, and that Ray's whole "tough girl" exterior was just phoney. She'd been hurt so many times in her life that that was her defense against the world. She broke my heart when she said to Molly in talking about her comatose father, "It's a harsh world." All I could think of was what an unhappy little girl she was, despite all the creature comforts she had and the privileged life she led.

But I'm going on and on. Good luck to you, Carlos, in all your future song-writing. It was a genuine pleasure to hear from you.

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A quick note, Carlos -- I found Joel McNeely's website (www.joelmcneely.com) and clicked on the "film music" section, and there it was, the name of the solo piano piece I'd been looking for. He simply titled it "Ray's Theme," and clicking on the title brings up the tune on the computer speakers. Mission accomplished -- with YOUR great help, Carlos. Thanks again!

Now the only remaining question out of my original four is, what does "etage" mean as a ballet term? Any ballet aficionados out there with the answer?

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Wow thanks for letting me know where to find the sonf

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Hi,
It's going to be on the Family channel this coming weekend. I plan to watch because I missed the start of it. I will watch on closed caption to see what she said regarding ballet.

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Wonderful, trixlyn, thank you! I'll be tied up this whole weekend and won't be watching any television, so whatever you learn will be greatly appreciated! That's a GREAT idea about watching it closed-captioned. Now we'll find out if the **captioners** got it right! (Sometimes they don't.) But if they did, maybe the long search for what the heck an "etage" is will finally be over. :-) I'm assuming you're a person with a background in ballet, which is icing on the cake.

EDIT REQUIRED: I made a stupid spelling error and had to go back in. Apologies.

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1) I always assumed Neal.

3) It sounded like she said "étage" and that's what the subtitles said. It's French and means level or stage. So I guess she meant what level she was in ballet. It is a bit unusual to use it like that because I don't think ballet classes are named by "étage" but that's the only meaning I can think of. It's possible Molly was mis-using French too.

4) It was her night off when it was Ray's recital so she hadn't been expected to come. In fact I think she'd forgotten (if she ever knew) that it was on, remember she met Ray's mother at the club and asked who was looking after Ray and the mother said the recital was on and Molly wanted to head over but the mother told her not to and said she'd sent a car. So apologising would have been a bit silly as she hadn't been invited and letting Ray know she'd found out it was on would probably just have made Ray sadder.

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Wow, many, many thanks, hppg! :-) It is so great to know, finally, what "etage" means. (I can't find a way to put the accent mark over the first "e" as you did, but thanks for that as well.) You obviously have a background in ballet, so I believe you must be dead-on accurate as to its meaning and its contextual use by Molly. The word and the sentence make perfect sense now. Thanks so much -- I can stop tossing and turning in bed now! :-)

As for your answer to question #4, again I think you're absolutely accurate. Someone else had also answered the question the same way -- that Molly was never invited in the first place to Ray's recital, thus Molly had no reason to apologize for a no-show -- but it was nice to hear a second-source confirmation, as some reporters like to say. (I'm not a reporter.) The realization that your answer is the right one also makes me feel a little dumb (not your fault, hppg) because the fact that Molly wasn't invited because it was her night off just went completely over my head. Whew, it makes me wonder what ELSE I'm missing in plot points when I watch movies!

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I miss stuff all the time in films!

I have no ballet background, but do speak French. Like I said I haven't heard of it in a ballet context before but probably because there are lots of French words in ballet, Molly just used it to mean what stage she was at.

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I know this is super later, but:

I don't know the name of the piece, perhaps someone else answered you. Neither am I sure of the ballet term.

I think Ray's mom bought the guitars. Someone said that the musician (forget his name) was now rich. It's a common misconception. Artists may get an advance but it's so they can survive the months they're writing and recording. It's usually not that much money, if any. A record deal is, essentially, a loan with a 98% interest. An artist makes money on products and live shows, not usually from record sales. Look at TLC as an example of that. Just to clear things up.

It was Molly's night off so she assumed Ray's mom would attend the recital and was upset when she realized she hadn't. That's why she made a point of trying to cheer the little girl up the next day.

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Neal bought the guitars. One of the songwriters, Carlos Melendez, confirmed it above.

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