“Music is all around us. We have to just
listen,” says the little boy August Rush in the film with the same title. How
true! Think of it; the whole universe is abuzz with music of varied kind. The
sounds around us can be noise for some, but music for others. In the silent
night, the whirring bees and insects can be irritating for some while melodious
to others. The roaring sea is frightening to some and an undulating instrument
of supreme music to others. The whole universe is full of music – only to those
who have the patience to listen.
Director: Kirsten Sheridan
Film Clip
August
Rush seems to convey this message to the audience.
It is a film about a family of three separated due to difficult circumstance,
but now searching for each other. What is common to the trio and what unites
them at the end is music. The little boy, now known as August Rush, is a child
prodigy for whom music has come by the fact of birth itself. He has learnt and
mastered the musical notes not through human intervention but by his sheer
vibrating ability with the world outside. He has mastered the art of converting
the ‘noise’ outside into melodious scores within. And, of course, music helps him in his search
and he is not keen on converting his rare talent into a business. He is sure
that his search for his parents would not be wasted.
The film, as expected, is a musical and the
songs and the unique ensemble compositions take you to a world of melody
throughout. Full points to the protagonist - Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys
Meyers. Music itself seems to be a character in the film as it plays as a
uniting factor.
- Melwyn Pinto SJ
