the fat old sun

their are harder things in life than trying to keep up with a person who is lost, but still. when hemingway wrote 'the sun also rises' in 1926, it was considered groundbreaking. it has gone on to be included in 'time' magazine's top 100 books of the past 80 years. i think it has lots to do with his style of writing since every character ends up back where they began, while keeping their revelations to themselves.

as it was such a popular book, it is not surprising that some pretty stellar players got involved in the filming of this story of expatriates trying to find some value in their post war lives. as a free spirited woman with four men circling her orbit, ava gardner was the perfect choice to play 'lady brett', a sad party girl who appears to have little conscience outside of the arms of actor tyrone power's, 'jake.' jake is the moral thread that holds the tale together.  he is a hero in some ways, who is now living with a 'war wound.' as he says, 'it could be worse. i could be dead.' 

i fully comprehend the notion that a post war society has possibly too much to face, but there had to have been other choices then drinking away the hours between bullfights.

this is a wonderfully lavish film based on a very poplar novel. the colors are astounding. ava gardner wears 'persimmon' like no other. errol flynn gave a super performance in this character driven film where the leads spend too much precious time witnessing men and bulls trying to kill one another, with humans receiving a very unfair advantage.