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... Hands you my school project I worked way too hard on to you

Hello friends! I’m going to be talking about my favorite childhood movie that still manages to hold true for me today: Rigoletto. This movie has so many winning qualities and I really wish it was a more well-known movie, as I only had it because we were part of the “feature films for families” club at the right time. (They mailed you a new VHS once a month). It is good for so many reasons! The music is unique and gorgeous, the editing masterful, and the story is an age-old tale (that I feel is easily forgotten) chock full of good morals and lessons vital to a child. Even more, it’s told in a beautiful way through the lens of childhood innocence. The whole story is seen with a contrast of adult and child perspectives, valuing both, and within its shroud of mystery that leaves the details up to interpretation, kids have room to see even more than what is there and use their imaginations. The title itself is not the name of a character in the story, but of the fairytale read at the beginning of the movie.

The music in Rigoletto, all written by Kurt Bestor specially for this movie, is a kind of throwback to different, underappreciated eras. The cover too, with its operatic styled border. Set in the 1930s during the Great Depression, it has a unique feel. The songs are very diverse in their tones, but have a certain connectivity and flow about them. Each one adds to the story in a unique way and the editing montages that go with some, specifically April Child, make them that much more moving and personal for the audience. Some help us understand characters on a deeper level (especially since singing is part of the plot), some help increase emotional impact during key scenes, some bring heartbreak in how they predict coming scenes, and my favorite, Let Me In, serves as a summary from Bonnie’s perspective. I’m playing one of the many great songs from this movie in the background, The Curse and then The Melody Within, the main themes for the movie overall.

The movie Rigoletto follows a community as it faces many changes. An illusive man, Ribaldi, has moved to town and new, mysterious financial difficulties are arising, distressing the residents. The main character, Bonnie Nelson, and her family are to be evicted from their home and the only way for them to keep it is if Bonnie makes a sacrifice of time in service to this newcomer. It is the only collateral he will accept. In time, her curiosity as well her gumption to do what is right lead her to look deeper into Ribaldi and what makes him beautiful, rather than ugly. She hears what he can do as a singing teacher and longs to learn from him and as the movie progresses their friendship, her skills, and his kindness grow. He befriends and helps the children of the town, but the adults still mistrust him and hate only grows in their hearts.

This conflict of love versus hate, open mindedness versus fear, the step it takes to go out of a comfort zone and make a change, this is what we are left to ponder. The strength of the will of the one who looks deeper. Even the cover displays this conflict, depicting both the beautiful refuge of Ribaldi’s home as well as the angry mob in the mist, as both images merge together in the center, meeting at the title of the movie and the image of Bonnie looking back forlornly, yet also with determination. The intended theme is easy to see.

This movie teaches kids to look deeper and care about others, even when things get dicey. It shows that one person’s kindness can unlock that of someone else’s, perhaps someone who has been often knocked down, and how important that can be. Not only that, but it teaches kids how to cope with bad situations, with their emotions in a healthy way. In seeing Ribaldi help all these kids with their issues, the movie speaks straight to us. In talking to Porter, one of Bonnie’s friends who has issues at home, he says, “I think that you love your father. And you hate the way you feel. Change the way you feel.” He goes on, stating that “Meanness isn’t strength. Your father is not a strong man. Not yet anyway. But who knows what tomorrow brings? You mustn’t give up on him. He needs the love of his family now just as you need his love, and someday you’ll both get what you need.” This teaches a priceless lesson, not only for someone facing that, but any child. Emotions are real. And they suck sometimes. But you have the power to be better. To change the way you feel, even if it takes time, and to grow in the way you handle your struggles. Strength is in gentleness, kindness- not anger. Mercy is where we can find our peace.

Rigoletto teaches self-worth, bravery, true right and wrong, real strength, the beauty of loyal friendship, meaningful sacrifice and to always work to do more. Watching it again, so many of my personal beliefs, morals, and ways of life have come directly from this movie and it means the world to me. And not just me. One of the things that made this movie great was its personal connection to its creator. Joe Paur fought long and hard to make this movie what he intended (fun fact, he played Ribaldi), a tribute to his mother and the place she grew up in (it was even fimed there), and at a high cost. Because of his determination he ended up with friction with nearly everyone on the team, even his own brother. He left the movie business after this one, despite having written two, now still unpublished, sequels. This movie was a passion project and it's evident. Paur knew his vision was worth the sacrifice, just as Bonnie, and later Ribaldi as well, decided that their sacrifice is a small price to pay for those that they love. We can see it in the product, Rigoletto is a timeless celebration of the things that make us human, especially in times of struggle, and I believe that it is priceless.

So I leave you with the wise words of Ribaldi, “There is nothing more mean and ugly in this world than to have a loving gift, a beautiful spirit, and a desire to give and share these things when there is no one to share them with.”

#rigoletto #rigoletto 1993 #important lessons #best kids movie #you can drag this from my cold dead hands

#rigoletto #rigoletto 1993 #spring

“It’s a simple matter of, ‘Who’s tougher, you or (the other guy)? Well, I am of course...I developed this crust...Even to this day, I walk in and think, ‘Gosh, who is there that I might have to fight?’ I always had within myself this longing for other people to see what was really there."

...He patterned the film’s young heroine after his mother...Paur worked on virtually every aspect of the movie from writing the script to casting to directing...The final product bears his fingerprints inside and out — but he burned bridges in the process. “After ‘Rigoletto,’ I wanted nothing to do with the entertainment world,” said Paur, who has written two unpublished sequels to the movie. Paur’s brother played the role of Ribaldi... Joe Paur would always point out his brother’s contributions to admirers, but fame being what it is, Leo Paur never got much recognition for the movie or his talents. “There was a woman whose car rolled over and it started on fire,” said Joe Paur. “And everybody was standing back because they were afraid it was going to blow up. Well, Leo was the guy that went over and jumped on top of the car, reached down to the lady and pulled her out....Rigoletto is Leo...Behind all the gruff, this is what Leo's heart is like.”

#im sorry two unpublished sequels?#rigoletto #rigoletto 1993

Rigoletto (1993)

#rigoletto #rigoletto 1993 #this movie is 30 now!#my screencaps

"Once upon a time, in a land far away, so far away you'd never know it existed, lived an elfin prince. To his people, he was called Rigoletto. He was a master of song, and he used the art of music to heal his people, and they lived in peace and prosperity."

I had to make some more screencaps after reading that the writer, Leo Paur, has two unpublished sequels to this film.

#rigoletto #rigoletto 1993 #my screencaps