I guess Baz Luhrmann was responsible for the new wave of the musical movie with Moulin Rouge in 2001. Since, a small handful of movies have pranced into this niche tribe including Chicago, Connie & Carla, The Producers and an emerging public appreciation for kitschy Bollywood musicals.  These musical films were either adapted from stage, or pastiches derived from old showstoppers and more contemporary hits, or just included some singing and dancing – but evidently this genre continues to remain in the ambit of the American movie production industry despite the worldwide ‘Idol’ television spectacles.

I love the cringe factor and the suspension of disbelief that comes with characters unexpectedly bursting into song. I must confess to this and the bias associated with my obsession for stage musicals.

Rent, the movie, was adapted from Jonathan Larson’s modern rendition of Puccini’s La Boheme and, after ten years on- and off-Broadway, the stage musical still moves audiences at the Nederland Theatre on lower Broadway. I have never seen the stage version of the musical and am very disappointed to have missed out on seeing the Schonell Theatre’s recent production. I understand that the stage version is entirely vocal but the movie incorporates dialogue – I assume for filmic practicalities and to assuage the contemporary palate. The opening scene, indicative of the segregate staging in A Chorus Line, presents us with the main characters lined up and individually spot-lit on stage performing the delightful Seasons of Love before an empty theatre. It was akin to a music video clip and faded out as the movie commenced. I did cringe at this early point – Woo-hoo!

The film follows ’525,600 minutes’ in the lives of eight friends struggling to survive in Alphabet City, a bohemian quarter of Manhattan during the Eighties. Roger, a struggling musician who is HIV+, and Mark, a filmmaker, ignore eviction notices and continue, like the other tenants in the building, to squat in a derelict ‘tent city’ apartment block poised to be demolished to make way for a new Cyberarts studio complex. Among their friends are: Collins: a HIV+ computer genius; Angel: a HIV+ transvestite and Collins’ sweetheart; Maureen: a performance artist and Mark’s ex-girlfriend turned lesbian; Joanne: a lawyer and Maureen’s lover; Mimi: a HIV+ stripper with a drug problem and Roger’s love interest; and Benny: Roger and Mark’s landlord and a friend that fell out of favour for pursuing the pecuniary interests of his girlfriend’s father’s business as a developer of the proposed complex where they live.

This motley group of friends grapple with and help each other overcome the agonies of living with HIV/AIDS, drug addiction, poverty and relationship complexities.

There are not so many musicals about HIV/AIDS. In fact, the only other musical film I can think of was John Greyson’s Zero Patience in 1993 – a very independent, Canadian production. There are of course many non-musical films that deal with the issue such as Philadelphia, Jeff and It’s My Party to name a few.

A criticism my partner raised was the way the issue of HIV/AIDS was handled in Rent. The portrayal of people living with HIV as pitiable and emotionally strung hinders any efforts at a boost to self-worth for the HIV+ viewer. Instead the film ought to have depicted them as strong, happy persons getting on with their lives – after all, HIV is not a death sentence. It was said that Jeff tackled this much better.

I prefer to take a more macro view – perhaps it makes a broader comment about the inevitability of death; the acceptance of this inevitability; and the appreciation for life, love, friends and relationships as a result. In addition, what makes Rent even more emotionally saturated for many fans is that Jonathan Larson never got to see his production on opening night. He died on the evening of the final dress rehearsal. He died not from AIDS but from an aortic aneurysm believed to have been caused by Marfans Syndrome.

Rent was conceived during a time where poverty and crime were ubiquitous in New York City and when the controversial zero tolerance policies were hotly debated. It glorifies the bohemians of the mid Eighties struggling to survive with their arts when new technologies were emerging and the districts they occupied were becoming increasingly gentrified – ‘This is Calcutta, Bohemia is dead!’ exclaims Benny.

Indeed even to this day, the Nederland Theatre offers $20 for the first two rows of the orchestra as a lottery two hours before every performance of Rent, and when the production is performed in other locations the Larson family prefers to stage the musical at smaller theatre houses to support local arts communities, reduce costs and ensure accessibility to those who can least afford to see it (for example, the recent production of Rent in Brisbane was staged at the Schonell Theatre which has sadly announced that it will be closing its doors at the end of June 2006 due to funding cuts resulting from voluntary student unionism). As part of Jonathan Larson’s legacy to the arts community, his family and friends have established the Jonathan Larson Arts Foundation to help provide financial support and assistance for musical theatre composers, lyricists, bookwriters and organisations.

Rent is a tale of friendship, hope, struggle, compassion, grief and tribute. ‘It was an emotional roller-coaster ride,’ said my companion for the evening in summation of the movie. And I agree. This was a film that succeeded in my pursuit to shed a tear again at the theatre and to feel rapturously human – ‘Thank you, Jonathan Larson’. I give the film four stars. The DVD is expected to be released in Australia on 17 July 2006.