Yellow Rose: where country dreams lead

Have you tried hammering a square peg into a round hole? Especially when it’s out of size. When the hat is not on Senka, the uniform is not on the rank. Square Peg Round Hole is a song by Rose Garcia (Eva Maria Noblesada) about herself. Yellow Rose is a rather insulting nickname for an Asian girl, as Dale Watson assessed. And a young Filipina listens to Loretta Lynn‘s records and composes songs with a guitar. Yellow Rose (Yellow Rose, 2019) is the directorial debut of Diane Paragas in full artistic meter, she dreamed of shooting it for 15 years, apparently she was waiting for the performer of the main role to grow up.

Rose travels to Austin, Texas, and listens to country music live at an iconic bar. Country musicians are first shown as the best, kindest and most generous people with an outlaw bias. And then it turns out that someone (let’s not point fingers) is constantly applying himself to the bottle and does not want to take responsibility, slightly beyond the limits of music. Actually, our heroine is also outside the law, from the civil non-ethical side. Her teenage rebellion is in her passion for music atypical for her nationality, and in the fact that she does not shy away from alcohol and can roll properly, without being, however, a “bad girl”.

Mom Rose, after the death of her husband, left alone with her daughter, naively believes that in the position of illegal immigrants, you can live as long as you like and their migrant situation will somehow solve itself. Of course, it’s stupid to think so, but that’s how it happens in life. One of my friends, living in one of the friendly republics of the former USSR, also naively believed that nothing would happen to him if he did not renew his visa, as a result, a court was held where a substantial fine was imposed on him instead of deportation, and the judge severely noted that this was still a very soft and humane sentence. So, guys, this is not nonsense. Especially in the case of the Imperial States.

The boy, obviously in love, is also in place. Selflessly helps a girlfriend, being at an age when you can still be friends with girls, deep down hoping for a continuation. Pure bright feelings.

The movie is somewhat naive, simple, but honest and not stupid. It is favorably distinguished from both pop “country” films and cliche biopics by its informality, contemplation and inability to shoot according to Hollywood canons. The sadness and confusion of the main character is not replaced by a resounding success, comprehensive happiness does not suddenly fall on her head. Beauty and joy are in small things, happiness is fleeting and slips away unnoticed, and living without a mother is not fun at all. This is not “A Star is Born”, but rather the opposite.

Eva Noblesada played a great role, this is her first participation in a feature film, it was largely thanks to her. Previously, she was previously known for theatrical roles: in the musical Miss Saigon version 2017 (in the 1991 version she played Lea Salonga, also involved in the film), in the production of Hugo’s Les Miserables, the musical Heidstown about Orpheus and Eurydice, performed on Broadway and at Carnegie Hall. All the songs on behalf of Rose are sung by her.

The songs for the soundtrack were written by Dale Watson, and the music was composed by Christopher Hoyt Knight. There are good songs in the soundtrack, especially the duets of Eva and Dale: I Ain’t Going Down, Circumstance, Quietly Into the Night. In the unofficial soundtrack, you can also find songs sounding in the background, especially at the box office dramatic The High Price of Inspiration. The character of Dale Watson in the script of the film is rather superficial, but on the stage of the legendary Broken Spoke honky tonk he is the king and it’s just nice to look at a real country star with a pompadour and without a beard.

When expats, both Filipinos and Mexicans (and both blood flows in Eve) demonstrate their commitment to root rock and roll, it always works. The Americans had Richie Valence, the pioneer of Chicano rock. We have Viktor Tsoi, a Soviet-Asian idol. They are united by a tragic death at a young age. Both of them toured the country and were a huge success. Vallance sang “La Bamba” and got the first American national hit in Spanish. Choi demanded “changes” and a whole generation supported him.

Here Rose Garcia is not trying to bring her folklore and color, but just wants to survive in this country, stay and play her favorite music. This suggests a comparison with another film about country music, Wild Rose, where another “peg” wants to hammer himself into the country theme with all his might.

Such Roses bloom all over the world and “a flower that blooms separately from others is the most beautiful.” And of course, their path is thorny and not at all strewn with flowers.

I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden.