Word: anthemic
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...medical training, plus basic education and indoctrination sessions; weekends are devoted to food production and cultural activities. Even off duty, the platoon stays on message, gathering around a guitar to sing rebel songs or-possibly for the benefit of the platoon's foreign guests-the N.P.A.'s own anthem: "The New People's Army is not the army of the rich/ Which follows the orders of the greedy/ Awakened, we freely join the People's Army/ We offer our lives to the poor...
...leading movie actor) hears than Jianli (Ge You, a stalwart of several Zhang Yimou films) is enslaved by a rival clan; he sends one of his lieutenants to defeat the clan and return with Jianli. He needs a theme song, and desperately wants the musician to compose an anthem for him. But Jianli is a stubborn sort, not easily bossed by his childhood friend; and he complicates things by having a liaison with the warlord's strong-willed, crippled daughter Yueyang (Xu Qing), who had been promised to the lieutenant. Think any number of Victorian melodramas...
...they will say I kept you alive, because you are my eternal shadow." Jianli has poisoned himself, so as not to be anyone's shadow, and gasps out his last word: "Brother." To put the musician out of his misery, the Emperor ritually stabs him. Then we hear the anthem Jianli has composed. "Everlasting! Immortal!" An end title informs us that the Emperor's reign lasted only 15 years...
...libretto, by Tan Dun and Chinese-American novelist Ha Jin, adheres to the contours of The Emperor's Shadow, but with a different ending: Jianli cuts out his own tongue, and the anthem he leaves to be sung is a slave song we heard at the beginning of Act 2. The writers have trouble marshalling the movie's dramatic pull; their lyrics don't put the personal conflicts across with the same clarity and intensity. Domingo, a trouper at 64, has the notes down but struggles with his enunciation. (Even though he's singing in English, we needed the subtitles...
...inopportunely recited excerpts. This song begs the ever-pressing question: “Can I be real with you? Real real with you?” Yes, you can. It puts things in perspective. 4) Postal Service, “This Place is a Prison”: An undiscriminating anthem suitable for pre-meds trapped in Cabot and Lit-kids trapped…trapped…oh well. Witness: “This place is a prison/these people aren’t your friends.” More impressive is the bit about that all-too-familiar feeling of near...