Stephen Merritt? The Magnetic Fields? Film Forum? Another set of things that I was not familiar of. This was going to be a whole new experience for me again. As I headed to the Film Forum on Houston Street, imaginations bloomed in my head. Maybe the theater is quite small, it might be smelling VERY bad… just all kinds of things. However, as I walked into the theater, I found it certainly exceeding my expectation. The box office was similar to that of a regular movie theater, and the smell of popcorn and other sweet food made me feel good. The bathroom was clean and neat, even cleaner than the AMC.

The film started with a lively background music which caught my attention. ‘Is this music played by the band? It’s quite good,’ I thought. The film mostly talked about Stephen Merritt, an introvert musician. Though mostly closed-minded, Merritt had some humor at times which made me laugh. The members of the Magnetic Fields are introduces as well, and it’s kind of random but I was curious where that Asian guitarist (John Woo) was from. I wondered if he was from Korea. Anyways, I thought the relationship between Claudia and Merritt was quite interesting as well. Claudia is Merritt’s non-sexual life partner. In one scene, they were arguing while they were trying to match the rhythm of the piano and the vocal. Claudia seemed irritated, but later they found the solution. The melody of the piano was so sweet and charming in that scene. The lyrics were pretty too – I don’t remember a whole lot of it but they included the word ‘princess.’ As Claudia played the piano, the pretty melody was literally stuck on my mind throughout the whole movie.

The film was sometimes boring here and there, but it covered a good amount of the band and Stephen Merritt himself. Personally, I was more interested in the band than Merritt. Even though the band Magnetic Fields is not well-known, I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed their music presented in the film. Most of the time I listen to the famous artists, and the Indies is not my genre at all. However, because of the attractive melodies and vocal, I googled the band when I came home. I even “like” them on my Facebook page now. It’s true that I didn’t expect a lot but I’m so glad that I have found such a unique band that can actually move and touch listener’s heart.