One of the most exciting things for me to watch this film is that I can see a undeniable fact that contemporary art does have an existence and aesthetic value, and potentially a social value in some modern directors 'eyes.
Through one of the characters' voice, we are informed that Rain Room is not just a show-stopper; there's something inside the installation silently speak about the simplicity and profound existence of living for a human being.
Those raindrops are artificial, same way as some daily routines for keeping us alive, for instance, breathing and eating. They are too easy to be ignored by most people because they are neither political, nor aggressive; they are silent and fragile. However they are more emotional and essential than most of things we do everyday and talk about in real life. The lack of attention in those types of gentle-voiced issues in today's society is a real problem; and that is the reason why we need to understand the importance of making a movie about eating disorder. And it feels quite right for the director to use Rain Room to deliver the message that for certain people keeping themselves alive is an effort-taking experience. It is a fact, a sad fact; but not a ultimate desperation.Life is beautiful if you can stretch your hands out to reach those soft raindrops.
In the end of this movie, we enter into Ellen's dream about her own death. The scene of her wearing a white dress in front of a western-style tree resonates loudly of Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills #43. Their compositions are almost exactly the same. It also feels right to me of picturing Ellen's dream in this way, since in this movie her character is portrayed as a visual artist who holds some quite depressing ideas. I'm not saying that Cindy Sherman is depressing, but we need to admit that her artwork certainly shows some dark sides of our modern life, which made her work worth looking.
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