Category: S2Ep4: Road Trip to Harvard

Nicolas Cage and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

RORY: A cool B&B?
LORELAI: Yes.
RORY: That’s like saying an understated Nicholas Cage movie.
LORELAI: Listen, I myself am not usually a fan of the B&B, but Donald’s place is different.
RORY: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.
LORELAI: I’m serious.
RORY: “Bella bambina at two o’clock.”

Nicolas Cage, born Nicolas Coppola (born 1964) is an American actor, director, and producer. He is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola, and the cousin of director Sofia Coppola. After making his debut in Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1982, in his early career, Nicolas Cage starred in slightly off-beat films such as Valley Girl (1983), Raising Arizona (1987), and Wild at Heart (1990). In 1995 he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Leaving Las Vegas, and gained mainstream success in films such as The Rock (1996), Con Air (1997), and City of Angels (1998). His acting style has been described as “operatic”, while he himself refers to his method as “Noveau Shamanic” – hence Rory’s inference that a Nicolas Cage movie can never be understated.

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is a 2001 war film directed by John Madden, and based on the 1994 novel of the same name by British novelist Louis de Bernières. Nicolas Cage has the title role of Captain Antonio Corelli, and the film is set on the Greek island of Cephalonia during World War II. The film received poor reviews.

In the film, when Captain Corelli first spots his love interest Pelagia (Penelope Cruz) in a crowd, he shouts out to his men: “Bella bambina at two o’clock! Eyes right!”, so that they can all witness and acknowledge her beauty.

The film was released in the US on August 17 2001, so Rory mentioning it is slightly anachronistic – according to the show’s timeline of events, Rory can’t have seen it yet, as it won’t come out for a another few days from her perspective.

Lorelai and Rory apparently now hate B&Bs, even though Lorelai and Sookie were talking about opening one a few episodes ago.

Portsmouth

RORY: Now, to the best of my map reading abilities, we’re headed towards Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Portsmouth is a city in New Hampshire, a historic seaport with a strong naval tradition and a population of around 20 000. It is a popular tourist destination during the summer months.

Portsmouth is around three hours drive from the area where Stars Hollow seems to be located. As Lorelai has been on the road for at least six hours, quite possibly longer, they must have taken a very roundabout route.

“The engagement is off”

[on the phone]
LORELAI: Yeah, Rory and I decided to hit the road.
SOOKIE: But how can you be hitting the road? You’re supposed to be getting …
LORELAI: The engagement is off, Sookie.
SOOKIE: What? What happened?
LORELAI: Well, it’s a long story. I don’t really wanna go into all the whats and whys and gory details right now, but you should know we all still love Max, and to figure out exactly what happened, you’d have to dig up Freud himself and have him work on me full time.

Lorelai’s engagement to Max is off, but there is never any real explanation for how that occurred. Did Lorelai even call Max to let him know, or has she just run away?

Sookie has of course already finished making a beautiful elaborate wedding cake for Lorelai when she gets the news. Being a good friend, she pretends she forgot to make the cake.

Behind the Music

LORELAI: You know, if I was in a rock band touring and stuff, I’d make the bus driver stop at every Haden’s Nut House we pass.
RORY: Wow, your Behind the Music is gonna be really wild.

Behind the Music is a documentary music television series. Each episode, a particular band or musical artist is profiled and interviewed. The show has been broadcast since 1997.

Haden’s Nut House

On their trip, Lorelai and Rory stop at a roadside stand called Haden’s Nut House for snacks. Its name is another sign of how “crazy” Lorelai feels right now, while Haden is very close to Christopher’s surname of Hayden.

In real life, roadside nut stands are far less common in New England than they are in California, where the show was written. The filming location for Haden’s Nut House was Griffith Park, Los Angeles.

Hootie & the Blowfish

RADIO: Coming up, a three song super set from Hootie & the Blowfish.
LORELAI: Aghhh!!!

Hootie & the Blowfish are an American rock band formed in 1986 by Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. Their debut album Cracked Rear View (1994) was an instant success, being one of the fastest-selling debut albums, and the #1 album of 1995. They were named Best New Artist at the 1996 Grammy Awards, while their song Let Her Cry was named Best Pop Performance. The band have been on hiatus since 2008.

The band plays what has been described as a middle of the road pop version of blues rock, so are far too mainstream for Lorelai.

Perfect Situation for a Fool

A small part of this country song written by Jai Josefs and Roy Brown and sung by George Highfill plays on the radio before Lorelai switches stations. It seems to have been written as music for film and television, and has been included on the soundtracks of other shows, including Supernatural.

Rather unbelievably, there is nothing on New England radio except country music and Christian rock – they are driving through Massachusetts, not Alabama!

AC/DC and Highway to Hell

LORELAI: Never been in this car for any extended period of time without playing AC/DC … I need my Highway to Hell.

AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. They have sometimes been identified as heavy metal, hence the heavy metal-loving Lorelai being a fan, but they see themselves as rock and roll, and are classified as a hard rock/blues rock band. Their first internationally released album was High Voltage in 1976, while For Those About to Rock We Salute You (1981) was their first #1 album in the US. Their most recent album from Lorelai’s perspective is Stiff Upper Lip, released in 2000 and well received commercially and critically. AC/DC have sold more than 200 million records worldwide, making them one of the biggest-selling music artists. Their 1980 album Back in Black is the best-selling album by any band in the world. Regarded as one of the best hard rock bands of all time, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

Highway to Hell is the lead single and title track from AC/DC’s 1979 album, written to reflect the hardships of constant touring and life on the road. Lead singer Bon Scott, his talent at its peak, was found dead just six months after the song was released, as if to underscore the toll that such a life takes on one. Highway to Hell went to #47 in the US, and #24 in the UK; it went to #1 in the US on re-release in 1992, and in 2012 was the #1 song on digital download. It is regarded as a classic rock song.

Lorelai and Rory’s Road Trip

We see Lorelai’s road trip plan in action – she is driving aimlessly around, and neither she nor Rory know where they are. It’s an obvious metaphor for how lost Lorelai feels at the current moment, and how she has no plans on how to navigate her life or move forward from here.

It’s also an opportunity to show Lorelai and Rory’s different outlooks on life, with Rory becoming increasingly alarmed and panicked at their lack of planning and direction. Interestingly, Lorelai makes an offhand remark about driving into the Pacific Ocean of the west coast rather than the Atlantic Ocean of the east coast – have her thoughts naturally wandered to Christopher in California? Or perhaps it’s a sly meta-comment about the road trip obviously being filmed in California rather than New England.