It's funny how randomly I encountered this magnificent, brilliant work of art. It was a late Thursday evening and I'd already decided that I should have an early night in. But since I still had no desire to put my brains off just yet, I chose to leaf through the TV listing with no specific expectations or high hopes to find anything of decent quality (as was the usual result). However, when I read the movie's short summary, I immediately estimated it was worth a shot. Even if it meant forsaking my precious, valuable hours of sleep (of which I am already deeply deprived). Oh, the things I sacrifice for art.
As I was coming up with the idea of writing a new post, I realised something. Something that both shocked me and delighted me at the same time. I realised that my recent posts were becoming more and more focused on what truly touched my heart, regardless of their rarity. May it be a movie, an event, a look or even a brief conversation that might have enlightened me or aided me through my path in some way. And what I also noticed was the sudden, firstly inexplicable lack of new posts on my blog. The reason for their scarcity has been unknown to me up until now. I say, we all need a little push sometimes with certain things in order to exploit our optimal potential, and I am no exception in that regard. However, not until now I've realised the true meaning behind the mentioned embarrassing negligence of updating my blog. That the number of the things that truly, deeply touch me, has now drastically lowered. Of course I could always count on society's endless carelessness and blame it on some of its slips, flaws. But there was also one alternative way of dealing with this somewhat writing blockade I've been facing for too long now. I discovered that there are less and less things in this world that are able to penetrate deep in my soul, settle down, make their harbour there and create a total chaos inside. And I am slightly worried about that discovery. Will it significantly influence my future writing and limit it to seriously worrying number of posts or will it activate that dusty switch somewhere in my mind and encourage a production of ideas that I've been holding inside for a long time with no inspiration or motivation to make them come true?
Even though I could have soon regretted my decision of not acting accordingly to my weakened biorhythm, the situation proved to be exactly the opposite. As soon as the movie started, I was pleasantly surprised with its gripping and most definitely promising plot. We are confronted with abrupt displays of people (who later we find out are a part of one hectic, chaotic family) in certain relations, bearing yet unknown stories (which we also find more about throughout the movie). The presentation of characters is so accurate, brutally raw, and spot-on that it instantly takes you to the scene where interactions occur.
The very ending of the opening scene definitely takes us by surprise, like every twist of the following situations; it is not at all what the film had us expect, however the same growing cliffhanger and gripping suspense chain us to our armchairs nonetheless. One by one we are introduced to each family member (some we meet more, some less thoroughly throughout the story) and their own background and connection to the family. What I truly admire in the movie is how perfectly chiseled each character is. None is entirely black and white, as it is in real life. We all have good and bad sides to us, it's the choice which side we choose that makes us who we are. "In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart" said one of the most tragic heroines of the previous century, Anne Frank, and the same could be said about the characters we meet in this movie. Each chose to interpret their fate in their own way, as we all do. As Stephen R. Covey accurately described it: "We see the world not as it is, but as we are - or, as we are conditioned to see it." We observe, estimate, judge, and unravel things through our own eyes which have been exposed to mysterious twists of fate known only to us alone. No one can judge our path and it is not our right to form judgement of others'. However, a known cursed and damnable trait of the frail human mind is the endless care and protection of our pride. People are willing to go to great lengths merely to preserve their ego intact; even if that meant hurting a lot of people along the way, which we see a lot of in this life-like story.
The story begins with a tragic death of a seemingly insignificant character who turned out to be the cause of a whole lot of polemics (to say the least) in the family of ten members who will be constantly present in the movie. The demise presents a great burden to his strong-willed and contentious wife, Violet, who is suffering from oral cancer and addiction to narcotics. The addiction itself and the effects of the later shorter forced withdrawal are creating quite a chaos in Violet's head which is also the cause of her erratic behaviour that she throws at everybody. If we step on her side for a little, we couldn't exactly blame her for what has been happening to her or the way she chose to deal with it. After all, we are mere observers who are provoked from the beginning to form our own opinions based on the dialogue we hear in the movie, and we are again confronted with the same idea of not having the right to judge one person's decisions since we have not walked down the same path. But how far does the limit of allowed, justified excess stretch? When are we expected to draw the line with our understanding, empathy, and pity? Even if it is one of our very closest relatives? It is the very limit that Violet pushes throughout the entire movie and is, in the end, forced to deal with the consequences of her behaviour towards the other members of the family.
I dare say that somewhere in between Violet even begins showing a tiny bit of reconciliation, a bit of remorse for what she's been doing to everyone. I will also dare to presume and say that deep down each person who has willingly done wrong knows the fault and error in their actions, and are aware of what should be the right thing to do, but lack the courage and support to do so. In the end, it is again our pride that prevents us from recovering entirely.
Another problematic character who is not firstly shown as such, is Violet's sister Mattie Fae. She is presented as this pushy and a little too inquisitive aunty whoes chubby palms find our cheeks too quickly. Preserving the impression of having a perfectly sorted out family, we learn that the truth is far from that. Despite the events that happened in the movie, I still believe that Mattie Fae was generally a good person with a dark history attached. Her story again brilliantly demonstrates that we all have a past we surely aren't proud of. Although the whole revelation about Ivy and Little Charles being half-siblings is quite a shocker, each conflict in the movie is presented in such natural way that any viewer could likely identify with. It's the words, the relations, the outbursts that all families relate to, cause after all, regardless of where we come from, we still face the same issues, we still come across the same obstacles, and ask the same questions. We are not at all that different, and that is the primary thing I've learned from this story. At times I was even a bit freaked out how they perfected the relations between Violet and the daugthers, as well as Barbara and her husband Bill having to deal with the very familiar problem of having gone through a divorce with a teenage daugther Jean using it as an excuse to unleash her wild, rebellious side, simply wanting to break free. These are all very common problems that each modern family is probably facing and at first we would think there is nothing special about the plot alone. However, what makes it so special is the exceptional screenplay and the fantastic acting the actors managed to show. In the end, it all comes down to those specific details that make a movie stand out from the rest, and this one is no different.
The one thing I also love about it is the complexity of every character we meet. We have Violet and Mattie Fae that were both exposed to a brutal ubringing, having it affected both in their own ways. Then the daughters: the eldest, Barbara, then Ivy, and Karen, who are all so special in their own way. Barbara is most probably the driving force in this family; she is very straightforward, moral (in some regards), and reasonable. She turns out to be the only one who is able to speak frankly and openly about the obviously revolting behaviour that Violet is employing in order to heal her wounds. And of course, Violet being her mother (Barbara had to inherit those traits somewhere), she is having none of it. A famous, long, excruciating argument unravels at the family meal that was already tense on its own. But still, Violet's venting against Barbara was not all just about losing her temper. As usual, there were ancient-old grudges hidden behind the ugly words she would spit, but in some way Violet also respected Barbara for having the balls to stand up against her, she even applauded her for having the courage. Yet that small amount of respect was not enough of a foundation to build a new relation on. Another sad presentation of how we always choose pride over the things that truly (should) matter.
Ivy's the most secretive child of the three of them. We don't truly get to know her story until it all comes down to that girl talk over a glass of wine, and to be honest, it was a lot more tragic than any of us had probably anticipated. Still, I like the idea of the three daughters bonding in the evening, sharing their stories and concurring on matters they likely wouldn't have during the day. I guess the night does have its effect. But we see again how brutally awful it is to have formed an opinion about someone before we even get to know their story. She underwent a battle with cancer and none of them did not even know that, since Ivy chose not to confide in them (not that I blame her). But after having seen her family, I'd probably do the same thing.
My first impression of the youngest daughter would be - laughable. Maybe I am doing her injustice by base my opinion solely on that unfortunate first impression, but perhaps that is how the directors wanted for us to see her. Seemingly foolish, hasty, and daft gold digger as Violet would probably describe her. But during that bonding time we see her as a human being too, having formed an opinion of her own which came as a big surprise to both Ivy and Barbara. Nonetheless, she remains a little girl no one gives her the respect she deserves.
In this movie, especially in the end, we learn that people do make mistakes, but they don't always try to fix them, regardless of the consequences. One would think family is something worth fighting for, but as it turns out in the movie the 'fighting' part is sadly the dominant one. The story ends tragically with all the daughters leaving the premise, leaving Violet to herself with no one but the young maid (who is the cause of the initial controversy at the beginning of the movie). If that ending would teach Violet that her daugthers are her only remaining family that were trying to love her, is left to our imagination and good hopes. But as we all know, old habits die hard. As does pride.
As I was coming up with the idea of writing a new post, I realised something. Something that both shocked me and delighted me at the same time. I realised that my recent posts were becoming more and more focused on what truly touched my heart, regardless of their rarity. May it be a movie, an event, a look or even a brief conversation that might have enlightened me or aided me through my path in some way. And what I also noticed was the sudden, firstly inexplicable lack of new posts on my blog. The reason for their scarcity has been unknown to me up until now. I say, we all need a little push sometimes with certain things in order to exploit our optimal potential, and I am no exception in that regard. However, not until now I've realised the true meaning behind the mentioned embarrassing negligence of updating my blog. That the number of the things that truly, deeply touch me, has now drastically lowered. Of course I could always count on society's endless carelessness and blame it on some of its slips, flaws. But there was also one alternative way of dealing with this somewhat writing blockade I've been facing for too long now. I discovered that there are less and less things in this world that are able to penetrate deep in my soul, settle down, make their harbour there and create a total chaos inside. And I am slightly worried about that discovery. Will it significantly influence my future writing and limit it to seriously worrying number of posts or will it activate that dusty switch somewhere in my mind and encourage a production of ideas that I've been holding inside for a long time with no inspiration or motivation to make them come true?
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| via: http://netflixlife.com |
The very ending of the opening scene definitely takes us by surprise, like every twist of the following situations; it is not at all what the film had us expect, however the same growing cliffhanger and gripping suspense chain us to our armchairs nonetheless. One by one we are introduced to each family member (some we meet more, some less thoroughly throughout the story) and their own background and connection to the family. What I truly admire in the movie is how perfectly chiseled each character is. None is entirely black and white, as it is in real life. We all have good and bad sides to us, it's the choice which side we choose that makes us who we are. "In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart" said one of the most tragic heroines of the previous century, Anne Frank, and the same could be said about the characters we meet in this movie. Each chose to interpret their fate in their own way, as we all do. As Stephen R. Covey accurately described it: "We see the world not as it is, but as we are - or, as we are conditioned to see it." We observe, estimate, judge, and unravel things through our own eyes which have been exposed to mysterious twists of fate known only to us alone. No one can judge our path and it is not our right to form judgement of others'. However, a known cursed and damnable trait of the frail human mind is the endless care and protection of our pride. People are willing to go to great lengths merely to preserve their ego intact; even if that meant hurting a lot of people along the way, which we see a lot of in this life-like story.
The story begins with a tragic death of a seemingly insignificant character who turned out to be the cause of a whole lot of polemics (to say the least) in the family of ten members who will be constantly present in the movie. The demise presents a great burden to his strong-willed and contentious wife, Violet, who is suffering from oral cancer and addiction to narcotics. The addiction itself and the effects of the later shorter forced withdrawal are creating quite a chaos in Violet's head which is also the cause of her erratic behaviour that she throws at everybody. If we step on her side for a little, we couldn't exactly blame her for what has been happening to her or the way she chose to deal with it. After all, we are mere observers who are provoked from the beginning to form our own opinions based on the dialogue we hear in the movie, and we are again confronted with the same idea of not having the right to judge one person's decisions since we have not walked down the same path. But how far does the limit of allowed, justified excess stretch? When are we expected to draw the line with our understanding, empathy, and pity? Even if it is one of our very closest relatives? It is the very limit that Violet pushes throughout the entire movie and is, in the end, forced to deal with the consequences of her behaviour towards the other members of the family.
I dare say that somewhere in between Violet even begins showing a tiny bit of reconciliation, a bit of remorse for what she's been doing to everyone. I will also dare to presume and say that deep down each person who has willingly done wrong knows the fault and error in their actions, and are aware of what should be the right thing to do, but lack the courage and support to do so. In the end, it is again our pride that prevents us from recovering entirely.
Another problematic character who is not firstly shown as such, is Violet's sister Mattie Fae. She is presented as this pushy and a little too inquisitive aunty whoes chubby palms find our cheeks too quickly. Preserving the impression of having a perfectly sorted out family, we learn that the truth is far from that. Despite the events that happened in the movie, I still believe that Mattie Fae was generally a good person with a dark history attached. Her story again brilliantly demonstrates that we all have a past we surely aren't proud of. Although the whole revelation about Ivy and Little Charles being half-siblings is quite a shocker, each conflict in the movie is presented in such natural way that any viewer could likely identify with. It's the words, the relations, the outbursts that all families relate to, cause after all, regardless of where we come from, we still face the same issues, we still come across the same obstacles, and ask the same questions. We are not at all that different, and that is the primary thing I've learned from this story. At times I was even a bit freaked out how they perfected the relations between Violet and the daugthers, as well as Barbara and her husband Bill having to deal with the very familiar problem of having gone through a divorce with a teenage daugther Jean using it as an excuse to unleash her wild, rebellious side, simply wanting to break free. These are all very common problems that each modern family is probably facing and at first we would think there is nothing special about the plot alone. However, what makes it so special is the exceptional screenplay and the fantastic acting the actors managed to show. In the end, it all comes down to those specific details that make a movie stand out from the rest, and this one is no different.
The one thing I also love about it is the complexity of every character we meet. We have Violet and Mattie Fae that were both exposed to a brutal ubringing, having it affected both in their own ways. Then the daughters: the eldest, Barbara, then Ivy, and Karen, who are all so special in their own way. Barbara is most probably the driving force in this family; she is very straightforward, moral (in some regards), and reasonable. She turns out to be the only one who is able to speak frankly and openly about the obviously revolting behaviour that Violet is employing in order to heal her wounds. And of course, Violet being her mother (Barbara had to inherit those traits somewhere), she is having none of it. A famous, long, excruciating argument unravels at the family meal that was already tense on its own. But still, Violet's venting against Barbara was not all just about losing her temper. As usual, there were ancient-old grudges hidden behind the ugly words she would spit, but in some way Violet also respected Barbara for having the balls to stand up against her, she even applauded her for having the courage. Yet that small amount of respect was not enough of a foundation to build a new relation on. Another sad presentation of how we always choose pride over the things that truly (should) matter.
Ivy's the most secretive child of the three of them. We don't truly get to know her story until it all comes down to that girl talk over a glass of wine, and to be honest, it was a lot more tragic than any of us had probably anticipated. Still, I like the idea of the three daughters bonding in the evening, sharing their stories and concurring on matters they likely wouldn't have during the day. I guess the night does have its effect. But we see again how brutally awful it is to have formed an opinion about someone before we even get to know their story. She underwent a battle with cancer and none of them did not even know that, since Ivy chose not to confide in them (not that I blame her). But after having seen her family, I'd probably do the same thing.
My first impression of the youngest daughter would be - laughable. Maybe I am doing her injustice by base my opinion solely on that unfortunate first impression, but perhaps that is how the directors wanted for us to see her. Seemingly foolish, hasty, and daft gold digger as Violet would probably describe her. But during that bonding time we see her as a human being too, having formed an opinion of her own which came as a big surprise to both Ivy and Barbara. Nonetheless, she remains a little girl no one gives her the respect she deserves.
In this movie, especially in the end, we learn that people do make mistakes, but they don't always try to fix them, regardless of the consequences. One would think family is something worth fighting for, but as it turns out in the movie the 'fighting' part is sadly the dominant one. The story ends tragically with all the daughters leaving the premise, leaving Violet to herself with no one but the young maid (who is the cause of the initial controversy at the beginning of the movie). If that ending would teach Violet that her daugthers are her only remaining family that were trying to love her, is left to our imagination and good hopes. But as we all know, old habits die hard. As does pride.
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