One of the most maddening and frustrating excuses for refusing to watch a film is those evil 3 words 'It's too depressing'. So what? We see films with drama, action romance. Why is depression, one of the most universal traits in all of us, singled out and used against us? This film, despite how much it is associated with the dreaded d-word, is one of the most breathtaking films ever made, all centred around a simple act of foolishness committed by a little boy. Like most of Innaritu's work, it as mentioned tells the story of about 4 different people affected by a little incident.
Two young boys of a goat herder have a bit of an ego competition where they try to test a shotgun sold to them, accidentally and painfully wounding an American woman. The husband is sharp and somewhat rude, but justifiably so. The husband's children are being looked after by a Mexican woman whose son's wedding is the same time of the shooting. He tells her that she cannot go, as there is no one to look after the kids. The man who sold the kids the gun is a Japanese man whose wife has died, and has a rebellious deaf-mute daughter called Chieko. The story weaves between the 3 stories.
The thing is, everyone acts reasonably. The nanny probably shouldn't have taken the kids to the wedding, but it is her son's wedding. The husband shouldn't have been so rude to those around him, but his wife is in pain. The loud mouthed man who convinces the husband's tour bus to leave without him shouldn't have been so malicious, but the others on the bus were also suffering. Chieko should not be so rude to her father and those around her, but she is alienated by her condition and her sexual frustration. The boys shouldn't have shot the gun, but boys that age are naturally ego-centric. No one acts bizarrely or rudely and that is one of the best things about the film. The character feel real. Even those who seem cruel or unpleasant, but all of them are justifiably so.
Another reason this film is fascinating is that all the perspectives are different. We see Tokyo through the hazy eyes of Chieko, Morocco through the adolescent eyes of teenagers, as well as the tourist eyes, and vibrant Mexico through the worn eyes of a nanny who has seen her way through many children and a long, hard-working life. Every single actor and actress is brilliant, Brad Pitt is superb in some of the quieter scenes, Rinko Kikuchi is heartbreaking in a very demanding role, and the nuanced tone of the hell Adriana Barraza goes through is gut wrenchingly sad. Still, I do not care if this is depressing, it is as much a part of human emotion as happiness or sadness, why not just watch it for once?
MT
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