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Film: On a Clear Day [PG-13] 98 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $13.75
Where Viewed: Landmark Harvard Exit Theatre, Seattle, WA
When 1st Seen: 17 April 2006
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Review Dedicated to: Noah H. of Chicago, IL
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You know, this isn’t a job. Yet, if it were a job, it would be a funny job, because it is so wacky how quickly things can change in 24 hours. Yesterday, I had to force myself to sit through a film with Jennifer Anniston in a Maid’s costume—oh, yes, I left that detail out didn’t I, well, I did it on purpose because I really didn’t want anyone running out to see the film just for that reason because, trust me, it wasn’t worth it, and then today, I walk into to a little film that hit me completely out of the blue, and I kept hoping it would never end. When you see at least one movie every day, you cannot help but be comparing the most recently viewed ones side-by-side. How do they stack up? Where did one go hop onto the Eurostar and whisk viewers off to exotic new sites, while the other turned the wrong way down a dead-end alley that then folded in on itself suffocating everyone inside? All this analysis, over 110 reviews into this project, and it seems still what it all boils down to is a really good story. It isn’t rocket science people. Lately, I’ve been thinking about a baking-bread analogy when it comes to making a great movie. Because a great movie is a lot like a great loaf of bread. There is something more that the sum of the components that comes out of it once all the ingredients are kneaded together and the baking process is complete. There is a warmth, there is an indescribable aroma, there is a texture, there is a comfort to it all. If I could find may darned bread machine I bought when they were hip, I’d fire it up right now. In any case, so today, I stumbled upon a little British film called On a Clear Day. Now I want you to picture yourself as a 50 or so year-old British Naval Ship yard worker in Glasgow, Scotland. You go to work on a Tuesday, just as you have every day for the past 36 years, only today, mid-day, you find out that you have been “made redundant.” Now that’s an expression for you. One of the things the British have a knack for, and so they should since this is their native tongue after all, and we USAers only borrowed it when we started our own little country, but just think about that expression. There isn’t possibly one nice thing about it. You have been made redundant. Yikes! And here I am led constantly to believe that the Britsih are simply nicer, more civilized (civilised—is it?) people? Not that we don’t have nasty expressions for this in the USA such as “got the axe” or “ took the gas pipe”, but we generally use the kinder expression of “pink slipped”. And, I guess, even our nastier expressions don’t imply that the person him or herself is no longer of any use. They somehow displace the thing back onto the nastiness of the employer, whereas the British English language version leaves a sense of hopelessness. As if to say, you will never be useful again—ever! The film begins with his last day of work which just happens to correspond to the christening of the ship he has helped to build for her maiden voyage. Upon being “made redundant” Frank suddenly finds himself with no idea what to do with the rest of his life. Meanwhile, his spouse Joan (Brenda Blethyn) has nearly simultaneously and for reasons that have nothing to do with her spouse’s situation decided to respond to an advertisement seeking new bus drivers to see if she can snare a job of her own. As Frank deals with his occupational frustrations we are given some insight into what makes the codger tick. Turns out that he had two sons. One was killed at age 7. The other is now a househusband and the father of two absolutely adorable, twin boys. Yet something has paralyzed Frank’s and his son’s relationship. Now, Frank is not alone in his post redundant days. In fact, he has a band of chums who’ve all known each other for years. And one of them seeds Frank’s mind and sets his course on an afternoon when he mentions that on a clear day you can see all the way to France. Yes, that’s it, the purpose Frank has been seeking, the meaning he needs to put back into his life, he shall attempt to swim the English Channel. In that instant, he commits, and everything changes—not just for him but for everyone in his life. As it turns out, making a commitment to something and sticking to it, no matter what, be it to swim the English Channel or to go to the movies every single day for a year, has an amazing impact on one’s life. Really, I cannot stress this enough, it literally changes everything. There is something about they way you feel about yourself and your existence that makes so many other once impossible things now probable. As human beings, we are easily distracted, curious, little creatures who tend to avoid, actually, making any sort of commitments. We learn at an early age that commitment can lead to being stuck doing things that turn out to be quite nauseating. So, we shy away from commitment. We bounce and we experiment. We are told to try new things and find the ones we like. We are rarely if ever shown the power of commitment. How long did you actually do your paper route? Well, in the end, whether you reach France or not becomes irrelevant for the power is in the commitment and sticking to it, not actually in the accomplishment itself. It has been said more eloquently by better people that it is the journey that makes a person not the destination. All that said, I hope you will make a commitment to seeing this film. I cannot see how it won’t do just about anyone good. I, for one, am all the more resolved to see my commitment through to the end.
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On A Clear Day [DVD] (2005) DVD
1 comment:
hiiiiiiiiiiii!kisses from itlay!
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