Polley
gives 'My Life' simplistic depth, reflective
narration
By
Monica Levette Clark
On-line Forty-Niner
Far
be it from me to discourage anyone from
seeing this movie when it hits theaters
in New York on September 26, I was nearly
a half an hour late to the private screening
held in the Jimmy Stewart Building on the
Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City.
Trusting
those Internet Web sites that claim to give
accurate door-to-door directions to and
from where ever you want to go can be a
drag, especially when you are forced to
cover an event for your page because no
other writers wanted to volunteer their
time. Not only did I write the story, but
also had to edit it, designed this page.
But that is the way the chips fall when
you are an editor on a deadline. Let's just
say I had a lot on my plate.
Just
in case you were wondering this is a movie
review of the film "My Life Without
Me," written and directed by Isabel
Coixet. The 100-minute film stars Sarah
Polley, Blondie's Deborah Harry, "Felicity's"
Scott Speedman, Mark Ruffalo, Amanda Plummer
and Leonor Watling.
Ann
(Polley) finds out that she only has a few
weeks to live and decides to keep the shocking
news a secret from her family and friends.
Ann, at 23 is married to Don (Speedman)
with two kids, has a dysfunctional relationship
with her mother (Harry), a father in jail
and a job working the night shift as a janitor
at a university.
She
makes her home in a tiny trailer and lives
a pretty bleak life, "surviving but
not living," as the film's synopsis
says.
With
death lurking, Ann goes on an emotional
escapade, which is heightened by her decision
to keep her death a secret. On this journey
Ann finds herself spending more time examining
the ins and outs of her less than perfect
life, her surroundings, relationships, and
finds meaning to moments that were at first
meaningless.
Polley
gives a realistic portrayal of a woman living
the life of a person of lower middle class
social standards. She is supported by a
fantastic cast, each character having his
or her own idiosyncrasies and personal dilemmas.
The direction of the film is just as superb
and only adds to the reality of these characters.
Ann
starts to live vicariously through the people
and moments of her life. She even starts
an affair with Lee (Ruffalo), whom she meets
in a Laundro-mat because it is something
she has always wanted to do.
Based
on the book "Pretending the Bed is
a Raft" by Nanci Kincaid, "My
Life Without Me," is tweaked a little
to fulfill the director's own revelations
and epiphanies.
In
the book, Ann actually tells her family
and friends she's dying; the story takes
place in hot and muggy Louisiana, not cold
Vancouver, British Columbia. These changes
are what Coixet said she envisioned when
she fully understood the protagonist and
main character of the story.
Of
the adaptation Coixet says, "This story
woke up in me very special things and I
didn't want to follow the story anymore,
but the things that the story had waken
up inside me. The story became a platform
and a mere excuse to talk about the things
I know the best, to talk about things that
at the end of the day, belonged to me."
The
moments in the film, where Ann attempts
to capture a life unlike her own before
dying, are purely reflective, which make
them simple, yet powerful.
The
late nights spent making tapes for all of
her loved ones; eating dinner at places
she's never been; befriending a neighbor
who has the same name as she, make for sweet
moments that are heart-felt without being
overly sappy.
Ann
offers a narrative for almost every scene
in the film, adding more depth to the scenes
and giving the audience better understanding
of what she is feeling and thinking in those
moments.
A
smart move on the director's part was to
not portray Ann's actual death in any scene,
but only emphasizing the process of her
dying. Ultimately the film is not about
death at all, but about the possibilities
of living your best life in sub-standard
conditions, and about discovering ways to
live on in the eyes of loved ones, even
after death.
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