The movie “Elizabethtown” is 20 years old this year, and I re-re-re-watched it again recently; it’s not a particularly popular movie, but it’s one of those that I can’t watch without having it leave a deep crater in my heart every time… It’s hard to describe.
Let’s try.
Objectively speaking, let’s be honest; there are good reasons for the terrible reviews. In particular, the initial scene of the movie is a bit clumsy and unnecessary, I give you that. Drew, the character played by Orlando Bloom, spectacularly failing the design of some shoe for his employer. Seriously, none of this matters, but it still hurts to see the guy trying to kill himself because of that. I guess most of the negative reviews have to do with this opening, which, let’s be honest, it’s not relatable, and quite hyperbolic. If the objective was to portray Drew as a suicidal type, well, there are so many other possible plot lines that come to my mind instead of this one…
The pivotal moment, much more interesting (and I think the movie could have started right here) is the appearance of Claire, the air stewardess played by the always excellent Kirsten Dunst. It is through her that Drew embarks in a “journey of self-discovery” which I found fascinating, touching, and deeper than the editing of the movie shows.
Speaking about interpretations, Wikipedia has a very interesting paragraph:
Roger Ebert published a letter from reader Todd Zimmerman which makes the observation that the film is really a hidden story of an angel who has fallen from grace. Claire, the angel, is met in the heavens (the empty plane) and has decided to guide Drew through his depression, suicidal thoughts and redeem himself from failure. Character names, the corporation, etc. were found to be allusions to Hell, the Bible, sin and the devil. Drew has to redeem and cleanse himself from working with the devil. Claire also needs to make the choice to remain on Earth at the end. The movie is thought to take various cues from the films It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), City of Angels (1998), and Dogma (1999).
Insert clapping hands emoji here.
Towards the end of the movie, Drew follows a map prepared by Claire, scattering the ashes of his dead father along the way. This is the crux of the movie to me, the reason it hits me so hard: I have done exactly that; in this case, the ashes of my mother. I scattered them in the Atlantic Ocean, near the coastal town of Villa Gesell, one gray and unusually chilly morning of December 2010.
I then sat in the sand, and I cried. The smell of the sea. The silence. The unknown. The void. A tango playing far away in the background. The sand scrubbing my feet. The seagulls flying back and forth. The memories.
Opening the can containing the remains of the person that brought you to life, and letting that dust fly in the wind and swim in the ocean is both liberating and heartbreaking. I can’t read these lines as I write them.
(After 5 minutes of crying, Adrian grabs his laptop again.)
(Also, for the people in the back, let me point out that this scene unfolded in the real Villa Gesell, not the ski resort wrongly depicted in the “X-Men: First Class” movie. Note to screenwriters: please do your research.)
So, Drew does the same with the ashes of his dad, and then, there’s the music that goes with the movement. The soundtrack of the movie is superb. The pinnacle of which, as all the other three fans of the movie most probably agree with me, is the core of the ash scattering sequence with Elton John in the background singing “My Father’s Gun”, a song from his 1970 album “Tumbleweed Connection”, a masterpiece through and through.
I have had a twisted, wronged relationship with my parents. Alcoholic mother and absent father. Single kid. The inner demons, panic attacks, and bitter anguishes in my psyche stem from the abandonment and the solitude. I did my best not to fall into drugs, not to fall into violence, not to fall into alcohol (well, that last one was hard to achieve).
If you are still reading this (I know my readership very well, and most of you come here for Linux tutorials and shit), and you understand the feeling I just describe, welcome to the club. The truth is, I found some way out, I there are ways for me to find solace and peace, albeit for a short period of time. In this case, watching “Elizabethtown” is one of those escape routes; it works wonders, you should try it, hopefully it works for you too.
Paraphrasing Elton, I don’t own my father’s gun, and I don’t want it, least of all until I die. I’ll drop it along the way.
What I do care about, something I thank life for every day, is that against all odds, I found my Claire 20 years ago, she showed me the map I needed to follow, and the rest has become absolutely irrelevant ever since.