From: Remi
Category: Films
Date: 21 March 2005
I remember this film coming up on Film '91 specifically for the scene with Macauley Culkin sitting on some stairs, and Tim Robbins coming up to speak to him. Following that, I was very surprised to learn that this was a celestial scene, in which the Tim Robbins character is shown to have died and gone to a heaven of sorts. The film draws you into metaphysical, as well as moral, debate concerning Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins), a Vietnam war veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as he grapples with re-adjusting to civilian life. We learn of a son who died in a cycle accident (Culkin) and an estranged wife with his two other boys, and a different life conferring him a doctorate from Brooklyn University. He now lives with Elizabeth Pena and works with her in the post office. He meets other veterans from his platoon. They also suffer from disturbing flashbacks. One of them dies in a car bomb, The remaining 'grunts' contact a lawyer played by George from Seinfeld (this detail will please at least one reader), persuading him to sue the government on their behalf. The laywer retracts his case, on finding that their names to do not appear on Armed Forces' records. Jacob's flashbacks come and go. We see more of what happened in the Mekong Delta; the men went insane. Against one another. His present day life starts to become a sort of living hell too. Out of the frying pan into the fire. You're not quite sure which reality to trust, even though both are rather rivetting. After an acute fever, he ends up in hospital, his bed wheeled down into an infernal basement full of dismembered bodies and crazies. His chiropracter, in the form of Danny Aiello, comes to save him and takes him away from the hospital, advising him on how to cope with his demons. The film ends on a 'it was all a dream' surmise. Was all this in his head? Or was it a metaphor for his private hell finding closure? What do we accept, and what do we reject as viewers? This film works on many levels, and can be frustrating if you too are looking for closure, but gives much room for reflection and interpretation. Many modern psychological thrillers like 'Sixth Sense', 'Donnie Darko' and 'The Butterfly Effect' take a leaf out of its book. In fact, how far does the metaphor go? as the postman asks Neruda in 'Il Postino'. I'm still asking myself.
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