While listening to previous podcast episodes there are always things I wish I had said or at least said differently. That's where blags come in. Welcome to Random Reviews Revisited, where either Geoff or I will go back and write about all the things we wished we talked about during the latest episode of the podcast. While we ultimately did enjoy and recommend the movie, I don't think we gave it the credit it deserved as far as what it accomplished. We briefly discussed its mash up of styles and genres, but I wanted to get into it a little deeper, especially the story of Ben.
The movie ultimately tells the story of a rough breakup and the challenges of isolation and loneliness that accompany it as seen through the eyes of an artist, Ben. The movie is narrated by Ben in a serious tone, or maybe just a British one it's difficult to tell. While there are some jokes mixed in, the opening scenes are mostly dark and emotional and detail Ben's insomnia after his breakup. The movie carries on in a similar fashion, juxtaposing humor with Ben's disconnected reality. He is floating through time seemingly unable to sleep or care about anything, except his art. Ben reveals early on his artistic focus is the human body. He finds the female body exceptional, and this can be seen when he initially freezes time.
Sure he goes through the store undressing all of the women but it is to draw them, to escape into his art. His time freezing is how he copes with the long work hours while drawing is how he copes with his breakup, and both are presented together in this scene. Even when he is undressing them he does it almost reverently, ensuring that he does not disturb anything. Throughout most of the movie Ben is quite disconnected from his fellow friends and employees. He's there for everything that happens and yet is also just outside of it, too consumed with his sadness. Similarly he is outside of everything when he freezes time, however here he has his art which is a comfort. And this is something he wishes he could share with someone. Ben longs for someone who like him can appreciate the beauty of a single frozen moment in time, but does not believe that he will ever find someone who can appreciate it like he does.
There is an interesting scene later in the film where Ben encounters another person when time is frozen. Initially it seems quite out of place, as the scene is quite tense, and really goes nowhere. The man runs away and Ben unfreezes time. That's it. It's a strange shift in tone for the film and is then immediately forgotten. Ben's reaction to the man is interesting though. He isn't scared, instead he is almost hopeful that there may be others like him, other people who can be there with him between the moments, appreciating them to their fullest as Ben does. Ben has finally bottomed out emotionally, and is starting the slow climb back up. He no longer feels total hopelessness in finding someone, he's been encouraged by this hooded stranger frozen with him in time, just as he has been encouraged by his growing feelings for Meredith.
The improvements to Ben continue to show, as he becomes more animated in the following scenes, especially after his coffee quasi-date with Meredith. This culminates in her asking him out to their Manager's birthday party which finally allows Ben to sleep again. However as we discussed, everything goes to shit when his ex attempts to kiss him there. This is the third time we see Ben freeze time as he tries desperately to undo the last instant. This is a painful moment for Ben, he knows that things with Meredith are ruined and that he cannot do anything to stop it. Ben is so close to Meredith in this moment but is still totally isolated and alone, frozen in time. Again he withdraws into his art, however now his focuses have aligned onto Meredith so he draws a creepily large number of drawings of her. Finally she sees how he really feels and is able to join him between the moments of time. Ben has now found his companion and feels known and understood as shown by Meredith being able to join him in frozen time.
When you strip away the humor this is such an "artsy" movie it's almost sickening, and yet I really liked it. I still can't figure out why it works so well. I feel like every filmmaker has that one "dream film" that they would love to make. It is probably some huge, grand story told in their "unique" way. The problem is unless you're super famous studios don't trust you to make that movie, and even when they do you still only make Avatar. However these guys managed to do it, and constructed a fairly beautiful story made out of many different pieces that have no right fitting together. This is one of those movies where you can watch it multiple times, and realize something new about the story it is telling each time. Because it was made by an artist, who believes that the ultimate beauty is a story told through film. And so by having painstakingly studied many other examples, he was able to create his own interpretation and representation of that beauty. Just like Ben does with Meredith and his art exhibit.
