July 29th, 2009 (01:08 am)
current mood: depressed
current song: Sacrifice - Tatu
I watched the film 'Birth' tonight for the second time. I was as shocked, and it was as devastating as the first time I saw it. To summarize the story quickly, it's about a child called Sean, who claims to be the reincarnation of Anna's, who's the protagonist, late husband. She is really bothered at first, but slowly comes to believe him. The plot brushes against some heavy issues, such as child abuse and pedophilia, but never outright deals with them. The situation the characters find themselves in is so fantastical that the viewer can't help but sympathize with them and their actions. For example, Anna's fiance, who seems to get increasingly insecure at the whole 'Sean situation', loses his patience at some point and attacks Sean, obviously forgetting that reincarnation or not, he is still a defenseless child. The same thing happens with Anna; she grows fond of Sean and shares with him a couple of highly inappropriate moments, forgetting that he is a 10 year old boy. And even though both their behaviours are wrong on so many levels, I somehow understand the feelings that caused them. In Anna's case it's even easier, since she's obviously still very much in love with her dead husband and thinking that she got part of him back, clings to that hope with all she's got. She even starts entertaining thoughts about running away with Sean, which from an ethical point of view is totally condemnable, but from a humane perspective it somehow makes sense; love can lead one to believe and be capable of anything in the interest of their beloved. Basically, the characters are faced with impossible choices and do what they think best in light of the circumstances. However, one of the characters -the wife of Sean's best friend- is totally unforgivable. She and Sean had an affair while he was married with Anna, and we are led to assume that he really did love her but was unable to leave Anna. At the beginning of the film, as a sort of twisted revenge, she intends to give Anna the very letters Anna wrote to her husband, which Sean handed over to her as a proof of his affections. The letters end up in the child's possession and even though it's hinted that this may have triggered his strange behaviour, it's never explained how he knew things about Sean and Anna's life that he couldn't have picked up from anywhere else. This new revelation bothers me, because if Anna knew her husband was cheating on her she might not have carried a candle to him for all these years, and actually be able to move on. But she's never given that favour. One thing the appearance of Sean's mistress and the letters did trigger though, was Sean's (the child's) realization that he cannot possibly be the reincarnation of Anna's husband. He returns home and sends a letter to Anna explaining that no one knows, not even himself, why he acted that way and that he is sorry if he inadvertently hurt her. Anna takes it in stride and gets back with her fiance. But in reality, it was as if she lost her husband all over again and thus the last heart wrenching scene of the movie when it's her wedding day and her new husband finds her at the beach, her wedding dress soaked, crying at the waves, her eyes empty even as he hugs her.
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