Skip to main content

Room - film review

Directed by an Irish guy with a lead cast never before seen (at least I was clueless about them) the mother and son drama about being trapped in a shed for five years was an amazing take on the phrase 'paradigm shift'.

Protagonists are a mother and her son, introduced to us in the opening sequence, living in a closed box of some sort with their only view of the outside world and sunshine being a skylight in the roof.  There are some parallels to a number of stories in the real world most prominent being a woman in Ohio that was kidnapped and held captive over a decade till she was found.

As the movie unfolds we learn that the mother was a teen that got abducted from close to her home by a psycho who has stored her in a shed behind his home.  He is a sick and demented person that has since raped her multiple times. A child is born (we assume in the same confines) that we get to meet as a five year old learning to survive in the only space he knows as real.

The woman as distraught and torn as she is about her fate appears conflicted about being selfless and selfish in raising that child in that confined space and not negotiating with her captor to let him live and go out in the world.

It is complex, slow yet engaging and finally a climactic breakthrough where the child that only knows of the world in compartments like Room, World, Outer Space learns about the dimensions of real things and what things actually look like including what is and is Not real.

The child actor also shows emotion far ahead of his age where he experiences what is the reverse of claustrophobia as he figures out the larger world around him.  The film reminds me of the film 'Truman Show' in terms of its plot, where the human mind merely accepts the stimulus it repeatedly receives and forms opinions in the absence of other points of view.

Brie Larson, a Californian, for her role as the mother won the Oscar for leading female role.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Of chocolates

I like chocolates. Godiva Dark with Almonds - not sure of the naked woman on the horse to be the icon of some choice cocoa based products but tastes good. Started in Belgium but now owned by some Turks. Cadburys - Fruit and Nut Milk Bars - awesome combination of dried fruit pieces along with a medley of nuts makes your toungue dance - started by a Brit now owen by Kraft USA. Lindt Hazelnut spheres - made by a Swiss confectioner are divine balls that melt in your mouth with a lingering nutty taste Ghirardelli Milk Crisp Squares - crunchy and light these milk squares are easy on the palate but pack some serious calories - all good I say! Originally founded by an Italian who moved around till he landed in SF Bay today also owned by the Swiss Lindt empire.

Columbia SC

 The Palmetto state.  One of the confederate kinds. History dating couple centuries back.  We visited the capital yet again this time to take in the SC State Museum. Occupying the former digs (literally remodeled) of an erstwhile cotton mill this structure is an amazing piece of reimagination.  Four floors of excitement for kids and young at heart alike. Located on the shores of the Congaree River formed when the Broad meets up with the Saluda River, this edifice is approx. 60 years old.  The front of the building has a more modern planetarium that was added about a decade ago.  The museum itself has different areas of interest segregated on each of its four floors. The first floor has gift shop and a diorama of some of the local geography including the swamps and the state beaches with audio guides to help understand what fauna thrives locally. The second floor is all about natural history and showcases animal kingdom that may have survived on this latitud...

But What If We're Wrong?

I attempted to read this book by author Chuck Klosterman backward to forward but it started hurting my brain so I decided to stop and do it like any other publication in the English language.  Start from page 1 and move to the right. Witty, caustic and thought provoking this is a book you want to read if you believe that the status quo might, just might be wrong. At times bordering on being contrarian about most things around us it tries to zero in on the notion of what makes anything believable and certain in our minds.  The fact that there is a fact itself is ironic.  Something analogous to the idea that you can never predict the future because there is no future. Many books and movies have tried to play on this concept - best that I recollect (I think I am) was 'The Truman Show'.  This book by Klosterman attempts to provoke the reader to at least contemplate that what they think they know may be wrong. He uses examples like concept of gravity, and how it ...