Beginners (2010)

Directed by: Mike Mills | 105 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Kai Lennox, Mary Page Keller, Keegan Boos, China Shavers, Melissa Tang, Amanda Payton, Luke Diliberto, Lou Taylor Pucci, Bambadjan Bamba, Hana Hwang, Samuel T. Ritter

If you’ve dreamed of a lion all your life, can you settle for a giraffe and leave it at that? A giraffe is not a lion, but it might also be worth the effort. With this analogy, Hal on his deathbed describes his dilemma as a young gay man to his son Oliver. The giraffe, Oliver’s mother, in this case was “safe” and readily and assuredly available while the lion—a conscious, active life as a homosexual—provided the opportunity for ultimate happiness, but probably also a life full of danger and uncertainty. would bring. It’s a bit crude, but when Hal’s wife dies, at the age of seventy-five he finally sees the chance to really live and chase his lion. For a gay man in the 1960s, this was not really obvious. Oliver – heterosexual, and in a more prosperous age – now has more choices, but is trapped in his own (love) fear and can learn a lot from his recently free-spirited father. They are two stories that reinforce each other in a beautiful, organic way in Mike Mills’ strongly autobiographical ‘Beginners’.

A listing of the film’s story elements, characters, and key plot points will no doubt set off several alarm bells for many movie buffs. Mention: several deaths; a flamboyant, elderly homosexual suffering from cancer; a depressed, unsuccessful graphic designer whose long-term project is “the history of sadness”; two lovers with fear of commitment; a beautiful young woman who cannot speak at first and communicates through her notepad; a “talking dog” whose thoughts and observations are communicated to the viewer through subtitles. In short, this can normally be nothing but a dragon of a movie, filled to the brim with melodrama, artsy fartsy pretentiousness and childish humor. But it all works out very well and the director subtly forges everything into a fascinating whole, helped very well by an excellent cast, the highlight being Christopher Plummer, best known as Captain Von Trapp from ‘The Sound of Music’.

The great actors manage to keep the film captivating almost the entire time, even when some episodes – such as anarchic and romantic graffiti gossip in the city – are less interesting or the pace becomes very lethargic. Christopher Plummer is dryly comical, infectiously spirited, and touching as old Hal who is having a blast with his new identity and with his much younger boyfriend (Goran Vishnic). His scenes with his son Oliver are captivating, funny and moving and his interplay with Ewan McGregor comes across as natural and genuine. McGregor, in turn, has the difficult task of appearing alternately depressed, light-hearted, and infatuated when the situation calls for it, and he does this job very well.

“Beginners” isn’t exactly a movie to cheer about – with a failed marriage, illness, depression and death as major components – but thanks to McGregor’s successful ironic commentary and funny and touching dealings with his father, girlfriend (to be), and dog it never gets too heavy. The director’s stylistic touches also contribute to this, which are somewhat reminiscent of the work of the wife of director, video artist and filmmaker Miranda July, known for the special arthouse film ‘Me and You and Everyone We Know’. Indeed, Oliver’s drawings are regularly shown, depicting the history of sadness, and just as often a montage of photographs appears, in which – as explained via Oliver’s voice-over – the “present” (2003) is compared with the situation from Oliver’s childhood. For example, the viewer sees what a beautiful woman looked like then compared to now, how “happy” looked (smiling people in the photo), and the president then and now. Many different or changed conceptions of general concepts are presented in this way, but it is also striking that the universe – the sun and the stars – are unchanged. Perhaps a comfort to some who think that everything was better in the past or that the world or the future is doomed. A lesson that can at least be learned from the film is that it is never too late to enjoy life, and each other, and to really make something of it. Ultimately, everyone has that power.

Melanie Laurents Anna is an ideal love interest for Oliver as she has just as much of a bonding difficulty as he does, partly from a practical point of view as she is only traveling as an actress, but it is clearly in her character too. . On the one hand, it is impossible for these two people to stay together, but on the other, they are the ones who understand each other best and together they may be the only ones who can grow out of it. The fact that they split up at the end of the film only seems logical in this film, but here too it feels like an artificial convention of the genre. Maybe the way it’s happening here isn’t natural or believable enough. Or maybe it’s because the rest of the film is so off the beaten track that such a clichéd twist feels untrue.

Still, it doesn’t bother the film much and the moments between Anna and Oliver are often enchanting and sometimes even unforgettable. Like the way they meet at a costume party. He is dressed as Freud and there he treats some “patients”, who spontaneously lie down on the couch next to him. When Anna lies down on the couch, she immediately sees that he is gloomy, which she asks about via scribbles in her notepad. It is the charming beginning of a touching and playful romance, which is characterized by special trips, loving glances and occasionally profound conversations.

One of the film’s greatest sources of humor is the Jack Russell Arthur, who sometimes turns out to be a true philosopher when it comes to Anna and Oliver’s relationship, and at other times just thinks typical “dog” things. In any case, combined with his cute dessert and his patter, it’s always funny and the way the people around him react to him sometimes says a lot about their emotions or characters.

The film ends on the right note, slightly optimistic and hopeful, but uncertain about the future, because Anna and Oliver are really just beginners on the love path. But beginners who dare to take the plunge together and are not afraid to make big mistakes or experience a lot of sadness if this means that they can also taste the ultimate happiness. Let’s hope they make something nice out of it. Seize the day!