Pickpocket

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

 

If you know Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, you don’t need Roger Ebert to point out the echoes of that story in Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket (1959). However, Ebert’s insights help to clarify this story about a man, Michel (Martin LaSalle), who, like Raskolnikov, sees himself as superior to the rest of society, and thus existing in a plane above the morality of others. However, Ebert notes in his book, The Great Movies, that Michel, “fearing he is worse” than the general population, “seeks punishment” for his crimes. Could it also be that he is an emotional vampire who is empty inside and is attempting to suck out the spirit of others that he robs?

The film begins with a sort of disclaimer which says the filmmaker is not presenting a thriller, but instead is providing a story about a man with a compulsion, and that the situation also brings together two people who may never had otherwise met each other. Bresson, thus, is giving us a character study that is the primary focus, and the events are the vehicle which brings these people together, and to us.

The music that plays as the titles are displayed sounds like a classical dirge that suggests crime can be artistic but also can lead to the undoing of the criminal artist. The beginning has Michel, who is writing in a journal, succinctly summing up what he thinks is his superior nature. We hear his voice as he narrates his tale. He says others think of committing certain acts, but he has actually done them.

At the racetrack, where people are carrying money to bet, he surveys the crowd. His eyes are always moving, observing where he can strike, like a predator. Ebert points out that the pickpocket must get close to the victim, suggesting sexual intimacy. Michel approaches a woman, and his close proximity shows he is penetrating her personal space. The way he strokes the female’s purse (which prostitute’s sometimes call the vagina) appears sensual. When he releases the catch, he gives out a slight sigh and closes his eyes, which is relief he didn’t get caught, but may also imply sexual satisfaction. Even the way he inserts his hand and removes the money is suggestive. As he exits the location he says he was “walking on air,” which stresses his ecstasy at violating the standards meant for the mediocre masses. However, he is arrested, probably because the woman saw him close to her and described him after realizing she was robbed. But, because he was not caught in the act, he is released. He later says he needs to think about what has happened, which implies he is experiencing the exhilaration of getting away with his crime, the fear that he almost was caught, and the guilt of breaking the law. As Ebert points out, Bresson does not allow his actors to show emotion to give away their feelings, and that the audience must surmise what the characters are feeling by the action he, as the director, presents.

As he goes to his mother’s place, Michel admits that he does not visit her often. He does not have a key, which shows his lack of connection to her. The neighbor, Jeanne (Marika Green), lets him in and she is the one who knows more about his mother’s ill health than he does. He will not even go in to see her, and hands Jeanne some money to give to his mother. Ebert suggests that, since we don’t really know, Michel may want to avoid a reminder of his connection to an ordinary woman.

Michel meets with a friend, Jacques (Pierre Leymarie), who appears to know Michel has the talent to be a good pickpocket because he has good ‘hands.” The two join a third man, a policeman, L’inspecteur principal (Pierre Pelegri), who knows about different types of crooks. When pressed about why he thinks some people break the law, Michel is philosophical. He rhetorically asks, “Can we not admit that certain skilled men, gifted with intelligence, talent or even genius, and thus indispensable to society, rather than stagnate, should be free to disobey laws in certain cases?” L’inspecteur principal notes the danger in people deciding that they are “supermen.” Michel says these special individuals will benefit society when they act according to their superiority, which they recognize in themselves. But L’inspecteur principal notes that it would be difficult to find someone who doesn’t consider himself to be “exceptional.” He adds by questioning the concept of a “useful thief,” saying that would create a “world upside down,” a reversal of the social order. Michel counters by saying, “It’s already upside down. This could set it right.” Michel is arguing that if the world is so flawed it needs an outlaw to correct its wayward path. Of course, one could also argue that breaking more laws would only create more chaos. In this exchange we have the closest connection to Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment. L’inspecteur principal, according to Jacques later, is becoming suspicions of Michel, whose verbal justification of criminal activity could be part of a desire to be found out to get acknowledgement of his talent, but also possibly to get caught as penance for his transgressions.

Michel continues his narration, saying that even though he does not want to return to his seedy apartment, which only has a latch as a lock, he questions if his desire to steal is based on the acquisition of money. While on the metro, he scopes out a victim and feels compelled to pickpocket him, although he does not act yet. He continues to practice his technique and is successful the next time he rides the train. Michel, as Ebert points out, is unremarkable in appearance. Of course, by not calling attention to himself, he is able to perform his illegal actions unnoticed. The idea that this type of criminal act is done by making appearances look innocent is demonstrated when Michel hides a stolen wallet inside a folded newspaper. The fact that the theft is done in an underground vehicle suggests symbolism that implies wrongdoing is propelled by the forces of the underside, that part of one’s psychology that rebels against the standards imposed from without.

One of Michel’s marks stops him on the way out of the metro, confronting Michel with the theft of his wallet. Michel gives it back and quickly leaves, feeling defeated. He then stays in his apartment for a while, probably requiring solitary sanctuary for his failure. His place is full of books that he reads, which also feeds his ego regarding how he values being thought of as an intellectual. As he sits in the small living space, it almost looks like a jail cell, which also implies that Michel is already imprisoned by his compulsion.

Jacques brings Jeanne to Michel to tell him that his mother is very sick. He still is not able to find it within himself to visit her, despite admitting that he loves her. His contradictory attitude is still not explained, and we can only guess at why he feels alienated from his mother. He follows a man who was sizing up his place and finds out that he is a pickpocket who then helps Michel perfect his technique. The classical music is back as the hand maneuvers are put on display, equating the movements with an artistic work, despite the fact they are illegal.

Despite Michel’s intense observational ability, he, ironically, misses seeing a note left by Jeanne urging him to come to see his mother. The implication is that his connection to others is not his primary concern. However, he now visits his dying mother, who passes away after she says he can accomplish anything. Her statement also is ironic, since he can construe her encouragement to justify his pickpocketing enterprise. He cries at her funeral, which is the first time we see any emotion on the part of Michel, thus demonstrating he can have feelings for others.

After bringing his mother’s few belongings to his apartment with Jeanne, he asks her if people are judged. She mistakenly thinks he is talking about his mother, who Jeanne says will be treated kindly in the afterlife. He is most likely thinking about himself. He questions, “Judged how? According to laws? What laws? It’s absurd.” She asks if he believes in “nothing.” His sarcastic response is, “I believed in God, Jeanne, for three minutes.” He is an existential character who has thrown away concepts of absolute rights and wrongs, but he has not replaced any traditional spiritual beliefs with another code. The poet William Blake created his own mythology because, he said, he must build a system to follow or be enslaved by one created by another.

Michel and his accomplice/mentor use their slight-of-hand skills to steal from several people. A second pickpocket then joins the team. Back in his apartment Michel finds Jacques there picking up a book about a famous pickpocket. Jacques is concerned about his friend being interested in a life of crime. He says that thieves “disgust” him because they are “idlers.” But Michel defends the “Prince of Pickpockets” noted in the book, saying the famous crook read constantly. When Jacques stresses that thieves go to prison. Michel asks his friend if he knows what prison is. The implication here is that Michel is already in the prison of his own compulsion to steal, which sprang from his outsider personality.

Jacques brings the book about the pickpocket to a meeting that includes the L’inspecteur principal. The policeman asks Michel if he knows how many of these “supermen” lawbreakers there are. Michel says no, because they are smart enough never to have been caught, which can imply that he is smart enough never to be captured. L’inspecteur principal invites Michel to talk with him about the book. Michel afterwards tells Jacques that he knows the policeman and Jacques suspect him of breaking the law. But, he says he will go see L’inspecteur principal anyway. Here we have his arrogance showing, but also that contrary subconscious desire to have his illegal activities discovered. He meets with the policeman, but it is a brief encounter and Michel believes it was a trap to get him away from his apartment so it could be searched. When he returns he finds that his stash behind the wall molding has not been touched.

He meets with Jacques and Jeanne, only to leave them to steal a watch. The next scene reveals that he has hurt his hand and leg and his clothes are dirty. He must have failed at keeping his theft covert and fallen while running away from the scene of his crime. His pickpocketing is a dangerous activity, but it is the adrenalin rush that makes it attractive. Jacques finds Michel at his apartment in his disheveled state. Michel shows some jealousy, wondering if Jacques and Jeanne have fallen in love. Perhaps he has some genuine feelings for her, but is it enough to save him from his antisocial behavior?

Michel narrates that working with his partners was going along very well. But, he says it can’t last. He is obviously a pessimist about life. There is a wordless sequence which presents a clinic on pickpocketing. The three thieves work seamlessly at a train station removing wallets and substituting purses under the arms of women for the stolen ones. They move the goods between them for safekeeping so none of thieves gets caught with the merchandize. The audience marvels at the skill of these crooks, maybe even cheering for their talents. But these men are victimizing innocent people. In this way, Bresson is like Alfred Hitchcock, who implicates his audience in wrongdoing in his films as he has the viewers get thrills from their voyeurism and vicarious involvement. Bresson, like Hitchcock (think of Psycho, Strangers on a Train, Shadow of a Doubt, Rope), even puts the audience in a position where they wish for the perpetrators to escape capture.

L’inspecteur principal confronts Michel at his place. Michel tells him he knows the policeman suspects him and he shows anger here saying he does not want to be hounded. The inspector says that there was a report that an old woman stated she was robbed but the complaint was withdrawn. Then the woman’s son was at the racetrack right after that and was arrested as a possible pickpocket. He admits he is talking about Michel and confesses that he should have considered Michel as the person who stole from his mother. So, we see that Michel’s compulsion even makes his own mother a victim. Could he have stolen from her as a sort of revenge for coming from an ordinary upbringing? The policeman simply leaves and refuses to tell Michel his future plans concerning the suspected thief.

Michel knows that Jeanne was questioned by the police in connection with his mother’s robbery. Jeanne says that his mother dropped the complaint. Jeanne is the opposite of Michel. She is an innocent and does not suspect Michel until he calls her an “idiot” for not realizing that he lives without any evidence of income, and states that his mother must have come to realize her own son stole from her. She is appalled that he could have done such a horrible thing. Her goodness is a challenge to his amoral behavior. His cynical response is that just knowing a deed is considered wrong doesn’t preclude one from committing it. He is again asserting his option to dismiss conventional morality if he is above it. He says she has accepted her lot in life even though it has inflicted her with a drunken father and an absent mother. He most likely is asserting the right to alter one’s inherited situation if it is detrimental, even if it means breaking the rules to right the wrongs. She provides a sort of spiritual, fatalistic attitude, saying things must occur for a reason. He says to her, “are you that naïve?” This exchange shows how opposite these two are in their approach to life’s tribulations. She admits that she believes that he is a thief, but instead of recoiling from him, she hugs him, as if offering Michel a chance at redemption if he can experience kindness.

He retrieves what he stole and escapes on a train to avoid being arrested. He writes that he went to Italy and then England where he continued being a pickpocket for two years, but he lost all of what he stole on gambling and women. He returned to Paris “penniless.” So, the acquisition of wealth, to “get ahead” as he told Jeanne, was not really his goal. It was the act of stealing that interested him.

He visits Jeanne, whose father has taken all of her belongings. She now has a baby, and Jacques is the father. She says she couldn’t marry him because she didn’t love him, and it would have been a deception. She is above being dishonest. Michel promises to help her, perhaps because her being a good person who has not had an easy life and who showed him compassion brings out the humanity in him. He gets a legitimate job and gives money to Jeanne.

The story returns to the racetrack, where it began, providing a sense of closure. A man there shows Michel that he has a lot of money in his pocket from his winnings. But, Michel sees that the horse the man chose did not win. So, he suspects the man to be a policeman. Out of arrogance, he attempts to pick his pocket anyway, but the cop catches Michel in the act and puts handcuffs on him. Did he subconsciously try to get arrested out of guilt or feelings of inadequacy? In jail, Jeanne visits, and he says, “These walls, these bars – I don’t care. I don’t even see them.” Maybe that’s because he has always felt imprisoned by the way life treated him. What bothers him is that he “let his guard down” and was caught, which undermines his vision of himself as being superior to failure. He says he will confess everything (the prison bars suggest the divider is a confessional) but will then refute what he says just as a way of stubbornly resisting his defeat.

He eventually gets a letter from Jeanne telling him that her baby has been very ill, so she continues to suffer life’s tribulations. She promises, however, that she will see him again. When she visits, they are separated by the barrier, but they touch each other, and he kisses her head gently. The last words are, “Oh, Jeanne, what a strange way I had to take to meet you.” He, ironically, has made a meaningful emotional connection to her at a time when his actions have prevented him from being with the woman he cares about.

The next post deals with recent films.

The Station Agent

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

 The Station Agent (2003) deals with some of society’s outsiders who come in different shapes, genders, and races, and how they struggle to make connections to each other and the world at large.

The film opens with Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage) observing a train arriving at a city station. He pulls out a pocket watch that looks like the kind used by train conductors in the past. The image immediately tells us how he is linked to trains. He is a dwarf, and IMDb notes that St. Finbar was a religious hermit born in the sixth century. He founded a monastery which, ironically, attracted many people and the place became the Irish City of Cork. Fin’s name implies that he, too, wishes to be left alone, but may not be able to escape into a fortress of solitude. At this point, his attachment to trains may show how he would like to settle down in one secure place but must keep moving to find sanctuary.

Fin works at a train shop in New Jersey owned by Henry Styles (Paul Benjamin). It is called The Golden Spike, which refers to the spot where different railroad companies joined their tracks together. It suggests connection. But, at this point, Fin is quite a loner. One can understand why he wants to avoid people since as he walks on the street boys ask him if he knows Snow White, and when he shops at the supermarket, people stare at him and giggle.

Henry and Fin plan on going to a screening of a home movie made on a train trip, but their expectations are not great, and they are right since it is a boring presentation. There are several train enthusiasts attending, but there is no conversation between them, so the impression is that they are content in their oddness which brings them together, but not in a personal way.

In a quick foreshadowing, one of the miniature figures that Finn is painting at the train store topples over, and Henry immediately collapses in the shop and dies. Could the tiny figure represent the upheaval that the diminutive Fin will encounter? Fin meets with Henry’s attorney, Louis Tuboni (Richard Kind), who says in six weeks the shop and its contents will be sold according to Henry’s will. He left some property to Fin, which turns out to be a train depot in a remote part of the state, where according to Tuboni, “there’s nothing.” That may actually seem like an attractive prospect for the socially shunning Fin. The town is called Newfoundland, and the name can indicate a “new” start for Fin.

Like a solitary hobo, he walks along tracks as train cars go by. He reaches the station and looks outside which confirms its remoteness. However, the next morning he is awakened by a man setting up his food truck with the name “Gorgeous Frank’s ” written on it right next to the building. The owner is Joe Oramas (Bonny Cannavale), who is just the opposite of Fin. Joe is a very gregarious fellow who wants to engage Fin in conversation that Fin does not want to be part of. Joe says it’s his father’s truck, who is sick, and Joe has been taking care of business for the past six weeks in the meantime. From Manhattan, Joe is out of his element and he craves some companionship. The only way that Joe even knows that Fin lives right there is when the newcomer takes the mailbox and places it on the porch of the depot so can have access to it. The shot implies that the world as a whole is out of reach for Fin.

Fin is almost run over by Olivia Harris (Patricia Clarkson), who spilled coffee on herself and drove erratically as a result. It seems Fin can only meet people by accident. She offers to give him a ride but as usual he refuses. He offers Joe little information as to why he is dirty and refuses to go with him for a beer. He doesn’t like bars most likely because of receiving ridicule, but will not even drink with Joe alone or take a walk with him, so used is he to feeling safe when by himself. Finn stays where he thinks he feels safe from others as he walks along the railroad tracks. However, he attracts another well-meaning person, Cleo (Raven Goodwin), a young African American girl who follows him. He stops and just says “Hi” to her and she runs off. She is a bit of an outsider herself, and maybe she sensed a connection with Fin because his height matches her own.

There is a knock at the station which is disturbing to the hermit-like Fin, and it is Olivia bringing a bottle of bourbon as a housewarming/apology gift. She sees Fin smoking and she says that she slept with a guy when she was nineteen because he rolled his own cigarettes. It is an awkward statement, injecting a sexual element here. Fin doesn’t have a phone, adding to his desire to be off the social grid, and Olivia likes that, as she admits she has two phones and never answers them. She notes that her former husband gave her one of the phones, and her marital situation indicates she is also not in a connected place in her life. She is physically awkward as she knocks over a ticket box, symbolizing her unstable situation. She admits to losing her son two years prior, so we understand why she is in an emotional limbo. After revealing this fact, she wants isolation also, and tells Fin not to look at her.

She falls asleep on Fin’s couch and Fin slept in the bathtub, giving both of them their privacy. When she wakes, she feels embarrassed that she stayed overnight and runs out. Joe has met her before and suggestively jokes that she must have missed her train the prior night. Joe issues another unwanted knock on Fin’s door, gives him some coffee, and assaults him with unwanted questions about Olivia’s sleepover. He vicariously wants a connection to Olivia, and he so craves human contact, unlike Fin, that he makes Fin promise him that if he and Olivia do something later, he wants to join them. Olivia left her phone there which begins to ring. Fin finds out her address from Joe, and drops off the phone without even trying to talk with Olivia, despite having made her acquaintance. Meanwhile, Olivia is at her place painting, which also designates her as an artistic outsider, expressing herself on the canvas instead of to people. When she gets calls from her husband, she ignores them. A woman stops by and Olivia escapes, saying she has to go out. She is as evasive as Fin. They both wind up at the library, but Fin doesn’t have a library card yet. The library worker, Emily (Michelle Williams) doesn’t see his small-scale approach and is startled, dropping books on the floor, another example of how he doesn’t fit in with the expectations of others. Later, Olivia, who somehow feels safe around Fin, possibly because he is so unobtrusive, checks out the book for him and, according to Joe, leaves it at his doorstep, an attempt to make up for her overextended visit.

Cleo finally has a minimal conversation with Fin, who she innocently thinks, because of his size, might still be going to school. She does then ask if he’s a “midget” to which he responds, “no.” Much of his dialogue at the beginning consists of “yes” or “no” answers reflecting his desire to limit engaging with anyone. Some young men visit Joe’s truck and when they see Fin come out of the station, they make derogatory comments. Joe shuts them down and looks at them with disdain, which shows he is above their prejudicial way of thinking.

Olivia drives past Fin who is sitting near a pond reading. When she gets coffee at Joe’s, he finds out that she passed Fin. Joe asks for a ride to see Fin. While they ride together, she gives monosyllabic responses, mimicking Fin, which shows how she is like him in her social aversion. She does not want to join them, so Joe approaches Fin by himself and finds out that Fin is train watching. However, one goes by with very few cars about ninety minutes apart. Joe, who is starving for something to do, is no satisfied with the activity. They run into Olivia coming out of a store and Joe gets the other two to join him at his truck for dinner. Fin and Olivia seem uncomfortable with the arrangement as Joe tries to morph them into his version of the Three Musketeers. It’s funny when Joe asks Fin if people like him have clubs. Probably the first thing that comes into our minds, and also in Fin’s, is that Joe is making a prejudicial remark about Fin’s height. But Joe follows it with that he means people who love trains. Unfortunately, Joe, the glue holding these three together, must leave to take care of his ailing father. Olivia gets Fin’s lack of desire for social interaction and says she is “cool” with them just eating and not talking.

Joe now becomes Fin’s walking companion as they hike along the tracks and go to the pond to watch trains. The outgoing Joe narrates as he flings stones into the water to pass the time. He engages Fin by asking about the best train routes. Olivia drops off a camera at Fin’s because he admitted he can’t be a train chaser since he doesn’t drive and has no way to photograph the vehicles. Olivia meets Cleo who is pretending she is a conductor on one of the abandoned trains there. The young girl has a track spike collection, so she, too, is drawn to the world of trains, possibly suggesting her inner desire to hit the road and escape her solitary world.

Joe, the urban outsider in this rural area, continues to try to cement the connection with Olivia and Fin. They walk the “right of way,” which Fin explains comes from the government acquiring land to develop railroad passage. Joe, though tall, is the one who is like a child looking for something to do, quite the opposite of the other two, who retreat into their passions, trains and painting. Joe even wants to just play soccer with some kids who show up at his stand, accepting anything that will keep him occupied. Olivia comments to Fin that Joe, “does enjoy life,” which can’t be said for her and Fin at this point. That feeling overwhelms Olivia and she leaves to be alone.

Joe drives his truck and Fin uses the camera that Olivia brought him so they can indulge in some train chasing. Fin actually appears happy for the first time. Joe invites both of them to Olivia’s house so they can screen their film. Olivia is running late and is draped only in a towel when she lets them in, which again adds a sexual note to the encounter. It is the first time the two men see Olivia’s paintings, which startles Joe. As Joe cooks a meal, Fin and Olivia dip their feet in an adjacent pond, and Olivia says she is not used to having a loud person, such as Joe, in her house, again attesting to her state of solitude. She says that the house was a “getaway” place, and she really used to get away, because she couldn’t stand being in her former community where she was the “poor woman whose son died.” We now know why Olivia has withdrawn from the world, and she feels the pain of her loss and dislikes feeling pitied. But Fin gives us little of his backstory. When Olivia asks why he moved there, he jokingly says to be near Joe.

After they enjoy the meal and film together, Fin does admit when asked by Olivia that he was in love once, but he was young and angry, most likely due to harassment, which probably ruined the relationship. He is amazed how people single him out just because of his height even though he is just a regular “boring” person. He asks if she is still in love with her ex-husband, David (John Slattery), and she says yes. Was he fishing to see if he had a chance with her? Joe is passed out and Olivia insists that they stay over. There is a photograph of Olivia’s son next to the bed where Fin is, and he comments that he looked like a happy kid. Moved by Fin’s statement, she gives Fin a goodnight kiss on the lips. Unfortunately, David decides to show up the next morning to find Fin coming down from upstairs and Joe eating cereal. Olivia asks her two houseguests to step outside as Olivia and David argue over the presence of the other two men and the fact that Olivia will not answer David’s phone calls. Olivia is seeking solace from the loss of her son, but David’s appearance invades her emotional and physical escape.

Cleo doesn’t understand Fin’s desire to be left alone and wants him to talk about trains at her school. She is quite angry with him when he says he can’t appear. From her innocent viewpoint, which is the unbiased position the film seems to think we should aspire to, there is no logical reason why he should have to feel inhibited. Meanwhile, Olivia doesn’t show up for her daily coffee at Joe’s truck, not feeling social, and she takes some pills to cope after David’s intrusion. Joe has tried to adapt to being quiet and read along with Fin, just to share his company. But, he does attempt to obtain more personal history from him. Fin admits that he has had sex with a full-sized woman, but not with a person his own size. When Joe presses, Fin cuts him off, most likely not feeling comfortable as to why he should have to talk about how his life is different.

Now that he has verified his address, Fin is able to get his own library card. When he sees Emily again, she says he has a nice chin. It is an intriguing statement and Fin shares the observation with Joe, which shows how these two are becoming buddies. Olivia drives right past Fin and Joe, which shows how the encounter with her husband has made her withdraw into herself. Fin is at the grocery store when Olivia calls in an order as she is probably not willing to even to shop. Fin says he will deliver the items as he most likely wants to know how she is doing. But she has no interest in seeing him and is cold as she pays him for the groceries and immediately closes the door. Fin’s hurt is mirrored in his face as he probably feels that he thought he was getting close to someone who has now rejected him.

Fin told the surprised Joe that he would go with him and his dad to the local bar he was not previously willing to visit. But he is carrying this immediate hurt concerning Olivia there with him. Emily is waiting for her loser boyfriend Chris (Jayce Bartok) who is standing her up. He calls and she is distraught. She confides in Fin, telling him that she is pregnant. She was abrupt with Chris who drives over and pushes Emily around for telling him to get lost. Fin tries to keep Chris away from Emily and then he slams Fin into a car. Emily tells Fin to leave to protect him. Fin looks disgusted since it seems when he tries to connect with someone all he gets is grief. He slams the door closed to his station in anger.

Trains roar past his new home seemingly reminding him of how life is passing him by while he is stationed, as it were, in his predicament. The next day Joe comes by to apologize that he didn’t show up at the bar because his father was not feeling well. Fin is now angry at all the disappointment he has suffered by engaging with others and bluntly tells Joe that he wants to be left alone, which is the only way he feels emotionally safe. He wanders to the bench to watch trains go by and there is a shot there of a father showing his two young sons how to fish. The inclusion of this image sharpens the contrast between those that lead fulfilling average family lives and the outcast world of Fin. Meanwhile, Olivia’s husband continues to just reach her phone machine, as Olivia is absent even from the camera shot to stress her isolation.

At night Emily visits Fin and apologizes for what happened with her boyfriend. She is on the outs with society, too, right now, as she relates how her family is in an uproar about her being pregnant. She was going to move in with Chris, but probably realizes what a jerk he is. So, she is feeling homeless. In their conversation, Fin says that long ago the station agent would deliver mail and even give haircuts. It is interesting that Fin lives in a place once occupied by a person who was so much a part of the community. Perhaps the building’s abandonment is a reflection on the current disconnected society. Fin says he’s retired now and when she questions why since he is not that old, he says that dwarves retire early. Emily is funny when she comments, “Yea, lazy dwarves.” They then share a passionate kiss, and she asks if she could just sleep there that night. They share the couch with their heads at opposite ends. There is intimacy without the two being physically intimate. She leaves the next day after the usually remote Fin gave her sanctuary for an evening.

Fin starts to sit outside Olivia’s house each day, smoking cigarettes and eating his lunch. He wants to monitor her without intruding, but it does come off as a bit of a stalking maneuver. One time she is on the phone having an angry conversation with her ex-husband. Fin approaches her on her porch to try to offer comfort, but it is bad timing since she is furious. She yells at him, saying she is neither his girlfriend nor his mother and he must leave. He goes to the crowded local bar and gets drunk as he sees those there, including Emily’s boyfriend, stare at him and smile, as if making jokes about him. He explodes, breaking shot glasses with his sweeping arm. He shouts, “Here I am! Take a look. Take a look!” Joe, Olivia, Emily, and Cleo invaded his solitude, and he can’t hide by blending into the background at the bar. He feels as if he can’t escape notice which brings along with it hurt feelings. So, he changes from being a covert center of attention to an overt one.

He stumbles back toward the station on the tracks, the objects that gives him direction. But he is intoxicated and he falls. He sees the light of a train coming at him and he smiles, as if wanting death to free him from his emotional torture. But, it was just an alcohol-induced dream. He wakes up on the tracks. However, his pocket watch was smashed. Could it mean he is ready to move on away from his restrictive past?

He visits Olivia’s house again. She is on the floor and a bottle of pills is next to her. She has fallen, literally and figuratively, just like Fin, by taking a supposedly pain-killing substance. So, what is happening to them bonds them together. She says that David is having a baby in his new relationship, which obviously is horrible for Olivia, as she sees him as replacing loss with hope, which she is not capable of doing in her life. She falls crying into Fin’s arms, and now he is there at the right time to offer her comfort. The next scene has Fin sitting in a waiting room as a doctor talks to Olivia. The implication is that he helped her seek counseling.

Finn, after successfully aiding Olivia, now reaches out to Joe and they greet a smiling Olivia as she is discharged from the hospital and they take her home. Fin and Olivia spend time together in a serene shot near the calming pond. Fin, no longer trying to hide, goes to Cleo’s classroom to talk about trains. He tells the students that the first train was called the “Tom Thumb,” which links him to his passion based on the size reference. The film is not about to say everything will be okay, since one boy makes fun of Fin’s height, and the teacher pulls him out of the class.

The story ends with a relaxing and humorous night scene on Olivia’s porch where Joe has made dinner for her, Fin, and himself. Joe says there is plenty of food left over for the next day. Olivia smiles at him, as his words point to the ongoing friendship between the three. A child in the class asked about another mode of transportation, blimps. Fin asks Olivia and Joe if they know when blimps were invented. Joe says Fin can go to the library and ask Emily. Joe talks about a librarian fantasy, where she loses her glasses and books fly everywhere. Fin says Emily doesn’t have glasses. Olivia tells him, “Well, buy her some, it’s worth it.” Trains have now become a symbol for bringing people together.

The next film is Pickpocket.

Glengarry Glen Ross

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Here is another post that comes out of a class discussion at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), based on David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, focuses on the themes of the punishing aspects of capitalism, the line between legality and criminal behavior, and male toxicity.

The film begins with the credits displayed against passing subway cars. The images tell us that it’s an elevated train, which places us in Chicago, as one of the few cities that has this type of rail system. It also implies speed, which the real estate sellers in the story must adopt. As the audience soon discovers, they have to beat the clock or they will be fired. One of the rules in writing a play is to include a sense of immediacy to hold the audience’s attention.

The first part of the story takes place at night and there is a drenching rainstorm. The setting provides an atmosphere that suggests that dark deeds are about to transpire. One student noted that these elements are included in the film noir genre. However, our instructor noted that the noir element of a femme fatale is absent since these men do not need a conspiring female to corrupt them. (Mamet reverses the femme fatale character in House of Games where the con man subverts the female character).

The film starts in a restaurant with Shelley Levene (Jack Lemmon) in a phone booth inquiring about the health of his hospitalized daughter who has no insurance. In the phone booth next to him is Dave Moss (Ed Harris) who is trying to sell some properties. The story quickly sets up the theme that money is needed by these men not just to enrich themselves but so that they and their families can survive, which of course places extreme pressure on them. Following their calls they go into the men’s room and gripe (especially the vocal Moss throughout the film) about the bad “leads” they have. The company they work for is making them try to sell to people they have encountered before who are unwilling to buy property or don’t have the means to do so. The large financial institution that employs them is ordering them to make transactions that are almost impossible to finalize. It’s like Sisyphus trying to roll that big rock up the hill, and these men are also condemned to a fruitless task. The one salesman who has been successful lately is Ricky Roma (Al Pacino), who has an amazing gift of gab, and he is working on a sale at the restaurant to James Lingk (Jonathan Pryce).

At the office, Levene and Ross, along with George Aronow (Alan Arkin) are confronted with the crude and demeaning company representative, Blake (Alec Baldwin). (Mamet, who also wrote the screenplay, added this character and Levene’s phone calls to the movie, and many, according to the IMDb, believe the film script may be better than the play). Blake is brutal, telling the men that they are losers, and if they don’t go out into the literal (and figurative) storm and triumph over their adversity, they will be fired. Levene goes for a cup of coffee and Blake yells at the man, saying, “Put that coffee down! Coffee’s for closers only.” In this economic hell, even basic items are denied unless one meets the company’s demands.

There is a contest going on to determine who sells the most property. Blake says, “the first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Anyone wanna see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.” It’s sort of an all or nothing capitalistic game they must play. In the film Wall Street, the merciless Gordon Gecko points out two men on the street: one is well-dressed wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase, and the other appears homeless. Gecko says you can’t say that the difference between the two is just based on luck. The implication is that success is earned. That may be true, but is the alternative to winning mean that anyone who doesn’t finish first must sacrifice everything and become destitute? According to Blake, the answer is yes. Blake tells them the law according to their job is, “A-B-C... Always Be Closing!” He is saying that if they are not always making money on every deal then they are failures.

Moss complains that the “leads” are “weak,” Here is where Blake uses, as one of our students noted, emasculating language. He says, “The leads are weak? The fucking leads are weak? You’re weak!” He says that if they are good guys who just want to be with their families, they aren’t real men since they are not making the grade as salesmen. Blake flaunts his income, his expensive watch and car, setting them up as the measure not only of success but of what makes someone manly. He pulls out two metal balls attached to a string and places them in front of his crotch. He says, “It takes brass balls to sell real estate.” He calls them “cocksuckers.” The insults throughout the film accuse men of being homosexual or children, which, in this macho world, means they are not “real men” if they can’t close the deals. Blake holds up the Glengarry leads like they are a present, tied up in a bow. They will only go to the salesmen who can close the mediocre leads. It’s a sort of a Catch-22 because nobody can get the leads that will bring in money if they don’t already make the sales. It’s a version of the rich getting richer. The title of the movie, which also refers to other choice properties that were sold, thus becomes a symbol for the pot of gold at the end of a sullied mercenary rainbow.

John Williamson (Kevin Spacey) is the office manager (a job Mamet had in real life) who hands out the inferior leads. He is a bureaucrat who, like the others, is only out for himself since this survival of the fittest environment fosters that approach. Levene, worried about his daughter, feels driven to negotiate an unethical deal with Williamson so he can get some of the Glengarry leads, offering the office manager a cut of his earnings and payment for each lead. However, Williamson will not compromise on his price to meet Levene’s lean resources since he feels he must be highly compensated for taking a chance that might get Williamson caught. Human decency is not a factor here, as there is no sympathy shown for Levene’s daughter’s medical situation. After this rejection, Levene continues to cross over into unethical behavior as he pretends to be a busy big shot who is willing to throw some deals toward some potential customers. But, his high-pressured pitches fail to close on any properties.

There are extended scenes between Moss and Aronow which on the surface seem to be commiserating about how dire their fate is, and how badly they are being treated. The dialogue here illustrates Mamet’s signature style, with interruptions occurring between the speakers that sets up a rhythm that, as Arkin noted in an interview, is not subject to variation or improvisation. One student noted the musical score is jazzy, which fits in with Mamet’s writing style which has him riffing on a subject. IMDb states that Al Jarreau’s version of “Blue Skies” in the film refers to blue sky laws that aimed to prevent sales fraud, which is ironic given the unscrupulous actions occurring in this story.

Moss proposes that they stage a burglary at the office and steal the Glengarry leads from Williamson’s file cabinet and sell them to a competing firm. But Moss’s chumming it up with Aronow is just a ploy to get him to do the robbery since Moss, because of his vocal dissent, would be the prime suspect. Aronow does not wish to be part of yet another example of crossing over into illegal activity. But Moss, using the unscrupulous ploy of blackmail, says Aronow is already guilty since he has listened to Moss’s plan.

Roma does not try to strongarm his potential clients, as does Levene. He talks about all sorts of philosophical topics to ingratiate himself with his mark, because, as with other Mamet films, such as House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner, characters are trying to con others by achieving a personal connection. However, what Roma says to Lingk reveals a capitulation to a lack of a moral compass. He tells him, “You think you’re a thief? So what? … You cheat on your wife? You did it, live with it. You fuck little girls, so be it. There’s an absolute morality? Maybe. And then what? If you think there is, go ahead, be that thing. Bad people go to hell? I don’t think so. If you think that, act that way. A hell exists on earth? Yes. I won’t live in it.” Roma says it’s up to the individual how a person wants to live, but for his money, he doesn’t buy into rights and wrongs, He just wants to avoid the guilt that would hold him back from escaping from the hardships in life and enjoying whatever pleasures there are.

The story now enters daytime, where underhanded activities are revealed. The agency has been robbed, with the Glengarry leads taken. The audience might assume that Moss and Aronow did the deed, given their conversation. Roma is upset because he made a deal to sell property to Lingk and doesn’t want the burglary to mess up his first place standing that will get him the car and the good leads. Aronow and Moss are interrogated by the police concerning the theft, and Moss acts indignant about being suspected, which is deceptive considering we know he wanted Aronow to steal the leads.

Levene, however, is ecstatic because he sold property off of one of the inferior leads, and brags about his abilities. Roma admires the older man because Levene was his mentor. At that point Lingk shows up. He has talked the deal over with his wife. She contacted an attorney who told her the law says they have three business days to get out of the deal. Lingk haltingly tries to get out of the transaction. Roma, illegally trying to evade a termination of the contract, has Levine, who catches on quickly, to pretend he is an enthusiastic customer who Roma has to get to the airport. But Lingk stops him just before Roma leaves by saying he wants his money back. Roma tries to buy time to convince the Lingks to continue with the deal. Williamson, however, enters and doesn’t know what has transpired. He thinks he is helping by saying that he sent Lingk’s check to be cashed. Lingk is upset that he now has to take legal action to end the deal. He actually apologizes to Roma, and comes off as a pathetic character who allowed himself to be a victim, but now has been ordered by his wife to put him in this uncomfortable position. In this testosterone-fueled environment, he appears unmanly.

Roma then verbally attacks Williamson for opening his mouth when he shouldn’t, calling him a “fairy,” another example of the homophobic, emasculating attitude in this environment. After Roma goes into Williamson’s office to be interviewed by the police, Levene continues to insult Williamson, since he is angry at Williamson coldly dismissing him earlier when Levene tried to make a deal for the Glengarry leads. But, Levene slips up, telling Williamson he shouldn’t make things up if he doesn’t know what’s going on. Williamson then asks how would Levene know that Williamson didn’t send in Lingk’s check to be cashed. He and the audience now realize that it was Levene who broke in and stole the leads. In addition, Williamson says the people to whom Levene sold property are “crazy. They just like talking to salesmen,” and the check they wrote will bounce. His statement illustrates how futile their task is. The system is rigged to penalize these men if they aren’t unscrupulously slick enough to cheat their way to the top.

It is sad to hear Roma come back into the room and continue to praise Levene and talk about starting a partnership, not knowing that Levene will probably go to jail, not for doing something wrong, which is what would happen in an ethical world, but for getting caught. Aronow returns to his desk and starts making calls again, as the exploitative process continues.

The next film is The Station Agent.

Black Narcissus

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

 

Black Narcissus (1947) deals with several themes. On the one hand, it addresses the way temptation may deviate the holy from the religious path. But, it also cleverly questions the limitations of the cloistered life that tries to deny the primitive urges of humans. The film also explores the self-destructive dangers of presumptuous pride. On another level, the movie explores how people deal with the mysterious nature of existence.

 

Mother Dorothea (Nancy Roberts) and Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) are stationed in Calcutta. Dorothea grudgingly gives Clodagh the title of Sister Superior of St. Faith (faith is tested in this story) and assigns her to the remote and challenging Himalayas. Dorothea says she doesn't feel the young Clodagh is experienced enough to handle the assignment. There is to be a convent established at the Palace of Mopu, donated by the Old General (Esmond Knight) to start a school and a dispensary. The first shot is of those mountains, but the scenery, though breathtaking, was constructed on the movie set. 

 

We get exposition of the distant locale by way of a letter from the agent representing the Old General, Mr. Dean (David Farrar), who seems dubious about the project. He is the irreverent hedonist in the story who represents sexual temptation, always wearing shorts that reveal a great deal of skin. His narration is depicted, and we see how the palace sits precariously on a cliff. It is eight thousand feet up but not anywhere as high as Mt. Everest, which implies the true majesty of God’s creation, beautiful but imposing, like the deity Himself/Herself. Perhaps the height here suggests getting closer to God, but there is a lethal drop downward which implies the danger inherent in such a place if one thinks he or she has the hubris to tame the power of the Almighty. But there is also another force working here. The highest peak there is called “the Bare Goddess,” and the Old General’s father kept his concubines in the palace. We immediately have the insertion of a sexual undertone which may suggest the temptation that the nuns must confront. (Could the erect mountains imply phallic symbols?). Dean describes the inhabitants at the base of the palace as similar to people anywhere else, making them representative of all humans on earth. There is a holy man who sits on the palace grounds meditating through all types of weather, possibly in reverence to the awesome nature surrounding him. Dean says there is a quirky elderly female caretaker, Angu Ayah (Mary Hallat), who Dean labels as being loyal, if not competent. 

 

The palace has a room full of birds, implying that possibly only what can soar should be that high. Of course, the humans put them in cages which shows the human desire to tame nature. To possibly make amends for the mistresses that his father housed there, the Old General tells Angu Ayah that visitors will be arriving. But she assumes they will be like those from before, and when she finds out they are nuns, says humorously they will not be any fun, the implication being that being pious is elevated but dull. Dean and Angu Ayah do not see the benefit of altering the longstanding way of life that has been at Mopu, but the Old General wants a hospital and school for the people to benefit the lives of the natives. When Angu Ayah asks what nuns eat, The Old General points out a crate that is full of sausages. He says that, “Europeans eat sausages wherever they go.” The possible implication is that an alien influence will be invading this place, like imperialists. But, although a stretch, it may be that the sausages are more phallic symbols, another reference to the latent sexuality residing in the locale. Dean looks at a painting of the concubines that lived there before, and Angu Ayah jokingly questions how the palace could turn into a convent, given its past. Dean says maybe the nuns will not stay long, as if the place will reject them like a mismatched organ transplant.

 

Dorothea tells Clodagh that four nuns will be going with her for various reasons. Sister Briony (Judith Furse) has strength, Sister Phillippa (Flora Robson) is the gardener, and Sister Blanche (Jenny Laird), also known as Sister Honey, is “popular” and thus likable. Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron) is a troubled woman whom Dorothea hopes will find her way in the appropriately named St. Faith convent. Dorothea tells Clodagh to make Ruth feel important. Clodagh wonders if that is a good thing, possibly suggesting that it encourages pride, a failing in those who are religious. Dorothea turns the tables on Clodagh by suggesting she, “Spare her some of your own importance, if you can.” Dorothea is warning the younger nun that she may have too much hubris. She tells Clodagh that “the superior of all is the servant of all.” Her statement not only refers to Clodagh’s new title, but also to God’s role, where the true one in control only uses power for the betterment of others. 

 

The story does not waste time on depicting the hazardous journey to the palace, but instead focuses on the tribulations of establishing a Western outpost on the ancient Eastern territory. There is chaos at first as many of the local residents appear for hospital treatment and children show up for school. The Old General paid the residents to appear to initiate the success of his project. Despite the maneuver, Clodagh actually thinks it’s not a bad idea to show the natives that the nuns are there to help. Ruth says the youths “smell.” What may be pleasant to Eastern sensibilities might be repellent for Westerners, so a point is made about relativity. One of the boys, Joseph Anthony (Eddie Whaley, Jr.), the cook’s son, becomes the translator for the nuns. Sister Blanche spreads her “honey” nature to quell the alarm of the prejudicial Ruth, who says the children look “stupid,” by suggesting how she can draw on a blackboard and have Joseph Anthony translate. 

 

Clodagh and Briony meet with Dean, who is handsome. He takes his feathered hat off and begins to twirl it so that he communicates a presumptuous informality. When the unsmiling Clodagh says she wants to talk to him about business, he is flirtatious when he says he wondered if she wanted to talk about something else. Briony notes his audacity with a facial recoil. He says that Clodagh would like the Old General since he, too, is a superior being. He is making a play on her title but is also being sarcastic about her arrogant religiosity. Clodagh questions why he is being “rude” to her, and he basically says he doesn’t want to be talked down to in a lecturing manner, which is a judgment on his way of looking at things. He points out the erotic painting and notes that the palace was called “the House of Women,” which really means a house of prostitution. Clodagh orders that the painting be taken down and tells Dean that the reformed name of the place is St. Faith. Her defiant attitude in not accommodating for the carnal in people makes him prophetically say that, despite her resolve, the nuns will not last there long.

 

Briony visits Clodagh at night since she can’t sleep. The wind howls constantly and the altitude provides less oxygen, so they are all tired. Also, Briony says that Ruth feels the worst with many aches and pains. Could her ailments indicate that she is most susceptible to having her faith challenged? In addition, the plumbing keeps breaking down, which shows how removed they are from the civilized world. Briony points out that they all have spots on their arms which are probably due to contaminated water. This list of problems illustrates what challenges the nuns are encountering in what is a hostile setting for them. To add to the sleep-depriving situation there are drums beating constantly. Briony says that they are for the Young General, who is very sick, and if they stop it means he died. Could the drums be a sort of superstitious way of wanting to keep his heart beating? In any event, the youth does die.

 As the locals help to construct the convent’s facilities, Clodagh talks with Dean, who says, condescendingly, that the natives are like children who must be weaned off of being paid to frequent the new establishment. Clodagh says everyone needs discipline or “we should behave like children.” Dean says, “Don’t you like children, sister?” It is another veiled sexual comment about procreation. He goes on to stress the primitive nature of the people there and warns against using modern medicine since if it doesn’t work, the natives will think it is some kind of evil magic (another foreshadowing). Ruth then rushes in, her virginal white nun’s outfit stained with blood, an image of how threatening the place is. But there is more going on here. When Ruth sees Dean, his presence freezes her for a moment. Ruth recovers to say she stopped the bleeding of an injured worker, but not after a great deal of blood was lost. Clodagh chastises her for not seeking help sooner. But, Dean senses that the nun is interested in him, and Dean sees that fact as a way to pierce the high-minded attitude of the nuns. He goes out of the way to open the door for Ruth. He then thanks her for aiding the worker. Ruth, hungry for a compliment after being criticized, smiles broadly. Given the sexual context, could the blood also be symbolic of a woman losing her virginity? 

 Dean brings the very young Kanchi (Jean Simmons) to the convent. She is an orphan who kept showing up at Dean’s place and is a bit of a problem child because of her interest in sex, an insertion of the theme of temptation here. Dean says another son will now be the new Young General (Sabu). He was going to attend Cambridge, but Dean says he will now be a warrior and marry young. From the window of a classroom, Ruth smiles as she spies on Dean mounting a pony, her lustful thoughts evident in her look. 

 There is an interesting scene between Clodagh and Phillippa, the gardener, who is staring off into the mountain range, not noticing the bell ringing that summons the nuns. Clodagh notes that Phillippa has seemed detached. She says that looking out at the vastness of the natural setting brings back memories from her past that she does not want to remember. Clodagh says it is the place that is bewitching her and says they must keep working to put such thoughts at a distance. The exchange between the two brings to mind the sailors in Moby Dick who become one with the sea when they climb the high masts and then lose who they are and sometimes plummet into the ocean. It also suggests how the Romantic poets experienced the sense of the sublime in the Alps. The writer Thomas Carlyle had a similar remedy that Clodagh prescribes - get to work so as not to think too much which can lead to too much questioning of existence that can bring on despair.

 But Clodagh is not immune to thoughts of her past. She has a flashback while praying, an act that is supposed to protect her from disturbing memories. She thinks about her life in Ireland when she was in love with a young man named Con (Shaun Noble). She comes from a wealthy family, and he asks her, since she has the means, if she gets the desire to get away from there. She tells him that she wants to stay there the rest of her life (which is ironic given where she is in this story). What follows is a memory of fox hunting, as she and Con ride horses (as was noted elsewhere several times in posts here, horses symbolize male sexuality). As she thinks of this scene, Clodagh’s face register’s excitement, a very different look than the stern one she shows as a nun.

 

The Young General arrives on a horse (sexual symbolism), which connects to Clodagh’s daydream. He says he wants to study there, but Clodagh says that convents only instruct children (before puberty?) and especially girls. The Young General points out that Jesus was a man, so why do they discriminate against males? She says Jesus only took the form of a man. The conversation emphasizes how the nuns are supposed to keep men at a distance, lest they become involved with them romantically. Yet, they worship someone who was a man on Earth. When the Young General reads the schedule of attendance he has composed he says he will learn physics from the “physical” nun. It is a funny line, but it also stresses how the celibate sisters are supposed to only deal with the spiritual and not the carnal. 

 What follows is Kanchi alone doing a seductive dance in one of the convent’s rooms as she amuses herself. Clodagh then has the handsome Young General enter the room, just what Kanchi would welcome seeing. He seems to ignore her, but as she runs out when Clodagh opens the door she smiles enticingly at him just before she departs. Later Dean says to Clodagh that the two youths may cause trouble for the nuns’ way of life. Indeed, Kanchi continues to look seductively at the Young General on several occasions.

 As Dean and Clodagh walk around the property, she notes that the holy man meditates on the ground that now belongs to the convent. She confesses that he, along with other aspects of the place, which are alien to their order, are “distracting,” which ties in with what she was saying to Phillippa. The locale seems to be upsetting their religious applecart. Dean reveals that the holy man is actually the Old General’s uncle, and was a high-ranking soldier who could speak many languages, although he has chosen a wordless life. Deans says that the contemplative man disturbs the Old General. Dean suggests that he feels guilty not having revoked the physical pleasures of the world for a meditative one like his uncle. The movie seems to be implying that the distractive holy man, who the locals revere, is more spiritual than the nuns who are supposed to bring religion to the “primitive” natives.

 

The Young General gets his way and begins studies with the children and girls. In the classroom, he pulls out a scarf that has a pleasing aroma, which seems to arouse Kanchi as she inhales. Ruth also notices it, and he says that the smell is Black Narcissus. The title of the movie suggests the dark, hidden drives that are invoked when one focuses on the self. The film also implies that the male’s presence brings attention to the physical senses. Ruth acts as if she doesn’t like smells, but she is most likely in denial. The nuns later marvel at the Young General’s outfits, with their precious gems that are colorful, quite the opposite of their bland clothes. Here we have the sense of vision being addressed. The talk brings another memory to Clodagh of her grandmother’s beautiful jewels, so she was attracted to material things in her previous life. Ruth says that the Young General is vain, and will call him Black Narcissus, a nickname she says fits because he looks like a black peacock. Her comment, which takes into account color and sensuality, stresses how different the Young General, and his world, is from that of the nuns, which disturbs and also attracts them. 

 

Time passes and the chapel in the convent is completed. When Christmas arrives and there is the singing of holiday songs, Clodagh remembers a Christmas with Con and others, when he gave her some jewelry as a gift. It is another instance of the materialism of her earlier life compared to the one dedicated to the spiritual she now pursues. Clodagh comments that the Young General’s referring to Jesus in an informal way is not customary. The inebriated Dean says he should be seen that way, just like our “daily bread,” a phrase that comes from The Lord’s Prayer that mixes secular needs with godly devotion. Clodagh angrily chastises Dean for his drunkenness and tells him not to come again. He goes off singing how he will not be a nun because he is too fond of “pleasure,” an obvious preference for physical gratification. Despite Dean’s irreverence, the Young General says he likes Dean’s singing voice, and Clodagh spies Ruth in hiding, who is also being drawn in by Dean’s singing. First, we had the sense of smell, then that of sight, and now we have hearing being stimulated as the physical tugs for attention away from the spiritual.

 

Clodagh knows that Ruth’s turmoil comes from emotional preoccupation over Dean. Clodagh, looking at the Bible for reassurance, tells her so, and says Dean, despite being charming, is not a good man. She admonishes Ruth even though she herself has been having thoughts of a romantic past. Ruth senses that Clodagh protests too much, and becomes jealous, suggesting that Clodagh may be interested in Dean herself. Clodagh is of course outraged and dismisses Ruth. 

 Shots of beautiful flowers tell us that Spring has arrived, but the religiously besieged nature of the community continues. Angu Ayah whips Kanchi for stealing a chain from a church ornament, an object used for a spiritual practice, so she can, ironically, wear it around her neck to accentuate bodily beauty. The Young General arrives and asks what Kanchi has done. Angu Ayah says she is a thief and tells the young man that he should be a man and beat her for her transgression, not a Christian gentlemanly way of dealing with the girl. He throws away the whip. Kanchi is on her knees smiling up at the Young General and is very close to him, suggesting the position for a sexual act. He places the necklace on her and she embraces him. This romantic act is then contrasted with Clodagh embroidering a picture of St. Francis. 

 

Clodagh discovers that instead of planting vegetables to sustain them in their mission, Phillippa has been growing beautiful flowers instead. When confronted by Clodagh, Phillippa says she wants a transfer. She is troubled because she feels she is forgetting who she was and “was losing the spirit of our order.” The suggestion is that she is being seduced by the allure of the locale which is subverting their purpose, which was to transform the place. Phillippa says that she has come to believe that there are only two extremely different ways of living there with its temptations: one is to be like Dean, and give into it; the other is to be like the holy man, and ignore it. Clodagh states that that is not their way, which is to remain pious while engaging with the environment. The implication is that the nuns have embarked on an impossible task.

 

Even Sister Honey’s optimism is broken when a mother brings in her feverish baby and Briony can't do anything for the very sick child. Honey is hysterical that Briony will not dispense some kind of medicine to help the baby, but there is nothing she can do to stop the illness. Honey couldn’t accept such negativity so she secretly gave some medicine to the mother (only castor oil). No children show up at the school afterwards and Joseph Anthony says it’s because the baby died. The nuns discover that the Young General, Kanchi, and all the servants are gone, too. Honey feels extremely guilty that she might have caused the infant’s death. Apparently, so do the villagers, since Angu Ayah warns the nuns not to go among the natives. (She also says that Kanchi ran off with the Young General, so the young girl’s seductive abilities were effective).

 

Clodagh rings the convent bell that signals that the residents should come to the convent. Dean sits in luxury at his place drinking coffee and being waited on by servants. He decides to answer Clodagh’s signal and shows up bare-chested presenting an exaggerated image of male sexuality. He tells them that a man once was riding a pony and had the animal kick an umbrella out of the way. However, a baby was asleep under it and the child was killed. The villagers subsequently killed the man. What was only a cultural and environmental challenge has now turned into something life-threatening for the nuns. 

 

Ruth has become more manic and paranoid. She pours out some milk sent to her from Clodagh thinking she would be poisoned. She sees Clodagh talking congenially with Dean, which just fuels her jealousy. Dean notes that Clodagh has changed and seems nicer, more “human.” It appears that Clodagh takes “human” to mean that people are imperfect beings. She says that she was in love with a man and it was thought they would marry, but he was “ambitious” and wanted to go to America with his uncle to become prosperous. (In other flashbacks Con seemed to be preoccupied with finances and worldly concerns). Con wasn’t taking her with him and she believes he never intended to marry her. So, she left first so as not to let it look like he rejected her. Her becoming a nun was originally not out of religious devotion, but she says her commitment grew and she did not think of Con until her arrival at this sensual place. She is now reliving the bitterness of his leaving her. She says that the Young General reminded her of Con, and that “The world comes thrusting in behind him.” That word “thrusting” seems deliberate since it brings a sexual connotation with it. Clodagh tells Dean of her feelings of failure since Phillippa wants a transfer and Ruth is not renewing her vows, according to a letter from Dorothea. Clodagh admits that she is powerless in this place, because she can’t eliminate the presence of the holy man, the Young General, the wind, and the mountains. If anything, her pride that Dorothea noted is being humbled, as if God is teaching her a lesson. Dean says that the nuns must leave before their goal to change the nature of the surroundings destroys them.

 

Clodagh finds Ruth’s light on in her room late at night. She has barricaded the door, but Clodagh gets it open. Ruth is no longer wearing her habit. She seems mentally unbalanced, showing signs of paranoia when she says that she will not leave with Phillippa because all of the others are jealous of her, especially Clodagh, and they will lock her away. Clodagh is worried that Ruth will harm herself, so she says she will stay with her until morning, Ruth laughs manically, then sits down to apply makeup, which symbolically shows her being overwhelmed by her sexual nature that has been repressed. Clodagh’s response is to pick up a prayer book, a sort of weapon against giving into her own erotic drives, since she, too, in her daydreams, has been fantasizing about her former love interest. The image almost looks like someone using a cross to ward off a vampire. 

 

As a candle burns down, showing the passing of the night, there are shots of Gauguin-like paintings on the wall of primitive women, reflecting the primal force that is occupying Ruth’s mind. Clodagh falls asleep and drops her prayer book, implying her spiritual weapon has been neutralized. Ruth then puts on her boots, and the camera reveals her shapely legs to stress her sexuality. Clodagh wakes up just as Ruth runs out while laughing crazily. The sisters search for her calling her name.  Angu Ayah makes fun of their yells. Remember, she represents primitive sexuality, and thought the nuns did not fit in there, believing the palace was more fun with the concubines. 

 

The night adds metaphorically to the dark impulses driving Ruth. She runs into the jungle, a place divorced from civilized behavior. The noises of animals reflect the instinctual forces inhabiting Ruth. She goes to Dean’s place and says she has revoked her vows. He does not respond the way she hoped since he offers to have her stay at a guest house and then arrange to have her leave the next day. Ruth confesses her love for Dean, who says he doesn’t love anyone, which shows his capitulation to an amoral life devoid of human commitment. He tells her to go back to Clodagh who will help her. She is driven mad by her jealous nature now and faints, yelling Clodagh’s name over and over. When she awakes, she agrees to go back to the convent, but only if she travels alone. When Dean puts a coat over her, she takes the opportunity to kiss his hand. The sensual aspect of touch is now added to the senses that are invoked here.

 

Clodagh has been up all night looking for a sign of Ruth. She heads back to the chapel, exhausted. Her cloak is stained by mud, possibly suggesting how the locale has darkened her perception of religious purity. Ruth hides in the shadows and the camera focuses on her sinister, unblinking eyes. Ruth sneaks in past Clodagh, who then takes a physically and, symbolically, spiritually perilous walk around the perimeter of the palace. She looks over the edge and seems shaken. Is she fighting her own urges that could lead to self-destruction? She begins to ring the bell as she says the Hail Mary prayer to shore up her spiritual strength. At this moment, Ruth emerges with her demonic look. She tries to push Clodagh, whom she considers her romantic rival, off the mountainside. Clodagh holds onto the rope attached to the bell, like a lifeline to God. She climbs back up and in the process Ruth tumbles over the side to her death. Drums that were beating cease, signaling the end of life, as it did for the previous Young General. Perhaps the movie is suggesting that Clodagh and Ruth are parts of the same character, Ruth being the primitive sexual underside of Clodagh’s pious spiritual outward self and the two are at war with each other. 

 

The Young General returns to offer his confession about running off with Kanchi. He says he has made a mistake and will change and commit himself to being like his ancestors who were upright in their morality. So, the jungle does not always win, if he follows through. But, the sisters could not conquer the powerful forces at work high up on the mountain. To try to do so would be presumptuous, almost God-like. As she leaves, Clodagh looks up at the palace high above her and the mist blocks it from her sight. The image shows that her quest was doomed from the start because it was beyond her reach. She tells Dean that she will be transferred to a place where she will no longer be in charge, probably because of the death of Ruth. It may be hard for her to swallow her pride, but she says, “I shall have my ghosts to remind me.” Her experiences have shown her that despite taking on a religious vocation, she has all the flaws of every human.

The next film is Glengarry Glen Ross.