"The Education of Fairies" makes point
Friday, February 22, 2008
A day back I was watching a Spanish movie La Educación de las hadas (The Education of Fairies). Based on a french novel by Didier Van Cauwelaert it is a slow and absorbing story of the transformational power of a child-like imagination.Toy inventor Nicolas (Darin) meets widowed ornithologist Ingrid (Irene Jacob) and her son Raul (Victor Valdivia) on a plane. Nicolas turns on the charm, and, soon, Nicolas and Ingrid are married and living an idyllic existence in a beautiful old house in the Catalan countryside.
Nicolas and Raul develop a sensitive relationship through conversations about the boy's father, a soldier who died in Iraq. The imaginative Nicolas tells the boy stories about fairies who make the world a better place and takes him to an old hut in the woods where he hung out as a child. Once they are sitting for a picnic on the soldier's grave, that Nicolas gives soldier a medal (a cola cap) for his being a great human; and the kid reacts by giving Nicolas a medal for being a great dad.
After a decade of beautiful relation, however, Ingrid surprises Nicolas suddenly one day by asking for a separation. She first says that he snores a lot and asks him to sleep in other room. The reactions of a steady relation are aptly showcased. Nicolas infact leaves a voice recorder on to argue with Ingrid so that he can be with her.
Meanwhile, Algerian checkout girl Sezar (singer Bebe, here making an effective debut) is being sexually harassed by her boss Matarredona (Jordi Bosch). One night, when Sezar is in a car with her boss, the car is attacked and Sezar is beaten up.
Nicolas picks her up and takes her back to his hut in the woods, where Raul mistakes her for a fairy. Here is a big irony, Nicolas had told his son that one can be granted three wishes by fairies but added that problem is that most ladies don't know if they are fairies. On being asked that how to identify them, he says that they have marks on cheeks as they scratch them while thinking, which they do a lot. And over here, Sezar has marks on her cheeks coz back at home a guy had beaten her and raped her. I found this ironic contrast of mark made by scar quite moving.
Visuals are often sumptuous with the lighting bringing out the rich color of the beautiful rural scenery. Attention is also paid to details, such as the raindrops on an umbrella under which Nicolas and Ingrid kiss.
The script is sufficiently grounded in emotional truth. All the characters are concealing past issues, and it takes the innocence of a child to confront these issues and bring them into the open. The appeal is lost in the end as the reasoning of leaving of Ingrid being having a cancer is insufficiently woven in. She tells Nicolas that she is seeing someone and how Nicolas reacts is emotional turmoil at the best. But as she comes again later, Nicolas rightly questions that if she talks the same talks of separation and questioning the integrity, then there is no point coming back.
What I have realized by now in life is that the relationships need faith, love, time and passion to succeed. Compromise being an integral part of it, one adapts to other with time. But there is a limit of compromise and if the arguments are too often, maybe there is a time to check the chemistry. I get reminded time and again by a quote of my cousin, "What you think is the best for you may not actually be the best for you"; which brings in the need of arguments and listening to other people's justification. But then once you form a bond then one should realise that with the power of joy, we also give each other a power to hurt or demolish each other emotionally. So in fact, Ingrid's decay of life in arms of Nicolas would have been a better option than deserting Nicolas and kid. But then an opinion is an opinion and I know, when it comes to such matter we all have varying opinion and all are true!
Labels: Movie Critics
posted by Jas @ 11:26 AM,
3 Comments:
-
At February 23, 2008 12:08 AM,
Pilot-Pooja said...
-
Beautiful narration of a heart-rending movie..°.°))
Life isn't that easy Jassi..
In ur perspective, it wld have been better to know the truth..But gals dont think like this..They always want to hide..not just their flaws but also the cause, why they think they're wrong or right..
And most of the times they're confused..unlike guys..who don't want to look back even if they've taken a wrong decision in the beginning,.. -
At February 23, 2008 8:37 PM,
Jas said...
-
Hmm... i would agree to the earlier part. But then its a decade old relation and both would have known each other in and out. In movie Ingrid tells Nicolas that she is 40 and maybe he would feel like going to other girls; wherein he responds by saying "I married you for life".
Its well known in birds and old age humans too, if one of the couple dies, the other dies soon. Nobody is as close in one's life as other half, unless the chemistry is missing. My argument is even if Nicholas is left broken at 40+, n he lives alone with kid wondering all life why did he deserve it and what went wrong. Ingrid wont be in peace too. But if they are together during last days, it would only intensify the love. Again I speak so given the chemistry shown.
And know what three wishes kid asks? he tells 'fairy' that his mom is going away with someone else so his dad is broken. So he asks for his parents to be happy in their own lives and a new girl to come in his (step) father's life so that he can live too!
You can see today how Sunjay Dutt is bonded with his mom Nargis (who died of Cancer) and how his dad too used to talk about her and how her death brought all of them closer. -
At March 04, 2008 11:50 PM,
Pilot-Pooja said...
-
Kid's wishes were really hert rending..!
Jassi..i'm waiting for ur next thoughtful post counter increment..(++)
