Terminal Man
Brian and I watched The Terminal last night. The movie, starring Tom Hanks, Stanley Tucci, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, revolves around an Eastern European man who is stranded in JFK international airport. (While in flight, a military coup occurs in his country, which renders his passport invalid. He becomes a man without a country.) He stays in the airport for several months, waiting for conditions in his country to change.
Some of the scenes in the movie were the saddest, sweetest scenes that I've seen on screen in quite a while. When Victor (Hanks) is briefed by airport officials about what has happened in his country, his limited English prevents him from understanding. It is only later, when he sees images of his country on an airport television, that he begins to comprehend what has occurred. He becomes almost hysterical. Again, his limited English prevents him from fully understanding the news reports, and no one will help him use a phone card to call home and learn news of his loved ones. He is basically left to fend for himself in the airport terminal.
In scenes like these, it seemed to me that Spielberg was really trying to emphasize the isolation of American culture, especially that of big cities. (Very Hopper-esque.) Everyone is too busy to help. No one takes pity on Victor. And the fact that almost the entire movie takes place in an airport terminal - a transitional space, not a destination, people are neither here nor there, they are only almost somewhere - seemed to illustrate the transience of life.
Slowly, Victor acclimates to life in the terminal (!), and our faith in humanity is restored. Even in a bustling airport, Victor begins to make friends, people begin to help him. (As Victor is befriended by the airport staff members, I started to feel much better about the movie. Coming from a small city, the story of the good samaritan is something that I'm much more familiar with. I can't imagine someone being abandoned at the Jackson International Airport, for goodness sakes! I know that someone would take pity on him!)
Victor is always waiting, and we learn throughout the movie that other characters are waiting, too - for love, for the other shoe to drop, for their dreams to be fulfilled. Victor learns, as do some of the other characters, that life is what is happening while we are waiting for life to happen. It was a very enjoyable, very interesting movie.
Some of the scenes in the movie were the saddest, sweetest scenes that I've seen on screen in quite a while. When Victor (Hanks) is briefed by airport officials about what has happened in his country, his limited English prevents him from understanding. It is only later, when he sees images of his country on an airport television, that he begins to comprehend what has occurred. He becomes almost hysterical. Again, his limited English prevents him from fully understanding the news reports, and no one will help him use a phone card to call home and learn news of his loved ones. He is basically left to fend for himself in the airport terminal.
In scenes like these, it seemed to me that Spielberg was really trying to emphasize the isolation of American culture, especially that of big cities. (Very Hopper-esque.) Everyone is too busy to help. No one takes pity on Victor. And the fact that almost the entire movie takes place in an airport terminal - a transitional space, not a destination, people are neither here nor there, they are only almost somewhere - seemed to illustrate the transience of life.
Slowly, Victor acclimates to life in the terminal (!), and our faith in humanity is restored. Even in a bustling airport, Victor begins to make friends, people begin to help him. (As Victor is befriended by the airport staff members, I started to feel much better about the movie. Coming from a small city, the story of the good samaritan is something that I'm much more familiar with. I can't imagine someone being abandoned at the Jackson International Airport, for goodness sakes! I know that someone would take pity on him!)
Victor is always waiting, and we learn throughout the movie that other characters are waiting, too - for love, for the other shoe to drop, for their dreams to be fulfilled. Victor learns, as do some of the other characters, that life is what is happening while we are waiting for life to happen. It was a very enjoyable, very interesting movie.
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