ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Joachim Trier

Thelma – Spooky Self-Discovery

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Strange things happen in Thelma, the horror thriller from director Joachim Trier. Thelma (Eili Harboe), who has been raised by very protective, devoutly Christian parents, goes off to university. Her parents are fearful of what might happen. All seems to be going well until one day when studying in the library, a bird crashes into a window, which somehow triggers a seizure in Thelma. After she recovers she begins a relationship with another woman student. But the seizures continue, seemingly without cause. The seizures occur around times when something strange takes place. As Thelma seeks to understand what is happening, her family’s past hold revelations about her giftedness.

While I’m not a fan of supernatural events in horror films, this film does an excellent job of building tension. This is a spooky story as it plays out. Little by little we see connections between what Thelma is going through, tragic events in her history, and the role Thelma plays in it all. While there is a supernatural foundation, the film is really about Thelma’s journey to self-discovery.

As I noted above, Thelma comes out of a devout Christian background. This is not an oppressive family. (Although it does seem to treat religion as somewhat exotic.) Thelma’s faith adds a bit of depth to the struggles she experiences. In fact, at one point her father suggests that the similar troubles she had in early childhood went away when she accepted Christ. But when the seizures and resulting events begin again, where is Thelma to turn? She prays, but it seems to make no difference.

In time it all comes down to what control Thelma has over her life. Can she take control, or do her seizures control her? How have the things in her past brought her to this point? How will she use the control she discovers for herself or for others?

 

Thelma is Norway’s official Best Foreign Language Film Oscar submission.

Louder Than Bombs – Finding Ways Through Grief

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In Louder than Bombs, when noted war photographer Isabelle Reed (Isabelle Huppert) dies on the eve of an exhibition honoring her work, her husband Gene (Gabriel Byrne) and two sons, Jonah and Conrad (Jesse Eisenberg and Devin Druid), must deal with their grief. Each has a different approach to the difficult time. Each must come to terms with the way their relationship with her evolved.

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For Gene, it is a time of struggling to connect with Conrad, who has taken refuge in video games. Jonah, a new father, takes leave from his career and new family to catalogue his mother’s photos. There are many ways that these characters are all hiding from the grief that they must deal with—and also from the fears of what life may become for them. Their memories are sometimes painful and at other times joyous. They will discover secrets about one another and about their mother. Eventually they must choose on how they will deal with their grief and how to move from this time of death and darkness to a way back to life.

One of the issues that all must deal with is that Isabelle was somewhat detached from them all. She would be gone for long periods to war zones, where she would be in danger, leaving her family behind to worry. Even when we see her pictures of women in those war zones, the faces seem blank, as if reflecting Isabelle. We can’t tell if faces reflect boredom, anger, or oppression. It is that same kind of detachment that seems to be growing within Jonah. With a newborn baby at home, he spends his time at his father’s house dealing with the massive number of his mother’s pictures. He seems to be avoiding his own role as husband and father, just as his mother may have been avoiding her role with the family.

Grief is one of the universal themes that film can address. As we watch the Reed family deal with the grief in their life, we feel a connection with them because we have been there as well. Even in relationships that may not have been all we might wish they had been, the loss of one who holds an important place in our lives is a struggle that is so difficult that many may look for ways to avoid it. But in time, it must be faced.

Photos courtesy of The Orchard.