Film - Ordinary People

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## How the mother considers her family.

## How Jarrett struggles.

Ordinary People

Directed by Robert Redford

Produced by Ronald L. Schwarys

Screenplay by Alvin Sargent

Starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, Timothy Hutton

Release dates September 19, 1980

Running time 124minutes

Country United States

Language English

The film is on a middle-class family's collapse.

The film is also famous for the first Robert Redford's direction, winning Academy Award for Best Picture and for Directing.

 

The hero, Conrad Jarrett, has been in a hospital for a few months after an accident. He manages his way back home and to school as well, but cannot get on well with his parents. He also has a gap between his friends at school and deepens his solitude even more.

Karen, who only understands him, is under as same circumstances as he is, trapped in a traumatic experience.

 

His father, Calvin, shows his understanding towards the son, whilst the mother, Beth, does not show any sympathy to him.

The family has lost Conrad's elder brother, Buck, who has been cheerful and superior. Beth loved only Buck and this is the reason she keeps a distance from Conrad.

He gets cornered and starts seeing a psychiatrist.

He drops out of swimming club, without asking his parents, and the mother blames on him for this.

 

Conrad begs his parents to go to see the psychiatrist with him, but they do not take it in. The parents leave Conrad at home for golfing over X-mas. Conrad cannot resist his solitude and calls Karen to find out her death of committing suicide.

 

Calvin tries to face up with Beth, but she leaves home without accepting her son.

The father and the son, left at home, and know each other's feelings, looking at the garden.

 

In this film, music is abbreviated on purpose. Sound effects follow quiet scenes until the last part where BGM finally comes in. This is an excellent composition without destroying emotions of audience.

 

The biggest feature of this piece is a total abolishment of motherhood.

Conrad blames himself on losing his brother. Buck was the one to be loved, he could not save the brother's life, and the mother's cold attitude. He believes all returns to himself.

Usually, to save such a son would be the mother, but Conrad's mother is icy to him, and his father also seems to keep distance. The father fears the collapse of relationship with his wife.

 

To bare children is mysterious and valuable, but some might stay away from their kids whilst raising them up. Bringing up children should be for both sexes, not only for mothers. The theme of this film is that even mothers who physically bare children sometimes cannot stay with them.

 

By the way, a British artist, Marcus Harvey created a piece of work titled "Myra" in 1990s, which caused a huge argument. This was a portrait of a woman who had been a serial killer. Myra was waiting for her temporary release at that time, when the piece was produced. Actually, all British nearly forgot such a case of serial kids killer a few decades before. This piece of work dragged the problem into the spotlight.

 

One of the arguments discussed then was this; why only Myra, and to be blamed? Another person, who was her boyfriend, also killed the kids. Even though the nature of this case, many people had forgotten but the artist used only Myra's image in order to dig it out.

 

Some discussed and came to a conclusion; a woman is the one who bear children and bring them up, and this is why she is the one to be blamed as this.

However, others resisted and argued; men also bring up children and members of the family support each other, so that spotting only Myra is awkward.

 

The artist, Marcus Harvey, seems to have exhibited this piece to open up the discussion. He himself is a British person, but from totally a different place from the two. In other words, he has no direct or indirect connection, it kept his objective viewpoint and enabled him to drag out social problems.

 

We might take bearing children as too "sacred". Of course events such as expecting children and give birth to them is mysterious and marvelous, but it does not mean that every mother has love towards their children. Some fathers might stay together with their kids more than mothers do, or some mothers cannot meet commitments that society expects them to do.

Our society might be forcing mothers to love their kids, but this enforcement which derives from the wrong notion of family relationship can easily corner those mothers.

 

Having a family means the long period after giving birth to children and build relationships respecting each other. Some might not feel love towards children, and even

 

This piece warns the notion that might our society hold and seems right but can enforce us to have unconsciously through presenting a collapse of a middle-class family.