Another moviefilter post - Telling the story of a life through the story of a journey.
August 15, 2011 10:59 AM Subscribe
Please help me find more movies about journeys leading to or because of a death. (I promise, my interest is not as morbid as it may first appear!)
I am thinking of the Michael Caine flick "Last Orders" in which his son and friends take his ashes to Margate. That trip is filled with flashbacks, stories, and references that tell the story of his life. I am also reminded of a movie in which a terminally ill young man make a trip to the Pacific Ocean with friends. (I remember he continually carried a copy of Herodotus with him... if you know the movie title, bonus points are available for providing it!) "Bye, Bye Braverman" is another example of the story of a life told in the frantic search for Braverman's funeral in 1970's Brooklyn. Based on plot alone, "Little Miss Sunshine" would seem to fit into this category, but it doesn't... Grandpa's death is incidental to the journey and is not the reason for the journey. What I am hoping to find are more movies in which a journey is a metaphor for the arc of a life.
I am thinking of the Michael Caine flick "Last Orders" in which his son and friends take his ashes to Margate. That trip is filled with flashbacks, stories, and references that tell the story of his life. I am also reminded of a movie in which a terminally ill young man make a trip to the Pacific Ocean with friends. (I remember he continually carried a copy of Herodotus with him... if you know the movie title, bonus points are available for providing it!) "Bye, Bye Braverman" is another example of the story of a life told in the frantic search for Braverman's funeral in 1970's Brooklyn. Based on plot alone, "Little Miss Sunshine" would seem to fit into this category, but it doesn't... Grandpa's death is incidental to the journey and is not the reason for the journey. What I am hoping to find are more movies in which a journey is a metaphor for the arc of a life.
One Week. Twenty- or thirtysomething finds out he has cancer, buys a motorcycle on a whim, drives it across Canada (or from Toronto to Tofino - acrossish Canada.) I loved it.
posted by fso at 11:05 AM on August 15, 2011
posted by fso at 11:05 AM on August 15, 2011
About Schmidt.
Ghost World.
The Fountain, which is a double-whammy; The Wrestler (both by Darren Aronofsky)
Sunshine. Not exactly sure it's a metaphor for anything—in fact, the storyline is pretty weird.
posted by adamrice at 11:22 AM on August 15, 2011
Ghost World.
The Fountain, which is a double-whammy; The Wrestler (both by Darren Aronofsky)
Sunshine. Not exactly sure it's a metaphor for anything—in fact, the storyline is pretty weird.
posted by adamrice at 11:22 AM on August 15, 2011
Avanti.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:24 AM on August 15, 2011
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:24 AM on August 15, 2011
SLC Punk, strangely enough.
The Match Factory Girl.
Plague Dogs.
Sunshine. Not exactly sure it's a metaphor for anything—in fact, the storyline is pretty weird.
It's a weird storyline, but it works for the question. The heroes will sacrifice everything to get the mission done; when the villain does arise, he has gone mad from a total isolation and lack of hope (and extended overproximity to the you-know-what).
posted by Sticherbeast at 11:28 AM on August 15, 2011
The Match Factory Girl.
Plague Dogs.
Sunshine. Not exactly sure it's a metaphor for anything—in fact, the storyline is pretty weird.
It's a weird storyline, but it works for the question. The heroes will sacrifice everything to get the mission done; when the villain does arise, he has gone mad from a total isolation and lack of hope (and extended overproximity to the you-know-what).
posted by Sticherbeast at 11:28 AM on August 15, 2011
Maybe Almodovar's All About My Mother? The summary on the iMDb doesn't really do it justice:
posted by bcwinters at 11:36 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
A single mother in Madrid sees her only son die on his 17th birthday as he runs to seek an actress's autograph. She goes to Barcelona to find the lad's father, a transvestite named Lola who does not know he has a child.Ozon's Under the Sand, starring Charlotte Rampling (although the description makes it sound like a thriller, which it definitely isn't), or Time to Leave with Melvil Poupaud might work, too.
posted by bcwinters at 11:36 AM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
For something in a lighter vein that still fits the question: Etienne!, in which a man embarks on a bicycle trip because his pet hamster is dying.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:37 AM on August 15, 2011
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:37 AM on August 15, 2011
D.O.A (the original).
Garden State
Massive spoilers follow....
The entire run of LOST
Jacobs Ladder
Abstractly, the original Point Blank with Lee Marvin and the 1980 TV adaptation of The Lathe of Heaven.
posted by elendil71 at 11:45 AM on August 15, 2011
Garden State
Massive spoilers follow....
The entire run of LOST
Jacobs Ladder
Abstractly, the original Point Blank with Lee Marvin and the 1980 TV adaptation of The Lathe of Heaven.
posted by elendil71 at 11:45 AM on August 15, 2011
Plague Dogs.
Watership Down, too (as with the Plague Dogs, death is both the reason for the journey and its natural conclusion).
posted by vorfeed at 12:12 PM on August 15, 2011
Watership Down, too (as with the Plague Dogs, death is both the reason for the journey and its natural conclusion).
posted by vorfeed at 12:12 PM on August 15, 2011
*SPOILER ALERT*
This is one that leads to a death, rather than being caused by a death, but: Into the Wild.
It could, perhaps, also be classified under the genre of: Stupid Men Doing Stupid Things to Prove That They Are Manly.
posted by asnider at 12:12 PM on August 15, 2011
This is one that leads to a death, rather than being caused by a death, but: Into the Wild.
It could, perhaps, also be classified under the genre of: Stupid Men Doing Stupid Things to Prove That They Are Manly.
posted by asnider at 12:12 PM on August 15, 2011
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
posted by McCoy Pauley at 1:00 PM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by McCoy Pauley at 1:00 PM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
The Brown Bunny
(I don't care what anyone says, I love this horrible movie.)
posted by milk white peacock at 1:37 PM on August 15, 2011
(I don't care what anyone says, I love this horrible movie.)
posted by milk white peacock at 1:37 PM on August 15, 2011
Rain Man? We do learn a lot about the relationship between the dead man and his sons...
posted by Gungho at 1:50 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by Gungho at 1:50 PM on August 15, 2011
Oh! The Trip to Bountiful. Wonderful, subtle film, wonderful role for Geraldine Page. Particularly moving for Southerners. :)
posted by likeso at 2:06 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by likeso at 2:06 PM on August 15, 2011
Last Holiday
...
I just couldn't keep a straight face with that one.
posted by grimace636 at 2:14 PM on August 15, 2011
...
I just couldn't keep a straight face with that one.
posted by grimace636 at 2:14 PM on August 15, 2011
I've considered this for 5 mins and am going with it: It's A Wonderful Life.
posted by splout at 2:54 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by splout at 2:54 PM on August 15, 2011
I'd highly recommend checking out The Ballad of Narayama - its the story of the final weeks of a Japanese peasant family's matriarch. The story is set during a time in Japan in which ubasute was practiced in rural areas...
posted by cinemafiend at 5:04 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by cinemafiend at 5:04 PM on August 15, 2011
Cold Fever, a Japanese/Icelandic road movie about a man performing a religious ceremony for his deceased parents in northern Iceland.
posted by jennyjenny at 5:45 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by jennyjenny at 5:45 PM on August 15, 2011
Unforgiven.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:04 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by kirkaracha at 6:04 PM on August 15, 2011
Murder on the Orient Express.
Yes, the journey leads both to death and retrospection about the life and legacy of the deceased.
posted by tully_monster at 8:47 PM on August 15, 2011
Yes, the journey leads both to death and retrospection about the life and legacy of the deceased.
posted by tully_monster at 8:47 PM on August 15, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
Big Fish
posted by carsonb at 11:03 AM on August 15, 2011