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"Unfinished Life" from Movie Notes
Lucie 2022-03-24 09:03:06
This is a movie about "forgiveness" and looks at family ethics. Enner gave his old friend Bradley a bear injury due to alcoholism, and has since stopped drinking and caring for a long time, but Bradley does not blame, and expresses forgiveness by caring for the bear - feeding and releasing it. Onna's daughter-in-law, Jane, lost her life in a car accident caused by a fatigued driving, and Enna's only son, Gerry, was killed. Under the silent inspiration of Bradley and the infection of his grandparents' affection, he went from hatred to understanding and acceptance. Jane's daughter has a closed mind from being a single parent and is dissatisfied with her mother's emotional life. Through her interactions with Enner and Bradley, she realizes forgiveness and opens her mind to accept her mother and her new boyfriend, Klein. The film uses details to describe the changes in the relationship between the characters, and uses details to peel off the logic of psychological activities, so that the audience can understand every move, frown and smile. No matter what nationality or society, forgiveness is a universal moral value. After all, no one can be blamed unless they are saints and sages. Forgiveness allows the forgiver to let go of it, and it also allows the forgiver to let go and start a new life. As the end of the film says: Forgiveness is actually not that hard.
Extended Reading
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Jean Gilkyson: I flipped a coin. Griffin fliped a coin and I lost. So I was the one who was driving. It was 3 o'clock in the morning and we were both tired. We wanted to make it in time for the rodeo in Great Falls.
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Jean Gilkyson: I killed him, Einar. Is that what you wanna hear? It wasn't the change in our pockets, or the weak ass coffee, or the rain. It was me. I fell asleep and I flipped the car six times. I killed Griffin. He had no argument from me. You think it's something I forget. You think that I'm not sick with it, that I hate my life? But I tried to keep living, and you haven't. Is that why you hate me so much? You know, you act like I killed you when Griffin died.