I first saw the film Garden State as a freshman at Rio. I sat in my cramped dorm room with the faint smell of dirty laundry in the background all I could do was mumble, “Wow.” My mouth was full of the Wal-Mart brand pretzels I had been snacking on and my head was full of Indie music. I was struck most by the storyline. The coming-of-age tale spoke to my frazzled 18 year old heart; away from home for the first time and overwhelmed by the pressure nursing school had thrust upon me. Garden State was written and directed by Zach Braff a little known actor with no writing experience at all.
The film opens with the main character, played by Zach Braff, sitting on an airplane. He stares straight ahead, emotionless, as the passengers around him panic. Hindi music obliterates any other sounds we might hear. Beside the main character a woman clutches her infant and cries, the flight attendant runs frantically down the isle, and an elderly woman clings to Braff’s arm as his face remains void of any expression. As the oxygen masks drop, he nonchalantly adjusts the direction of the air conditioning vent. The scene abruptly ends with the ringing of a telephone and the audience realizes that the sequence has been a dream. The telephone stops ringing as the answering machine takes over and Braff’s on-screen father leaves a message saying that his wife, (Braff’s mother) has died. Thus begins the main character’s trip from Los Angeles back to his hometown in New Jersey for her funeral.
The audience quickly realizes that the nonchalant attitude the main character displays in the opening dream sequence does not end upon awakening but is caused by years of overmedication with antipsychotics and antidepressants prescribed by Braff’s psychiatrist father. The rest of the film’s events chronicle his realization that there is nothing mentally wrong with him other than general unhappiness and his decision to quit taking the medications. While at home Braff also encounters some of the friends he grew up with and meets a girl (played by Natalie Portman) who provides him with the companionship he needs to face the demons from his past and open himself up to experiencing emotions again. Like the characters in the film the audience is forced to examine how they feel about life and what it means to be truly happy.
I asked a few people who have seen this movie to describe what it was about in one sentence. They all gave a different response. One said, “It’s about getting past your warped upbringing and making the best of it.” Another said, “It’s about going out into the world as your own person.” If I had been asked the question I would have replied that it is about the importance of being open to life, to emotion, and to being whoever it is that you are. The great thing is that all our answers would have all been right. All art tells a story. The story is different to the artist and to every person that experiences it. Each person brings their own individual feelings and experiences to the table and walks away with something different.
In sharp contrast to the explosion filled, big budget movies in the same genre, Garden State stands out as a quiet but powerful example of what film was meant to be: honest and thought provoking storytelling. Even after all the times I have seen it sometimes I still say “Wow” to myself during my favorite scene where Natalie Portman and Zach Braff sit intertwined at the place of his mother’s death. Iron and Wine’s “Such Great Heights” plays in the background as he says, “It hurts,” and she replies, “If nothing else that’s life. Its real and sometimes it f-ing hurts. But its sort of all we have.”
The film opens with the main character, played by Zach Braff, sitting on an airplane. He stares straight ahead, emotionless, as the passengers around him panic. Hindi music obliterates any other sounds we might hear. Beside the main character a woman clutches her infant and cries, the flight attendant runs frantically down the isle, and an elderly woman clings to Braff’s arm as his face remains void of any expression. As the oxygen masks drop, he nonchalantly adjusts the direction of the air conditioning vent. The scene abruptly ends with the ringing of a telephone and the audience realizes that the sequence has been a dream. The telephone stops ringing as the answering machine takes over and Braff’s on-screen father leaves a message saying that his wife, (Braff’s mother) has died. Thus begins the main character’s trip from Los Angeles back to his hometown in New Jersey for her funeral.
The audience quickly realizes that the nonchalant attitude the main character displays in the opening dream sequence does not end upon awakening but is caused by years of overmedication with antipsychotics and antidepressants prescribed by Braff’s psychiatrist father. The rest of the film’s events chronicle his realization that there is nothing mentally wrong with him other than general unhappiness and his decision to quit taking the medications. While at home Braff also encounters some of the friends he grew up with and meets a girl (played by Natalie Portman) who provides him with the companionship he needs to face the demons from his past and open himself up to experiencing emotions again. Like the characters in the film the audience is forced to examine how they feel about life and what it means to be truly happy.
I asked a few people who have seen this movie to describe what it was about in one sentence. They all gave a different response. One said, “It’s about getting past your warped upbringing and making the best of it.” Another said, “It’s about going out into the world as your own person.” If I had been asked the question I would have replied that it is about the importance of being open to life, to emotion, and to being whoever it is that you are. The great thing is that all our answers would have all been right. All art tells a story. The story is different to the artist and to every person that experiences it. Each person brings their own individual feelings and experiences to the table and walks away with something different.
In sharp contrast to the explosion filled, big budget movies in the same genre, Garden State stands out as a quiet but powerful example of what film was meant to be: honest and thought provoking storytelling. Even after all the times I have seen it sometimes I still say “Wow” to myself during my favorite scene where Natalie Portman and Zach Braff sit intertwined at the place of his mother’s death. Iron and Wine’s “Such Great Heights” plays in the background as he says, “It hurts,” and she replies, “If nothing else that’s life. Its real and sometimes it f-ing hurts. But its sort of all we have.”
LINK TO MOVIE TRAILER (COPY AND PASTE THIS INTO YOUR ADDRESS BAR) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u82n0e1mgmQ
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