You might be wondering what the title is about, it somehow sounds familiar but not perfectly correct? In fact, you are quite right with your confusion, because this entry is actually about the movie "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" only that I interchanged the two words...and here's why:
I saw the title of this movie when I was searching for something to download but didnt mind it because the title itself sounds weird...but one day, while I was on Skype, one former applicant from my online job popped this conversation saying "hey, there's this movie I want you to watch". The curiosity in me readily jumped to the suggestion and found my way downloading the same. Well,it has been sitting in my downloads folder for few days before I got the chance to watch it. The first time was a disaster as I fell asleep even when it was just starting.. and finally today, I watched it.
Gee, I couldnt be more glad that I came to my senses to finally do it despite knowing that I would lose some sleep just to be able to finish it. ( Watched it after logging out from my online job.....to be exact 4am)
The movie is about a boy (Oskar)who lost his father in 9/11. There was this key that he found in his Dad's closet with a word "BLACK" outside the small envelope where it was kept. That put him on a journey to find anyone surnamed "Black" and also the start of discovering more things about the people around him , strangers and even about himself. The little boy is a thinking machine, quite smart but has the usual tantrums that all kids do at his age. While searching for the lock that would pair to the key he was holding, he felt he was moving closer to his father but further away from his mom. The movie not only depicted how someone could react to losing someone so dear, but evidently, it tackled how a BOY could exactly feel knowing that someone is never coming back.
The movie focused on the young boy's thoughts and feelings, so it was more in narration and you really have to listen to every word as not to stray from its flow. The scenes between the young boy and his grandfather proved to be so carefully calculated as it was never established that they were related but then the "unusual" conversations between them could not let you hold back your tears as you would then realize in your thoughts that they are both suffering.
Towards the end of the movie, I couldnt help crying especially during the scene when Oskar finally had the answer to the key mystery. When he dashed out from the building into the train and was seen really drained from all the emotional coaster ride of his search, I wanted to give the boy a HUG! It was a huge thing, and placing myself in his shoes, I think I would react much worse than him. Knowing that your search is finally over but at the back of your mind, you knew that it was not the way you wanted it to be - it is really something to drain your spirit whole.
The scene when he was hysterical and his Mom had to appease him also used up both tissue and energy in me. It must have been hard for the mother to hear his child saying something like "I wish it was you there in the building on that day" during one of their shouting matches. But during that time when Oskar poured out his emotions to his mother, only then he knew that his mother was with him in his journey.
There were mixed reviews on this movie, but I would lean to the ones who gave a thumbs up sign because the movie moved me bigtime and even if it gave me salty tears or fictitious revelations, still it gave me new learnings. I would not ever regret watching a movie that would give me some thoughts to ponder upon and some time alone for me to reflect on how I have lived my life whatever my age may be. But most of all, I liked the movie because it brought the memories of my father real again. I reminisce the time the whole family would be swamped in the car and head to the beach, the time I had an argument with my father about the Bible, the time he bought me the Yukele and all other things about who he was and how he has made impact to my life and how I have lived to be still missing him until now.
If you have lost a parent, maybe you would understand what Im saying and maybe then, the movie will make sense just when you thought it wont.
Now I dont need to explain further about the movie, just watch the rest and figure it out to yourself if we share the same sentiments, but then I must let you know why I came up with this twisted title of this entry...well here it is:
I watched the movie at wee hour at exactly 4am when everyone were asleep in the apartment Im sharing with some friends. The laptop is placed on a stool EXTREMELY CLOSE to my bed and the earphones plugged to it that made the audio INCREDIBLY LOUD!
Let me leave you these lines from the book where this movie was lifted from:
“So many people enter and leave your life! Hundreds of thousands of people! You have to keep the door open so they can come in! But it also means you have to let them go!”
― Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Bye for now and see you at the movies!!!
