Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stuff!

“They are ordinary people, after all. For a time they had entered the world of the newspaper statistic; a world where any measure you took to feel better was temporary, at best, but that is over. This is permanent. It must be.”

The novel and the film are anything but ordinary. Quoting the author of the book, the story explores the anatomy of depression. An affluent family was plunged head first into the world where misery is the order of the day. They lost their eldest son in a boating catastrophe and his little brother attempted suicide shortly after the loss. Although the story was set approximately a year after the latter incident, the consequences reverberated through to the future.

One of the more emerging themes in the story that captures my attention is love comes in many shapes. Conrad, the troubled teen whose suicide attempt was botched had a strained relationship with his mother. His mother was a control freak. She never let emotions took hold of her being. In the film, she refrained from crying even when the temptation was overwhelming and she quickly rearranged her feature to the one that suggested indifference. Her concern during her son’s funeral was what her husband wore on that day. A scene was remarkable in portraying the fractured relationship between her and Conrad. When Conrad couldn’t decide whether he’s hungry, she took his French toast and dumped it into the sink! In Conrad’s words, they just couldn’t connect and thought that she still blamed him for what had happened to the family.

In truth, Beth, the mother loved her son unconditionally. She wanted the family to move on hence her cold stature. She still kept the stuff made by Conrad and his brother when they were little. Just like in We Need To Talk About Kevin, the very act of pushing people away is actually a show of deep affection…

I shall not explore other themes coz you have to read or watch it yourself...

The novel was released in 1976 yet the language used was way ahead of its time. Six months on the American bestsellers is a testament that this novel deserves the status of cult if not a classic. It also won an award for the best debut novel. The book was then made into a movie, which won the Oscar Best Picture in 1980.

Unlike other adaptations, its transition to a film was almost flawless. Timothy Hutton really embodied Conrad as a jumpy, recovering younger son. His presence was endearing and you couldn’t help but to feel affected by his despair. As a tribute to his convincing act, Timothy became the youngest winner of Oscar Best Supporting Actor. I suspect that the reason why he wasn’t up for the Best Actor category is because the Academy wanted to award him with an Oscar but at the same time they couldn’t ignore Robert De Niro. Oh yeah, he was twenty when he won an Oscar. I haven’t won any. Not that I’m seeking for one in the future though…

Buy, borrow, beg or steal the novel and the film. Thanks Waa for getting me this stellar work…