GROWING CLOSER, GROWING APART
GROWING CLOSER, GROWING APART. by Redfox
Gilbert Grape and his family in “What´s Eating Gilbert Grape” (1993).
Based on the images of Johnny Depp and the other cast members from the movie.
In rare cases you find a film, where what you see is exactly what the film trying to tell you. Most people, I guess, watch the movie Gilbert Grape just to see a very young and very talented Leo Di…, or a REAL FAT WOMAN, or just because they watch anything with Johnny Depp in it. All good reasons fair enough, but it is not what I am looking for in this movie. It is one of the most amazing cast chemistry, mutual understanding and co-work that leaves room for every single person to stand out. There has to be chemistry, because the film tells you a story of a family. Usually I´ve heard that making on-screen family look believable is a hard task. Each and every actor has their own interpretation of not only their role, but the role of the particular character plays inside the on-screen family. It usually brings on arguments and tension, disagreement with the director etc. that can sometimes even develop into a public word fight of how the director forced someone into a role.
But here, the blood bond is almost tangible. It is not just the well-chosen cast, each of them absorbed into their character. It is the dynamics of a REAL family, that the actors bring to us on screen. Partly they are following the design of the story, but, I think, in this particular story, they follow their instincts and emotions even more.
I have always had that feeling of an unreal chemistry and bond between the characters in this movie, I have been infatuated by some scenes and images. But the word to describe that experience only came to me today. I can see it in screenshots and pictures: it is the DISTANCE, physical and mental, that goes from hopelessly vast to people being as one. The changes in that distance are particularly brought out in the character of Gilbert played by Johnny Depp, who not only carries the main weight of the movie, but it seems like he has taken on his shoulders the many responsibilities of his character. When you look at some screenshots, you can just about feel what is going on in Gilbert´s family, and at the same time in Gilbert´s mind and soul.
The following screenshots are not in the exact order of the movie, but it will give you a general picture of what I mean. The most emphasized and symbolic relationship in the movie is the one between Gilbert and his brother Arnie. And, of course, the chain of events starts from Arnie being up in the tower. ( I have always wondered, whether that is a hint to Astrid Lindgren´s Brothers Lionhearts, where both brothers jump out of the window during a fire, but that is only a guess.)
MEDIUM DISTANCE 
Here, may the physical distance be one of the longest so that even a loudspeaker is needed, the mental one on the other hand is not so clearly visible. On the contrary, it is Gilbert and Gilbert alone, who can bring Arnie down from the tower, and when Gilbert is singing his little melody , Arnie is already on the ground in his mind – he so wants to be. When his physical body catches up, he jumps on Gilbert´s back, they joke around and everything seems to be o.k. As lightly and naturally as Leonardo carries out that scene of innocence and cluelessness from his side, does Johnny shun the mocking of the crowd, when he drives away with Arnie. In the car , though, we might detect a bit of boredom or fatigue on Gilbert´s face. We see that Gilbert is trying to distance himself from the negative side of Arnie´s actions, trying to just see him as his brother and a child that needs understanding.
Because, after all:
“I am the big brother “
CLOSENESS WITH SOME CRACKS IN IT.
That is what we see in these images. There is a lot more “responsibility” already in Johnny /´Gilbert´s gesture than there is “true affection”, though you find enough of the latter also. But there is an air hole between them and you can see that Gilbert is distancing him from Arnie even more, and his gesture says “I have to console, because I AM the big brother.” It is unavoidable that Arnie can tell Gilbert is not being totally sincere, it is unavoidable, that it insults him. It is, in fact, even necessary, that mixed emotions, pressure and dissatisfaction in both characters build up into a
COLLISION
a situation, where the physical distance is minimal, but the mental is biggest. Gilbert hits Arnie and leaves him alone, who later attacks Gilbert, interpreting the violence in his own way and directing it back at his big brother through a game-like outburst. Johnny brings the scenes to us convincingly, and the collision with Arnie is determinable in Gilbert´s relations with the rest of the family.
VAST DISTANCE.
Each time Gilbert /Johnny is in his car alone, I get the feeling he is shutting the family out. He becomes somewhat machine –like, like a sleepwalker, going only from point A to point B to point C without taking any real interest in the surroundings or people he talks with. He is very much in his inner world at those times, but you can see he is not content. He may forget and shun his responsibilities towards the family for a while, but he also has responsibilities toward himself. When he shuts his family out, he is alone, because at this point there is nothing to replace it with.
FRUSTRATION
It is an inner conflict: there is everything that Gilbert wants, and everything he despises, and those two are actually in the same house. He doen´t know whether to come back to it, or run away. The mixed feelings toward others demand he do both, his need for independence demand he do nothing at all. His family is his life meaning and his curse. He wants to be with his family, but doesn´t want to be ashamed of them, or be accused of not doing his duty and taking care of them. He is face to face with himself, with his needs and fears, and he doesn´t know what to do with either. It is not a long or a short distance, here the space all around Gilbert is about to explode.
THE MISSING LINK.
The character of Becky appears as a link that can possible bring the two different brothers, one of them clueless and a bit sulky, the other frustrated and tired, back together. We can see the distance between Arnie and Becky is very small already at their first meeting. Gilbert is not just as unhampered, he seems to have grown indifferent toward people´s benevolence. But pretty soon he is deliberately searching for Becky, the missing link in his life, that he thinks can give him some direction and new meaning.
IMAGINABLE DISTANCE.
In this shot it seems the characters are hiding from each other inside – you can´t see any of them looking into each other´s eyes, or looking at each other at all. Five people in a car and just one family, and it looks as if they cannot see each other – Gilbert/Johnny being particularly clammed up and cold. Here, they look like five strangers accidentally gotten into the same vehicle.
But there is one good thing about a situation like this: I know for fact a FAMILY can´t tolerate silence for very long. Something has to change. It is in fact almost comical: Gilbert´s face reflecting stubborn determination, the mother like a great mother bear ready to hit her teeth into anyone who hurts Arnie – the 18-year-old child; and the older sister like a mother hen working full time to supply a normal life for this unusual family. They all have to make a change in their situation, and it is strange, so strange, that though the Mother takes the first step. Not Gilbert, who is tied to the family, but still free as much as it is possible. Is that what the look on Johnny /Gilberts face says – surprise, confusion, dismay, that he didn´t have half the guts his Mother did- the woman who has had a lot less freedom to do anything than Gilbert ever? He is on the edge to admit – his family is far from a bunch of losers, if maybe just one of them has such courage. The wall between them is breaking.
BLOOD IS THICKER……
“I am the Son”
In Gilbert´s relations with his mother there is at first some stiffness, even peskyness ( when he is showing her through the window to town children) and a drop of bitterness ( when he is bolstering up the roof so she won´t fall through it, and talks to the man helping him). But it is, after all, his only mother. Each time we see him going to her, he has to swallow and hide a number of critical comments, he HAS to be close to her because they both need it. And also because he feels sincerely sorry – not for his mother being so fat, but because it is getting harder and harder for her to take part in her children´s lives. His Mother is worried about Arnie, and needs Gilbert to take care of him; but that´s not all. She feels a bit of guilt, we will never know how much, and shame, because she knows the fact she is the laughing stock of the town is much harder to Gilbert than to any other of her children. On the other hand, Gilbert, as the older Son, probably understands a lot more what has brought his Mother to this situation and that they just have to accept it. Those two cannot leave a big distance between them. Because that´s their life. And they have no other imaginary family to run to.
How Johnny Depp plays the scenes with Darlene Cates has always amazed me. I definitely consider her to be one of the best female partners Johnny has ever had on screen. Those scenes cannot leave you indifferent (even if you are a sulky teen who think her mother to be an annoying bisquit) We can all relate to a mother-child relationship, and it seems Johnny knew which scene to invest the most energy in to get into the heart of the audience.
THE DOOR IS OPEN
we do see a lot, a lot of embracing, and letting go, in this movie. It is actually what creates the main dynamics of the movie, embracing is not just a gesture of searching consolation, it is a symbol of increasing or decreasing distance between the Meaningful people.
The character of “Becky” gives Gilbert a chance to cast his affection over to someone else, so he can avoid the contact with what frustrates him, but at the same time avoid the guilt for not being there for his family. One thing to be said about Johnny Depp – he seems a very open, bighearted person, and he really seems cut out for embracing and hugging. He puts a lot of feeling into direct contact with other cast members. When a scene demands for “a warm hug”, there is just that without any pretending. When he has to run away from somebody, Johnny looks like he would go through a wall if he had to.
SIDE BY SIDE.
I do not know what you see looking at this screenshot. I see silent content. They are like three restless air molecules that have stopped twisting and floating around and calmed down. Just side by side, simple as that. The perfect molecule.
Growing apart from each other and growing back together, that is something that happens in every family. For Johnny Depp, I imagine, it might have been one of the most complex roles – he was a Brother, a Son, a Love Interest, Head Of Family, Town´s Clown, and in all then he was also Gilbert. Balancing between Closeness, Distance and Isolation, the character of Gilbert is made life-like and memorable. I would definitely want a Gilbert Grape in my family, if it were possible.
© Redfox, Tallinn, 2006
Summary