Room (2015)

Genre: Motherhood

Undercurrent: Hope and guilt

Special mention: Adapted from the novel 'Room'(2010) by Emma Donoghue

Language: English

As the child Jack (by Jacob Tremblay) rolled in a big carpet behind a huge truck, my heartbeat increased like it was the climax but it was just one half of a setup for a bigger part later. As Jack takes his first steps on a new floor, a new world literally, I felt like cheering for him. As Joy "Ma" Newsome (by Brie Larson) is being questioned in the interview, I wanted to just push things away and tell her that it is alright - you were awesome - motherhood is not a curse upon women. I felt through each frame what I was supposed to, and it was intense and wonderful. The director Lenny Abrahamson and the screenplay writer Emma Donoghue were wonderful in captivating the audience. I am surprised at the finesse of the technical team who have done just enough to muster up everyone to take the amazing ride and enjoy it from the first scene onwards. 

Both Jacob Tremblay and Brie larson are amazing in their roles being absolutely successful in their depiction despite the complexities involved. I am actually bored a bit with modern method acting and the larger-than-life heroes: here is a refreshingly creative side of acting where the actors feel the emotions and make you a part of it, despite it being almost impossible to learn or live it through. There is also a surprisingly wonderful chemistry between Ma and Jack that seems very real. At times, the movie felt like Interstellar where an inner me is in a dialogue with the amazing new world outside, and it feels like a new birth. 

Despite very good music, the story, screenplay and people compel way too much weight for us to take notice of the rest of the work. Good use of sunlight and properties were used along with good effects from the colorist that helped convey the mood of the time better. Rather than preach, the movie just shows the strength of hope and strength from motherhood. It also continues on to express some complex emotions we only read in books like a child's view of a never-ending world inside a room that was his everything, his love for his childhood things in spite of the amazing world outside and the attachments that people form with each other that help them stand up within. 

Usually, I refrain from writing my reviews immediately after watching a movie just so that the effects of being carried away won't spill on to my writing but here is a movie that just wants me to. I wouldn't be able to write about except by my feel or I will have to write the entire novel to make you feel it. Also, I must admit that I too felt like Jack some times and like Ma, only that these were way more intense. That connection established a special movement through out the film. My only negative is that at the outcome, motherhood seems like a burden. There is nothing that points otherwise and how natural it is in general, not even in the relationship between Ma and Grand Ma. That is excusable given the unique situation of the setup. It also shows how singularly absorbing some relationships can be and that is a bit scary given all the options that women have today, almost as much as getting locked up in the Room for 7 years.  

My favorite scene is that of Ma running towards Jack as he tries to get out of the car. It was elating and reassuring as I wouldn't have been able to take it well otherwise. The expression in the eyes of Ma as she runs towards her child need special mention. For a change, the show belongs to the main parts of film-making - director, screenplay, story and actors and that alone. They have all stolen the show. 

"When I was small, I only knew small things. But now I'm five, I know everything!"

"One evening as the sun went down and the jungle fires were burning, down the track came a hobo hiking, and he said, boys, I'm not turning; I'm headed for a land that's far away beside the crystal fountains so come with me, we'll go and see The Big Rock Candy Mountains. In the Big Rock Candy Mountains, there's a land that's fair and bright..."