250 words responsepart 2respond H u m a n i t i e s

PART 1

Identify at least one theme in the film that resonates with you. Describe the theme and at least three scenes in which it plays out. 250 WORDS RESPONSE

PART 2

respond to two classmate regarding the theme they have described (in 3 scenes) and either describe a fourth scene that see the theme enacted or describe a deeper subtext of the theme in the scenes they have described. 250 WORDS RESPONSE

A few thematic considerations:

1) Do writers / directors glamorize depression in films? Are the portrayals and executions of depression realistic on the silver screen?

2) What kinds of imprisonment does the protagonist experience? Is the main character the only one to have experienced imprisonment in the film?

3) How does family manifest? What are the definitions and moral imperatives of “family” – beyond the usual “blood” lineage?

4) Do the characters “grow” or evolve in any sense? If the main character died the day after the film ends, would someone be able to say she was happy? That she lived a good life, despite her tribulations? What does it mean to live and evolve as characters supposedly do?

* These questions by no means exhaust the numerous themes that play out in the film. If something else came to mind initially, feel free to run with that (i.e. addiction, societal ostracism, the limitations of labels, etc.

responses from classmate 1:

In this film there are several themes but the one that I resonated with and stood out the most would have to be the theme of family relationships getting connected on a more profound level. There were two scences in the film where Juliette was told by the person helping her obtain emplayment and the man she ws speaking to at the hospital in regards to her job. They both made comments regarding her family, saying that she should be lucky she has a family to come home to, or that she has family she can count on. When both comments were made Juliette did not respond but her facial expression changed. Through her body language she gave the sense of wanting to say “what family”. She had been disconnected from her sister, resentment towards her parents and living in a home where her sisters husband does not trust her around his kids. The ones that made these comments towards Juliette did not know the entirty of the family dynamic. Throughout the film her relationships change and they start acting like an actual family. This can be shown during the moments when her and her sister would go swiming and gossip boys. At the home Juliette starts to become an active member of the family as well. Her and Luc start talking more and he allows her to read a story to his daughter which she starts to teach the piano to.

classmate 2:

The theme that resonates to me in “I’ve Loved You so Long” is the life of a former female convict.Even after serving time in prison, Juliette’s crime follows her in every aspect of her life. On her first day at her sister’s home, she was not welcomed by her brother-in-law. She has to reveal her felony to everyone who questions her absence or come up with a travel story when the question comes from children. The discrimination an ex-con goes through when released to the outside world has no limits. When Juliette was sitting at the table and Gerard was harassing her to reveal where she was for fifteen years, everyone laughed thinking she was joking when she spoke the truth. Juliette could not share a moment with family or friends without being labeled as a criminal. The closed doors and the boundaries Juliette had to face is like a prison in the outside world. At first, she couldn’t get a job, she didn’t have a home, she was alone and she is alienated by most people who judge her for killing her son. Those who witness her being discriminated against, feel empathetic and eventually see her as a decent human being as opposed to a criminal. For example, when her brother-in-law asked Juliette if she could watch the kids opposing his argument earlier in the movie when he lashed out at Lea for leaving the kids with her sister who was convicted of murdering her son.