Movie Recommendation: Lady in the Water
November 11th, 2007 | Email this to your FriendsWritten by David Pierce
Click here to contact David Pierce and see his website: Friends Along the Road
Hollywood - in the tradition of classic mythopoeia - tends to use bereaved parents and spouses in pivotal roles. They are often examples of those who’ve been through life’s worst extremes, and play lunatics, killers, shamans, and heroes. Because they have been eaten raw by the universe and regurgitated into something new, unpredictable, and powerful, the severely bereaved are regarded in classic high literature with more than pity, with a mixture of fear and awe. This attitude is rendered clearly in “Lady in the Water,” a film by the director of “The Village” that left Judy and me in grateful astonishment, because it lay bare the path of our souls and rallied us to keep on going.
The protagonist is the stuttering caretaker/handyman of an apartment complex in Philadelphia, who discovers a sea-nymph in his quarters. She has been living underneath the swimming pool but has been sent to the surface by her people in order to impart inspiration into the life of one young man, an apartment resident who is a writer and whose book is destined to positively change the world. It turns out that the caretaker was once a doctor, but his wife and children were murdered, and ever since he has sought anonymity in his terrible grief. Yet he is chosen for a heroic role as a facilitator between the nymph and the person she must contact. To accomplish this goal, he follows the patterns of the great myth and draws upon the unique archetypal strengths of each of the residents, seemingly ordinary and disparate individuals who come together in a profound whole. With the help of everyone in the complex, the caretaker becomes The Healer, uniting the powers of The Interpreter, The Guardian, The Guild, and The Seven Sisters.
This is the story I have always dreamed of - of common people united in a great purpose. This movie has everything to say to those having lived for years with deep grief, who have risen, been crushed, risen again, foundered, and kept on going. It shows that even those from whom almost all has been taken may have an important purpose…something that can unite us all.
©Copyright 2007 David Pierce. All Rights Reserved. Permission to publish granted to GoodTherapy.org. The following article was solely written and edited by the author named above. The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the following article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment to this blog entry. Click here to contact David Pierce and see his website: Friends Along the Road
December 3rd, 2007 at 12:36 pm
This is a very insightful review the author has written. I also saw the movie and didn’t quite make those same connections. I saw the residents as mirrors of the doctor in various states of his life. Then, those states came together to act on a common goal. Without any of these parts, the doctor would not have been as successful.
December 4th, 2007 at 7:42 am
I do not work in psychology, but I do have a child in treatment which is why I read these blogs. I am so glad to have read this blog! I saw this movie and knew it had some deep meaning to it. But, for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what it was! I guess I am fortunate not to have to relate to such trauma and sadness. I wonder if other people similarly affected drew the same view of the movie?
December 5th, 2007 at 7:54 am
I have suffered an incredible loss and did find the same things the author of this blog did. I found the movie both comforting and inspiring. It gave me much to think about over the days and weeks following the time when I saw the movie. But, I could tell others in the audience just didn’t get it. They kind of looked at each other like, “What the….?” I am glad that someone in Hollywood could write and produce a movie that helped me along in some way.
December 6th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
I really did not like this movie. I thought it was a bit hokey and glammed up Hollywood. I think the author of the blog give the screenwriter way too much credit. I think the writer wanted to create an interesting story and stumbled upon this “greatness” completely by accident. There were definitely some clues in the movie that this was the case rather than being a movie that was the result of someone actually taking the time to understand grief and all of its ramifications.