The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Many times it seems as though a film maker will dream up a movie just so he can have a decisive shot, and the story of the movie can almost write itself after that.  There is such a shot near the beginning of "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", a film with a long title and a lot to say.  Once all of the principal characters (save one) have been introduced, all of them have something in common.  They all seek an escape from their present condition.  They all read a promising brochure from India concerning a retirement community.  So, all of the main characters decide to book flights and move to Jaipur, India.  As they arrive at the airport, all of the characters take a seat in the airport terminal.  The camera shows us a wide shot of all of the characters sitting next to each other.  They do not know each other yet, but they soon will, and they have exciting things in store.

We had received this movie from Netflix, and it sat on our counter for a few days.  Then, Christmas Night, Steph and I decided to watch it.  I'm glad we did.  It was a perfect end to a wonderful Christmas.  This movie has nothing to do with Christmas, but the leisurely pace of the movie coupled with the emotional realism in it were a perfect fit for us.  The movie is an ensemble piece, so there are several stories to follow.  Evelyn (Judi Dench) is a recently widowed house wife who finds out her late husband left her a lot of debts.  She sees The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as a way to live within her means.  Graham (Tom Wilkenson) is a gay lawyer who suddenly decides to retire, and decides to return to his boyhood home of Jaipur, India to settle some old struggles from his past.  Jean and Doug (Penelope Wilton and Bill Nighy) are also seeking affordable retirement, as Doug had sunk a lot of their nest egg into their daughter's internet start up company.  Muriel (Maggie Smith) is a racist woman who needs a hip replacement.  When the NHS doctor tells her she will be on a 6 month waiting list, she decides to bite the bullet and travel to India to have the hip replacement done right away, even though it will be performed by people of color.  Madge (Celia Imrie) is a grandmother who loves her grandchildren, but is tired of her kids pawning them off on her.  She goes to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel to seek an escape, and a husband.  Finally, Norman (Ronald Pickup) is an aging ladies' man (so he thinks), who goes to India looking for action.  They all end up at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a complex owned and operated by Sonny (Dev Patel).  He is a young entrepreneur who desperately wants to accomplish his vision for the The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  He also is in love with a woman of whom his mother does not approve.  All of these plot lines are woven together effectively to make an enjoyable story.  This is not a life changing movie, and you probably won't see it nominated for any Oscars, but it is a pleasant story that features very good actors.

The thing that makes the movie special is the subtext of the movie.  I'll take one of the many plot lines to show what I mean.  The plot line involving Evelyn is very true to life.  There is so much depth to her story that the viewer could imagine seeing a movie just about her character.  As Evelyn mourns the loss of her husband of over 40 years (on a side note, its interesting how a couple of the movies I have seen recently feature characters who were married the same amount of time as my parents were before my Dad died in June), there is so much wealth to the scenes she is in.  For instance, watch the scene in which Evelyn is calling her internet company to change her account.  As she attempts to make the change in her account, the operator informs her that since she is not the primary name on the account, she cannot make any changes to the account.  She tries to delicately say that the person in whose name the account is cannot make the changes, but when the operator insists on pushing the policy, Evelyn has to tell her that the primary account holder is dead.  However, even after that, the operator still goes back to the boilerplate script.  This brought back memories of the several calls I had to make after dad's death regarding insurance, social security, health insurance, etc...and the film nails it.  There is a business like element to it all that is at once necessary and unbelievably harsh.  This is just one small area where this film is incredibly true to life.

The characters in the film all develop and are forced to deal with their own personal crises.  This is what gives the film its realism.  All of the characters (even the ones put in the film for comic relief) are true to life, and that is what makes a movie like this work.  This is the sort of movie that seems like a good movie when you watch it, but the more the viewer thinks about it, the more one can reflect on how much great material there is in the movie.  Check it out!

A Christmas Carol (1984)

I have seen almost all of the film versions of this beloved Christmas classic by Charles Dickens, but this one is my favorite by far.  It is a work of warmth, genuine emotion, humor, sadness and hope.  At about this time every year when I was a boy (after sunset on Christmas Eve), our family would watch this movie.  Even in the warmth of winter in Southern California, there was always a atmosphere of winter as the days grew shorter, and we would turn on this familiar tale.  Our family would huddle up and watch it together...and dad loved it.  As dad has now been dead for 6 months (he died June 25, removed 6 months to the day from Christmas), it is fitting for me to remember how much he loved this movie, but also how much I love it, and why I love it.

For anyone who has never seen or heard this story, it follows the archetypal miser Ebenezer Scrooge.  Scrooge's business partner Jacob Marley has been dead 7 years.  Scrooge has been very successful in his business, but he shares his wealth with no one.  He scorns charitable giving, exploits his hard working employee Bob Cratchit, mocks his nephew as he invites him to Christmas dinner, and makes clear how much he detests this annual racket he calls Christmas.  On Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghost of his late partner Jacob Marley.  Marley is living a life of misery in his post death existence.  He is forced to carry heavy chains through eternity as a punishment for his life of greed.  He comes to warn Ebenezer and to tell him that he will be visited by three spirits over the next three nights.  These spirits (the ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future) give a warning to Ebenezer to reform his ways lest he have a fate similar to Jacob Marley.

As the film unfolds, in all of its poignant truth and creepiness (it is a ghost story after all), it always feels like a well crafted symphony.  The shadows of Christmas past begin the transformation in Scrooge as it brings out warm feelings of nostalgia in Scrooge.  They also remind him of the one decision he deeply regrets-spurning the love of his life to pursue his business interests.  Then, the visions of the present show him things as they are.  The mocking of him at the hands of his nephew and niece at their Christmas dinner (an event to which he annually turns down an invitation) show his feelings being hurt, while the anger shown toward him by Mrs. Bob Cratchit gives him a glimpse into the pain he is causing in others through his lack of charity.  Finally, the dark vision of his future is shown to him.  And as he sees his name on the gravestone, the film reaches an emotional climax.  Scrooge finally totally gets it, and he is overcome with feelings both of guilt and repentance.  He begs for another chance, and he gets it.  My father was always moved by George C. Scott's work in this scene, and I think I always thought George C. Scott to be a brilliant actor because of how much his work in this scene impressed my dad.  He actually quoted George C. Scott in this film when he found out I had proposed to my then girlfriend Stephanie ("I'm as giddy as a schoolboy!")

Christmas is indeed a time of charity.  It is a time when we focus on giving to others.  This movie focuses on that, and it does a wonderful job of showing what we all miss when we ignore charity.  The scenes involving Bob Cratchit's son Tiny Tim are particularly moving.  As we see a child who is depicted as sweet and pious, we are reminded of Jesus' command to his disciples to "Allow the little children to come to me...for to such as these belong the kingdom of God."  Tiny Tim's fate seems to be one of the great tipping points for Scrooge, because he sees that his life of isolation doesn't work.  He has tried to be left alone, but he realizes that by pursuing such a solitary existence, he has hurt others.  These truths are wonderful, biblical truths, but they still don't get to the heart of the Christmas story.  They are wonderful by products of the Christmas story, but they are peripheral to the central truth of Christmas.  Jesus Christ was and is God incarnate, and he became a human in order to die a horrible death and redeem anyone who has faith in him.  The central truth of the Christian faith is that Jesus has proclaimed good news to the poor-both in money and in spirit.  He has come to redeem, not simply to spread wealth.  Scrooge realizes that the truth of Christmas demands that he be charitable.  I also am convicted by that truth-that God expects me to give everything I have to him.  But let us not miss the main point.  We have all, I repeat, ALL, sinned and need to be right with God.  Christmas gives us the story of when God broke into human history to save humanity, not just from poverty, but mainly from our own sin.  I have been listening a lot to the book of John recently, and the truths of chapter 8 are especially applicable.  In this chapter Jesus proclaims that we are all slaves to sin, and Jesus (who was given the same Hebrew name as Joshua, who led the people of Israel into the promised land) delivers those who repent.  Scrooge repents of his life of greed, but the truth of the gospel goes deeper than that.

And so, I can enjoy this movie for what it is.  It is a wonderful reflection on the need for humans to share their wealth with one another.  It is especially important for those of us with means to think of others who have so little.  That is a Christian idea put forth in scripture.  But Dickens sees Jesus more in the role of moral example than in the role of redeemer and the one who atones for sin.  As I reflect on life this first Christmas after dad's death, I am comforted by how much these truths meant to him, and how much they mean to me.  The truth of Dickens' work speaks volumes, but it is not the whole story.   For the whole story, search the scriptures :).....Merry Christmas!