Character

My friend Guy shared this video a few days ago, in which a teacher stages an amazingly creative prank for his mathematics students. This being early April, I would imagine it was done as an April Fools’ Day joke. But this fellow is no fool!

We managed to squeeze in a couple of movies over the last few days that have somewhat similar, or at least related, themes. The first was Noah Baumbach’s “While We’re Young.” Ben Stiller plays Josh, a pleasant and reasonably well-adjusted 40-something year old fellow who is struggling with getting older and not having accomplished all he may have wanted, while the next generation is newly reaching adulthood and, as the newcomers to this stage, making his aging peer group feel less important. Josh and his wife, Cornelia (played by Naomi Watts), befriend Jamie (Amanda Seyfried) and Darby (Adam Driver), a 25-year-old married couple with whom they become friends. Although they all live in New York, the two couples seem to see the City through different eyes.

There were two actors in the film who looked and sounded familiar but took us a little while of watching to realize who they were. The first was Charles Grodin, who plays Cornelia’s father, a successful film maker who leaves Josh feeling inadequate. The second was Peter Yarrow, formerly of the trio Peter, Paul, and Mary, who plays a left-wing intellectual who seems unhappy and disappointed with everything and everyone. There are no real surprise endings: you can see that the story is heading to a new level of self-awareness and change for the couple, and in the final few seconds you are given a glimpse of what that will be.

The second film was called “Clouds of Sils Maria.” Kristen Stewart plays a young woman named Valentine who works as a personal assistant to an aging, once-famous actress named Maria, played by Juliette Binoche. One of Valentine’s many responsibilities is to help Maria memorize and rehearse her lines, which they do while walking through the magnificent mountain side in the Swiss Alps where they are staying to prepare for the filming. Because the two characters switch frequently between their role relationship and their actual relationship, it is often somewhat confusing to understand just which is being discussed. Perhaps that is precisely the point, the blurring between Maria and the character she is playing in the film, between Maria’s personal relationship with Valentine and the relationship they have as actress and assistant. Perhaps this explains the name, the clouds that blur and hover over their relationship.  

Early in the film, Valerie and Maria travel to Zurich so that Maria can accept an award on behalf of the filmmaker with whom she worked on many projects. Unfortunately, they arrive to discover that the filmmaker has died, making the award a posthumous one. There are a number of sub-plots, including a young director who is remaking Maria’s first hit movie, but this time having Maria play a much more minor role as an older woman.

These two films were different perspectives on essentially the same issue: growing older and accepting who we are, with all its disappointments and unhappy memories that can take over if we let them. “While We’re Young” ends, in my mind, on a dautiously optimistic note, but “Clouds of Sils Maria” paints a much less rosy picture. If you happen to know any film students, these two could make a very interesting thesis.

Last, we went this week to hear David Brooks discuss his new book, The Road to Character, at the 92^nd Street Y. His focus is largely on two categories of virtues around which our lives are based: the “resume” virtues, which revolve around external success, and the “eulogy” virtues, internal attributes such as kindness and honesty. Most of us spend our lives in dogged pursuit of the former but do not spend a lot of time thinking about the latter. We think about how to educate and position ourselves to advance our careers, but not so much about how to educate and position ourselves to advance the albeit more difficult to measure behavioral part of our lives. Mr. Brooks is a terrific speaker, sprinkling his talk and responses to questions with humor where appropriate while able to be serious and moving as well. He has apparently spoken countless times at the 92^nd Street Y and I suspect we will be looking for him again. And we definitely intend to read/listen to the book!

There is supposed to be a large outdoor celebration of Israel Independence Day here in Riverdale this afternoon, but outside may be too cold and if they move it indoors it will undoubtedly be too crowded. So I may hop on my scooter and check it out if it’s not raining.

Have a wonderful upcoming weekend.

Love,

Rebecca