As someone with depression problems, anxiety problems, self esteem problems, self image problems and (on occasion) self harm problems, the idea of not being myself has been an especially appealing one over the years. I’m not alone in that line of thinking either, in fact most of the history of man is dedicated to the concept of ‘escapism’, of being so absorbed in something that for a time the thing that is ‘you’ ceases to exist. Drugs, alcohol, music, films, art, the theater, all created so that we might forget that we are who we are and what the world is like. At the end of the day you’re still you, with all the worries, problems and fears you’ve compiled during your life, but at least it’s a way to pass the time, right?
What if you could go beyond the simple forms of escapism we’re stuck with in our everyday lives though? What if you could literally be someone else? Live their life, experience those intimate moments that we all have when we’re alone, if only for a moment? Wouldn’t it be a little intoxicating? Spike Jonze thinks so, so much so that he decided to base his directorial debut around that premise. It’s a movie called Being John Malkovich and it’s about puppets.
Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is the world’s biggest schmuck. He’s an extremely gifted puppeteer in a world that doesn’t need puppeteers, especially when superstars like Derek Mantini are around. He’s stuck in a humdrum marriage with Lottie (Cameron Diaz), who has evolved past crazy cat lady into a ‘crazy animals in general’ lady. Worst of all though, he’s been forced to take a job as a file clerk at a company called Lestercorp, which is situated on the 7½ floor of an office building in downtown New York (the building’s architect had a thing for little people). Mostly because life as a working man seems to be much worse than being a street performer; his boss, Dr. Lester, seems to be a brain-addled sex maniac and he is hopelessly infatuated with his coworker Maxine, who knows the exact right ways to treat him like dogshit. He even makes a puppet that looks just like her, which I guess is either incredibly romantic or incredibly creepy depending on your preferences.
Craig’s life, and the lives of all the people he knows are irrevocably changed the day he discovers a mysterious door in his office. When opened, the door leads into a passage, and when one enters into the passage, they are transported into the mind of famous film and theater actor John Malkovich. More than that, for 15 minutes they are John Malkovich, seeing through his eyes, living in his skin, before they’re somehow spit out outside the New Jersey turnpike. What a incredibly metaphysical discovery, Craig thinks. What a great business opportunity, Maxine thinks. So the wheel turns and leads them all on journeys of destruction, enlightenment, and for some, salvation.
Not since The Trial way back in the first ever Marathon has there been a film on this list that was so blatantly Kafkaesque as Being John Malkovich, and the former had the advantage of being based on a Kafka novel. A world that borders on the surreal, people seem strangely aggressive to those that don’t really understand the same world view, no one is really a good person and the ones who end up happy are the ones who care the least about other people. Yet Jonze manages to inject enough humor, I think the proper term would be ‘offbeat’, throughout the film that he manages to push it more into the realm of existential black comedy than existential tragedy. That one scene where John Malkovich is walking down the street and someone beans him in the back of the head with a can alone is enough to push it from “The Metamorphosis” to “Breakfast of Champions”, if you catch my drift.
The late 90s and early 2000s really were the era for proto-indie films though, weren’t they? Proto-indie in the sense that they predated the ‘quirky but totally deep man’ style that we’re so familiar with in modern day indie . Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy, Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, Richard Linklater’s Waking Life, Stephen Frears’ High Fidelity, Joel & Ethan Coen’s The Big Lebowski, Peter Weir’s The Truman Show, you get the picture. Being John Malkovich is a bit more artsy than most of those films (dat cinematography doe), a bit more philosophical (life is an unending vortex of misery and she will never love you), even a bit more fantastical (the best use of magic realism since Salman Rushdie) but there is a distinctive thread of melancholy, and in some cases disaffected 20 somethings and hip alternative music, that runs through all these films that should feel familiar to the educated viewer. Chances are if you liked those films, you’ll probably find something to like with Being John Malkovich, and if you didn’t then it’s quite probable that you won’t like Being John Malkovich.
Amazing puppetry in this movie, by the way. It’s worth watching the movie just to see it, in my opinion.
Well I like all of those movies, and so I really like this one. If you’re the kind of person who is stuck in their head a lot, as I am, and you’re looking for a movie to feel some feelings at this Halloween, then why not take a shot at Being John Malkovich? Just don’t stay too long, or you may not want to leave.
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