Running on Empty (1988)

'Running on Empty' is a heart-warming film about a simple but non-typical family where Arthur (Judd Hirsch) and Annie Pope (Christine Lahti) are fugitives on the run from the FBI for many years due to their anti-war activities during the 1970s. They are one of the most wanted fugitives in the country due to their bombing of a laboratory which accidentally blinded and paralyzed a janitor. Arthur and Annie move around the country very often with their two sons Danny (River Phoenix) and Harry (Jonas Abry). Each time they move, they assume a whole new identity. As the film begins, the Pope family is seen to be on the move again. As the family settles down (temporarily) in this new place, Michael (Danny's new identity), an ordinary teenage boy with an amazing musical talent in playing the piano catches the attention of his music teacher, Mr. Phillips. Being overwhelmed by his talent, Mr. Phillips encouraged Michael to apply for Juilliard's. However, being on the run constantly with his family, Michael isn't sure about going to college. Meantime, Michael also develops a romantic relationship with Phillip's daughter, Lorna and Michael, too struggles in this new relationship due to his identity. 

So how does Michael cope with his future and Lorna while trying to keep his family secret? 

How will Michael's parents deal with this empty-nest syndrome where their son is growing up and might be leaving them very soon like the other kids?

This film has shown us several interesting themes and these themes can be addressed through the characters and events in the film:

#1 Danny Pope / Michael Manfield

There were a few battles that Danny was going through in the film. He was constantly battling between finding his own identity and living the identities given to him. He battled between pursuing his dreams in music and staying with his family. He battled between disclosing himself to Lorna and keeping his family secret. William Glasser tells us that there are five basic needs in humans - love and belonging, power, fun, survival and freedom. This film showed us that Danny was lacking most of them. He couldn't secure his love and belonging because of his family secret. He had no safety because he didn't have a stable life as he was running away with his family.  He also couldn't pursue his dream of attending college and this showed that he had no fun, no power of his own life and no freedom.

Being the eldest son of the Pope family, Danny was seen to be always taking care of his family members (and their huge secrets). As though he was scoring every single point on the Firstborn Syndrome, he was always responsible, intelligent, independent, obedient to his parents and very caring, especially to his mother. There were a few times when he grew tired of his constantly-running-away life and complained to his mother. But every time he'd end up caring for her feelings and he'd stopped questioning his life for the sake of his parents. On top of that, when Gus (Arthur and Annie's old friend) came to their house and offended his mother, he was there to emotionally support her - he offered her a hug (the kind of hug which tells somebody that everything is going to be alright). And his mother, as though she knew she could rely on her son entirely, relieved her stress and embraced him. Almost at the end of the movie, when they were forced to move again, Danny had a hard time separating with his girlfriend and his ambition. As much as he wanted to settle down and have a normal life, he was struggling at the same time to want to keep the unity of his family. There was a scene where he told Lorna, "They need me." I personally find this scene showed that there was indeed a strong bond of unity in his family and as much as he was tired of his life, he loved his family for who they were and was willing to go through ups and downs together (even though no one knew how long they were going to do this for).

#2 Arthur Pope / Paul Manfield (Father)

In this film, Arthur portrayed himself as the leader (alpha male) of the house whose words are as good as verdict. He could be stubborn at times but no doubt that he loved his family very much. Personally I really like the scene where he first heard of the news of his mother's death. I didn't like the news but I liked how Arthur portrayed his sadness, his pain. He said nothing, absolutely nothing after he was told the news but his body language showed us how much he regretted and how much pain he was going through at that moment. As he quietly walked towards his truck, he opened the door and leaned on the seat absent-mindedly. We could all understand that he was devastated at the news.

As egoistic and as masculine as he could be as the head of the family, we would expect Arthur to be a strict father who practiced strict disciplinary methods with his children at home. But no, he wasn't that kind of a father. In fact, it was quite interesting to see the way he communicates with his family at home - with his sense of humour. I enjoyed his jokes that came about once in awhile in the film such as "I'm a vegetarian, I don't want tiny fingers in my stew." Even though they may not be an ordinary family (because they were fugitives on the run), Arthur tried his best to give his family a normal life, in fact, a well simple life, for example, they have birthday celebrations.

When we watch this film, it's very easy to see Arthur as a stubborn person who wouldn't want change and to let go of his son. Maybe some people will address this as the empty nest syndrome where parents feel lonely and sad when their children leave home. But from what I see, Arthur had lost his mother (whom he couldn't have visited often) and he once told his wife that this family with his two sons are all that's left now. If he was to let Danny off to pursue his study, that would only mean he would have to give up his son and never to see him again. This situation is far worse than the empty nest syndrome. However, in the end when he'd heard the news of Gus's death while waiting for Danny to join them on the move, he suddenly made his decision to let go off Danny. So what changed his mind? Perhaps, the tragic news of Gus had made Arthur realized that the consequences of living the life as a fugitive were unpredictable. He wouldn't want Danny to keep running away for the rest of his life. He especially wouldn't want Danny to end up like Gus. As much as he wouldn't want to not see Danny again, he would still want the best for his son.

#3 Annie Pope / Cynthia Manfield (Mother)

Unlike her husband, Annie began to grow tired of her life of constantly running away even though she clearly knew that she had no choice but to do so. Between this couple, she was the first one who thought about turning herself in to the police. The only thing drawing her back from doing so currently was her two children. When Gus came to their house, he told Annie that she could just leave and travel far far away. During then, she even admitted that she'd been living a lie and she was really tired already. But as a mother, she carried well her responsibility of caring and raising her children. In this film, many times, Annie would show her feminine and motherly side. For example, after the fight, she knew Arthur was going through a bad day and so she tried to understand her husband instead of talking back at him. Besides that, she often cared for her children's well-being and their feelings. She knew Danny loved classical music more than rock n' roll and so she wanted him to go to the concert at Mr. Phillips's place. She wasn't even angry at Danny when she found out that he went to the Juilliard audition without her permission. She knew Danny loved music and there'll be a future for him if she'd let him go. At the end of the day, she made a choice of sending Danny away to his grandparents. As painful as it was for her to make that decision, she also knew that it was unfair to have Danny lead such life when he'd done nothing wrong in the past. This showed how much a mother would sacrifice for the well-being of her children.

There was an incredibly touching scene where Annie met her father for the first time after 14 years. When Annie's dad saw her, he was completely stunned and showed no expression at all for a very long time (even though Annie was crying already). Even though he was expressionless, his face tells us that there are so many emotions that are actually going through his mind and soul- it's the happy and surprised, together with anger and sadness kind of emotions. Happy because he hadn't seen her for so long. Surprised because he'd never expected to see her now. Angry because of the choice she made. Sad because he'd thought he'd lost his daughter for 14 years. Anyhow, when her dad resented (a bit) her for choosing the kind of life she was leading despite having an opportunity to study at Juilliard's just like Danny, she mentioned that it was a choice she made at that time - a choice in which she had to bear the consequences now. Even though Annie may have sounded regret in her sentence, she never resented the choice she made for herself. This reminded me of Glasser's Choice Theory in which Annie made that choice in order to gain freedom in return - freedom from the war.

 It was a bit funny but yet touching about how her father was trying so hard to resist himself from crying. The whole time he was speaking with Annie, he held a stern expression but the moment Annie left, he immediately broke into tears. This last part further proved that he was holding back all those emotions that he was feeling in his mind. This scene was a bit heart breaking to watch because as Annie walked away, her father must be heart broken. Who knows this may be the very last time he'd be able to see her and God knows how many more 14 years he has.

#4 Romance

Every romantic relationship begins in the form of attraction. When Michael first met Lorna for the first time (when he broke into the house and played the piano without permission), it was a bit obvious that Lorna was attracted to him already. The first thing he said to her was about her old photo and somehow, maybe Lorna found him to be funny because she seemed like she couldn't stop smiling. Besides that, apparently the day after that, they met again at school - in the elective class, home economics, aka cooking class. To Lorna, it wasn't ordinary for a boy to take cooking classes so perhaps she'd started to find him interesting, wanted to know more and somewhat, really attracted to this unordinary guy. Not to mention, being paired up together during the class may have contributed to their liking for each other as proximity has been said to play a part in the science of attraction.

As Lorna was clearly attracted to Michael earlier than he was to her, she began her first stage of communication and that is flirting. There were a few scenes where she was obviously flirting or trying to flirt with him. First, she invited him to her house for the concert. Then she dragged him away from her father and offered him a glass of milk before inviting him to her room! When he had to leave, she asked him to sneak out from her window. Not to forget, she even emphasized that outside her window, there was a tree (like she was hinting him that he could obviously use that tree to come in whenever he wants to - which he actually did later in the film). However, at the beginning, it seemed like Lorna was the first person who took the initiative in this relationship. Well, it's understandable because Michael had a family secret to keep. It's no doubt that he couldn't take initiative at all in any new relationship because even his name was a lie.

Therefore, because Michael had the responsibility to keep the secret away from Lorna, he couldn't disclose himself to Lorna even if he wanted to. In relationships, self-disclosure between couples is very important because it contributes a sense of understanding between two people. Without self-disclosure, commitment is even harder to achieve. In the film, Lorna can be seen to want to share her everything with Michael. She was always ready to disclose herself to him but Michael struggled hard to the point that he was afraid of starting this relationship with Lorna even though he knew that he loved her. He thought he had no future and because he was always on the run with his family, he was afraid that he couldn't commit himself entirely in this relationship. For example, he wouldn't even dare to return her passionate kiss.

#5 Lastly, music and emotion

One of the things that I enjoyed the most from this film was the music. To be really specific, I really liked the scene where Annie Pope played the piano together with Danny. It was when she just found out that Danny had gone to the audition without permission and without even telling her in the first place. Of course, as a parent she was mad at the incident. But as she watched her son played the piano, it looked as if she really wanted to ask him why. Then quietly, she sat down beside him and played a melody with him. Even though both Annie and Danny didn't say anything in that scene, the music that they were playing was rather emotional and sad, as if she was asking him 'why' through the music. Even Danny felt the same thing as I did. After they were done, he turned to his mother and asked her, "what's wrong?" But as though she'd already make an important decision in her mind, she didn't answer him.

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The film ended with a cliffhanger. Arthur Pope had suddenly made the decision to let go off Danny just when they were about to flee again and Danny was just standing there waving goodbye to his family. Personally, it was a really heart breaking kind of goodbye to me. It was so brief, without any goodbye hugs and no one actually knows if Danny was going to see his family again.

Can you imagine the feelings and emotions that were going through Danny's mind?

When will be the time that he'll be able to see his family again?

Or, will his mom and dad, and his little brother be safe till the next time they meet?

What will the future without his family hold for him?

The Awakening (1990)

"People have forgotten what life is all about. They've forgotten what it is to be ALIVE," said Leonard.

Few years ago, I watched 'The Pursuit of Happiness', a film inspired by a true story of a single father, Chris Gardner who struggles in life and being homeless for nearly a year with his son. The film reminded me so much about things that I've taken for granted in life. After watching the film, I felt a sense of embarrassment of the way that I've lived. Throughout my life, I have gotten most everything I wanted so easily to the point that I never learn to appreciate them.

'The Awakening' is another brilliant film that reminded us how we have all taken our lives for granted. Being a well-functioning person, it never occur to me how it feels like to not being able to walk, to run, to talk and what's more, to be awake. We go to sleep every night thinking that we will eventually wake up tomorrow. But never have we realized that being able to wake up in the morning and be yourself again is actually a blessing. 

This film is a story about the extraordinary work of a doctor in Bronx Hospital who managed to use a drug, L-Dopa to treat a group catatonic patients. Dr. Malcolm Sayer was a new doctor who came to work at this chronic hospital. Initially, he was not used to these patients and had no hope in treating them at all. But things changed after he met Lucy, a catatonic patient who showed no response, movements or facial expressions but somehow she changed her position each time when Dr. Sayer was not looking. Apparently, she was trying to catch her glasses as they fell. Dr. Sayer then began to experiment on her with a ball which she caught onto quickly and found that she was borrowing the will of the ball in order to move. Soon after this odd encounter, Dr. Sayer found a group of patients with similar disease. They were all patients who were catatonic and suffered from encephalitis lethargica. These are patients who suffered from a horrible fate of being trapped inside their body. Some doctors said that these patients had no consciousness, as if they were dead in their own body. But Dr. Sayer believed the opposite.

When Dr Sayer successfully managed to cure one of the patients, Leonard, Leonard's experiences in the film enlightened us on how life should be lived. The awakening that Leonard had was as if his rebirth after so many years. Leonard's mother has been taking care of him since he was 20 and all these years he never talked to her or did he ever respond to her. But now that he was conscious again, Leonard saw his mother and called out to his mother for the first time after so many years. Although it was heart breaking to see Leonard discovered that he'd lost 30 years of his life to the disease and now that he was awaken, he was no longer the young boy he was, it was also good to see him being optimistic and tried to live his life from the moment. However, Leonard was not the only one accepting the change after the awakening though, his mother was too. It is possible that his mother was still treating him like a child because it seemed like it was hard for her to acknowledge that he no longer needed her by his side all the time.

One of the scenes that made an impression on my thoughts was the scene where Leonard refused to go to bed and sleep. It was as if he was afraid that he would not be able to wake up once he went to sleep. We often take things like this for granted in life but to Leonard, to be able to wake up after being trapped inside his own body for so long, it was indeed a blessing. Similarly with the scene where Leonard told the camera that it felt like a dream but he knew it was not a dream when Dr. Sayer could understand what he said. Simple things like that seemed to be a miracle for patients like Leonard. 

When Leonard had a meeting with the committees of the hospital and he was asked what was it that he wanted, he demanded the simplest thing in life - to have freedom, to be able to take a walk on his own and to live. I could still remember the words that he told Dr. Sayer, "People have forgotten what life is all about. They've forgotten what it is to be alive. They have to be reminded." Leonard had been through life experience in which he could not live normally. Sometimes, it feels as if it takes death to remind you what it feels to be alive. You will never know how good it is to be able to walk until you lose the ability to walk. Similarly, you will never know how good it is to be able to see until you lose your ability to see. 

By the end of the film, Leonard and the other patients began to lose their awakenings. It was rather sad to see the patients returning to their catatonic states as if it was a curse. The feeling of guilt and sorry that Dr. Sayer was feeling for the patient showed that he was a good doctor who tried his best of giving life to his patients (a responsibility which previous doctors have neglected) but unfortunately, lost to the fate decided by God. There was one saying by Dr. Sayer which showed how much he regretted. He told his nurse, "how kind is it to give life, only to take it away." The patients, including Leonard, too was trying their best to battle with their disease. But it was a fight that they were losing. Even though the patients did not have a chance to fully recover, their story had taught us how important it is to value our well-beings and the gift of being able to live as a healthy person.