Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Study On Grief - Jean-Marc Vallée

Photo by Jeff Vespa/Getty ImagesDirector Jean-Marc Vallee from "Demolition" poses for a portrait during the 2015 Toronto

 A recent movie premiered at TIFF  by Canadian film maker Jean-Marc Vallée that I haven't seen. I am somewhat familiar with the other films he has written, but truthfully I haven't had the chance to see any.

I love film but I am very picky about what I choose to watch. There has to be first, an excellent script that tells a compelling story, with consummate good actors, all elements that convince me as a story or as metaphor for life.

Jean-Marc Vallée honours the script, the story telling, the actor, and what he calls the underdog, who is 'trying to find their own happiness.' More than seeing this movie, I am more curious about Jean-Marc Vallée. The his interview he gave with Shad on CBC Q really struck me, because of the subject in this movie, his description of it, and being what he says is a study on grief.

Everyone grieves in their own personal way. It may not be acceptable to others expectations who don't understand this fact. It may be easy to sit in judgement of how another copes or doesn't cope with grief. Expressing our grief through creativity can be the vehicle that helps us to connect with our feelings and artists find their own medium and way to do this.

We live in a society that is in denial about death, and we leave all that it involves at arms length. Our family values and beliefs are the antecedents to our behaviour, and society perpetuates a culture of denial around grief and death.

I believe Jean-Marc Vallée  has used his own personal experience with grief, imparting the importance of humanity, humour and humility to convey his own feelings. He gives viewers an opportunity to relate and connect to their own feelings through his art as a film maker that touches humanity through the power of story telling.

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