Review of the movie : The Whale

Review: The Whale

        I saw this movie yesterday and I cannot stop to think about it so I am going to write about it, like a review. (I’m going to ask myself some questions because if I do not do that I will certainly talk about the movie for more than 6 pages.)

It’s probably the most moving movie I have ever watched – I have never cried so much in front of a movie. It is special because there are just 5 characters (6 if we count the delivery boy) and the whole movie takes place in Charlie’s house.

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1- Sum up the movie.

2- Present some characters.

3- Give your general opinion (and justify it).

4- Explain the things you enjoyed and the things you did not like.

5- Pick one scene in the movie that got your attention. Describe the scene and explain why you chose it.

        1) Nine years ago, Charlie abandoned his wife and his 8 years old girl because he fell in love with one of his students, Alan.

Alan died so Charlie has taken refuge in food and now he is an online English teacher who lives alone, he never goes out of his apartment and his only social interaction (without counting his students) is a nurse, who is also his friend, who cares for him, and buys him food. Oh and I have forgotten the most essential thing: Charlie is fat.

Charlie is very fat, so much that he will die at the end of the week if he doesn’t go to the hospital. As he will die soon, he wants to contact his daughter and during the movie he will try to reconnect with her.

At the beginning of the movie we are on Monday and we see the days go by, wondering if he will go to the hospital or if he will die. Thoughtlessly I knew he will die but I feel I kept continuing to hope because I gradually became attached to him.

        2)  Charlie: My feeling for the main character is really particular because he is quite disgusting, I mean the way he eats is disgusting. All is done to make this character repulsive. Seeing him / To see him? eating two pizzas while he knows it is killing him was complicated and sometimes I just did not understand why he imposed that on himself.

However Charlie is very kind and endearing. He really love writing and English, and he looks to be an amazing English teacher because what he says to his students is so honest and deep, he tells them to write with their heart and to be sincere in their essays.

When his daughter asked him why he have never try to contact her during 9 years he sadly said: "Who would want me to be a part of their life?" 

In fact, for a person who has not seen the movie, he could seem as someone who wants to draw attention and pity but it is clearly not the case. He is just a sad man who think he has ruined his life. I won’t expand on it but I feel that Charlie act as a people pleaser with his daughter and it makes him fragile and more touching.

Ellie (the daughter): It is the character who surprised me the most because, after having seen the trailer, I truly did not imagine her like that.

Throughout most of the movie I could not tell if she was good or bad because she told awful and hurting things to her father (she literally said him to die), and at first she took advantage from him because she did not want to see him and when he proposed her to do her homework and to give her all his savings in exchange she instantly accepted to see him. Even if it can be understandable because he had abandoned her, I was sad for him to see that the person who count the most for him does not care about him.

But in fact I think the more the time passes the more she loves her dad, she doesn’t want to admit it though. She tries to hide it, maybe because she thinks he does not deserve her love after having left her for 9 years. Ellie represents the delicate adolescent who is lost in his/her/their life and hates everyone (however I do not think she hates everyone, she is just scared and it is easier for her to say horrible things rather than lovely things).

Liz, the nurse and friend: I guess it is the character that I would have liked to meet the most. She is human, sensitive and attentive. We learned during the movie that she was the sister of Charlie’s boyfriend, it is as if she wanted to protect Charlie the way that she did not succeed to protect her brother or as if she wanted to stay with someone who reminds her his brother I don’t know...

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