The name Limbo evokes the Christian mythological place,
neither heaven nor hell, where unbaptized souls spend eternity. It is also a place of
uncertainty and ambivalence. Salyes’s Limbo explores the emotional and moral
quandaries of lost souls seeking redemption in relationships tinged with trouble and
taboo. As usual, part of the journey bridges the gulf created by inter-generational
dysfunction.
The setting plays a pivotal role in
the way this movie interlaces into our consciousness. The movie opens in a small town
world in Alaska, full of individuals who are living on the edge of despair caused in part
by economic uncertainty and working class resentment and in part because
they have chosen to retreat to or stay in a bleak frontier. It is perhaps closer to hell than
heaven, but not neither really, as it is grindingly, ironically real.
In this world, Joe (David Strathairn),
a lifetime resident, lives resigned to isolation in late middle-aged bachelorhood. He has
been married but has no children. He plods in a world of part-time jobs, books, and
recorded music. He lost his chance to be a contender on the basketball court when, after
stellar high school performance, his knees blew out before he could cash in on an athletic
scholarship. He is also haunted by the belief that, while drunk and asleep, he was
responsible for a fishing boat sinking that killed two friends.
Joe can’t play ball, he refuses
to fish, and his perspective is unhopeful and taciturn. We meet him as he delivers booze
and wine to a wedding party held by town dignitaries, really buffoonish investors and
political hacks.
Teenage Noelle (Vanessa Martinez)
serves hors d’oeuvres at the party in an ill-fitting sailor jacket, a price she pays
for her iron willed commitment to establish independence by earning her own
money. She has a secret crush on Joe,
though such does not soften her bitter cynicism bubbling from resentment toward her
man-hopping mother, the singer at the party.
Noelle’s mother Donna (Mary
Elizabeth Mastrantonio) ends her wedding gig by breaking up with the band’s leader,
much to his surprise and her daughter’s shock. She begs a ride to town from Joe.
Slowly, we learn of the nuances of
these three and the world they inhabit. As Joe’s confidence increases in the bloom of
the love between Donna and him, he goes fishing on behalf of a lesbian couple who got
their boat from a nearly bankrupt town blow hard. This description just hints at the
richness and interest of the supporting characters.
For those of you who do
not like movies that develop slowly with descriptive, involving, and ironic dialog rather
than action, you’d better choose another movie. However, this kind of meandering in
and out of the past, present, and dreams in a desolate world populated by interesting,
even quirky characters who talk their pain is Salyes’s strength and what makes this
movie well worth seeing.
SPOILER
Into this world of unfolding
romance and hope enters Joe’s hustling half-brother. Unknowing of the danger, the
threesome end up on the brother’s sailing yacht and then suddenly stranded on an
isolated island, chased by armed men bent on killing them.
Joe,
Donna, and Noelle are faced with a survival struggle not just for immediate food and
shelter, but for a way off the island. Otherwise, they will freeze and starve in the
approaching winter.
With these pressures, their characters
take a deeper turn into their strengths as well as their weaknesses. Joe, though dour and
brutally realistic, proves that he knows the wilderness and will sacrifice his comfort and
even survival to save the two women. Donna, though frustrated, holds her optimism and
proves the depth of her love for her daughter even though imperfect to the end.
Noelle creates a story full of
pain and despair from the nearly empty diary of a girl who used to reside in the cabin they now
inhabit. The story grows into a powerful explication of Noelle’s state of soul,
inviting deepening love and understanding from both the adults.
The source of possible rescue comes in
a rickety plane flown by a bush pilot (Kris Kristofferson) who is employed by the thugs
that were hunting the trio. Joe is uncertain if he will return with a larger plane to take
them out or with the armed men who will rub them out. Maybe the pilot will just leave them
there for after all, the pilot’s younger brother was killed in Joe’s boating
mishap.
At the end, while Donna, Joe, and
Noelle watch the approaching of a larger plane, the screen goes blank. We are left
hanging.
Let’s discuss a bit more what
this movie meant to us and how it may be viewed as a metaphor for understanding our lives.
First, Craig
was incensed with the
ending, muttering that this was just pretentious art house crap. Why would Sayles leave a
critical resolution so abruptly unresolved? Anna-Maria, however, intervened with a suggestion
or two about the movie and its impact on her that refocused the discussion.
Obviously, Sayles is not dealing with
the mythical after death place between heaven and hell. If the life of these characters
was a kind of hell spiraling downward, they need to make a decision to radically alter
their perspectives in order to find their better selves.
Let’s look at their names for a
moment. We have Joe, short for Joseph. We have Donna de Angelo, which evokes Madonna of
the Angels, Mary. We have Noelle de Angelo, often sung at Christmas to signify new birth
in Christ Jesus, in this case a daughter.
They are certainly not the Biblical
Holy Family, but they do illustrate how they may choose their own redemption and rebirth.
The limbo of their lives presents them with a final choice; to face their fate as a
family, whether they live or die, or to continue hiding in isolation as individuals and
slowly whither away. Donna leads them all out, and they watch the plane approach enwrapped
in each others arms.
Perhaps that is, in Sayles’s
view, as close to heaven as we can get. We all live or die in a kind of limbo. What is
ultimately important is taking our stand with those we love imperfectly against the fates,
our world, and the forces that would drag us down.
We thank John Sayles for his writing,
his insight, his bold and subtle direction, and we thank the principal actors for the
unforgettable expressions of vulnerability and heroism.
Send us your comments!
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