A Beautiful Mind: And The Autonomy of Connection
A Beautiful Mind: And The Autonomy of Connection
“She never gets old… Marcy can't be real. She never gets old.”“Maybe Rosen is right? Maybe I have to think about going back to the hospital again?”
“No…come here…maybe try again tomorrow.”
-A Beautiful Mind (2001)
John and Alicia Nash's biographical silver screen debut is a quintessential example of the innate eloquence of cinematic visual language to help us understand and empathize. A Beautiful Mind is a film about the contradictions and connections that are defined by a mental illness that is not eradicated but accepted as part of a lifelong journey of healing. A Beautiful Mind is therefore a film about love, and its power to create avenues of separational connection. In other words. It is an autonomy, on the part of John and Alicia Nash that paradoxically brings them together rather than tears them apart.
Indeed, A Beautiful Mind is a sea of wayward contradictions as varied as the schizophrenic delusions of its biographical subject. In more ways than one these are the aspects of John Nash’s life that speak to his uniqueness as a human being, as well as his willingness to approach life in unexpected ways. John Nash's eccentricity meanwhile, is also the thematic accelerant that allows A Beautiful Mind to propel itself so wonderfully into a deeply meaningful filmic exploration of mental illness, and the autonomy it so often takes from its lifelong world-weary combatants.
If you peruse Sylvia Nasar's biographical tome on which this film is based, you come to realize that John's healing journey is not initiated by his connection with his wife Alicia, but by their separation. It is in that separation that John and Alicia begin to heal, and perhaps come to appreciate the other as other. Seeking what was ultimately best for them at that particular moment in time. This very well could have been a deciding factor in their coming back together later in life.
Where then does this real life equation fit into a film where John and Alicia are together throughout its entirety of the film? Once again, autonomy seems to be the deciding variable in this case and choice, its solution. Save for moments of narrative necessity in the film, John is always given the opportunity to choose how he wants to deal with his illness. John is not defined by his illness, but he is the one that has to live with it, and Alicia knows that innately. She cares for John of course, wanting the best for him. Though that desire to help is reflected most beautifully when John is given the opportunity to choose to heal, instead of being forced to. The film's mantra in this instance is, we heal the best when we realize its value in our life.
“I think that's what it's like with all our dreams and our nightmares Martin, you got to keep feeding for them to stay alive.”
“John, they haunt you though.”
“ Well, they're my past Martin, everybody is haunted by their past.”
-A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Rated PG-13 for intense thematic material, sexual content and a scene of violence
I found A Beautiful Mind to be visually enthralling, thought-provoking, and deeply meaningful. I hope in some way you do too.
A Beautiful Mind can be purchased on any digital video streaming service. It is also available physically on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD disc.
A Beautiful Mind won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2002 Academy Awards.
A Beautiful Mind, theatrical trailer
Comments
Post a Comment