Christian Ethics and the Movies
Aging
Is Anybody There? (2009)
Reviewed by David A. Thomas, Prof. of Rhetoric, Emeritus, University of Richmond[1]
The Movie. Is Anybody There? is a small independent British movie about a kid and a curmudgeon. It is a vehicle for a powerful meditation on dying, and on living as fully as possible as one’s aging mind and body begin to decline. The cast features a good number of octogenarian British TV stars from bygone years in small supporting roles. Michael Caine, the headliner, said that he would never have taken a role in an independent film such as this, for scale wages. However, he rationalized, Is Anybody There? is the only script that ever made him cry, so he could not resist it.
The story is set in a seaside hamlet in 1980s England. The plot involves eleven-year old Edward (Bill Milner) who is the only child in his parent’s boarding house for the aged. His fortyish mother works hard at making a go of the business. His father is suffering from midlife crisis, exemplified by his infatuation with their eighteen-year old nurse’s aide, who is the only remotely medical staff member on the premises. She’s in the story mainly to give the plot some complications.
Enter The Amazing Clarence Parkinson (Caine), a long-retired magician, involuntarily placed in the home by the government. He needs more help than he realizes. Clarence shows clear signs of dementia. His driving is a public menace.
After years of total independence, he resents being told what to do by strangers. He is plagued with guilt because he never got to make amends for a lifetime of regrets, clinging to him “like old bruises,” especially his many careless infidelities to his long-dead wife. Now, he realizes, it is too late.
Young Edward is also angry, because he is forced to grow up among all those eccentric old people, as the only child on the premises. Edward’s bed is stuck away in an attic dormer window cubbyhole because his own bedroom keeps getting assigned to each new aged client, of whom The Amazing Clarence is merely the latest one. The kid and the curmudgeon exhibit an immediate dislike towards each other.
Edward responds to his unwilling immersion among the senile by cultivating an obsessive curiosity about what happens when people die. In the course of events, some boarders do occasionally die, with Edward closely watching. He also seeks out TV programs about séances and the occult for clues. He quizzes everyone in sight about his or her view of the afterlife. “Not so very different from my life here,” grumps his frustrated Dad.
Whenever one of the boarders seems about ready to die, Edward hides his tape recorder under the bed to capture their final words, if any, or at least their last dying breath. He keeps a journal about his investigations, always concluding, “No manafestation [sic] today.” He reports his findings in school during show-and-tell.
One day, when Clarence decides to chuck it all in and gas himself in his clunker magic-mobile, it is little Edward who discovers the old man slumped unconscious behind the wheel, just in the nick of time. At first, Clarence is PO’ed with Edward for saving his life. But he comes to his senses a little, and begins to reach out to Edward. He teaches Edward a simple card trick. In return, Edward takes Clarence on an outing to the local cemetery to help him call forth some ghosts. When Edward asks about reincarnation, Clarence opines, “I’d like to come back as an animal, like a rabbit or a badger. A badger looks good but has a nasty bite.”
Gradually, over the next few months, these two intergenerational odd fellows disclose more of their true feelings to each other. By looking beyond his own miseries, Clarence notices Edward’s loneliness, as Edward has assuaged his own loneliness. Clarence suggests to the boy’s parents that they throw him a birthday party at which he, The Amazing Clarence, will perform his magic show.
Meanwhile, Edward, the snooper, roots around among Clarence’s things, and finds Clarence’s carelessly saved memorial program for Anna, his late beloved ex-wife. Edward remembers that Clarence had said that he was only notified about Anna’s death too late for him to attend her funeral. So, as a surprise, Clarence swipes some money from his Mum’s stash in the cupboard, and treats the old doddering, all-but-demented Clarence to a pleasant train ride out to visit Anna’s gravesite for the first time. I can’t reveal more about the story without ruining more delicious surprises, especially the parts that made Michael Caine, the person, cry when he first read the script.
What’s It All About? This is a redemption movie for everyone concerned. What Clarence most needs is a sense of closure, and better, a sure knowledge that he can experience forgiveness for his past misdeeds. Edward, on the other hand, needs to learn the trick of “joining hands and reaching out to communicate with the living” instead of looking for ghosts. Mum and Dad, also, start to work on their marital difficulties, after a bumpy episode when Edward tattles to Mom about Dad’s secret silly shenanigans with the young nurse’s aide.
As to the real question in the movie, “Is there anybody there?” after death, let’s just say that this is a British movie. The only religious character is the local vicar, appearing in a bit part during a newly deceased boarder’s wake. One of the boozy codgers tells him a naughty joke; thus the parson (and by extension, the church) is gently ribbed. No spiritual thoughts about life after death are to be found here—unless you consider a couple of mystical moments in which Edward does encounter, inexplicably, a clear “manafestation” from beyond. Note, only the child sees them.
The real question implied in the title is, when we consider the elderly, do we treat them as if they are really there? This is a question for our society in general, and for he church in particular. Yes, the movie is about death and dying, somewhat; but it is mostly about learning to live more fully, however old you are.
Sir Michael Caine is, by his own account, a skilled character actor who claims over 140 credits in movies and TV, and still counting. He has won two Oscars out of six nominations. Out of all of his appearances, he reckons that he succeeded in “disappearing” into a role perhaps three times. Is Anybody There? is one of those rare magical moments.
