A VERY DARK COMEDY INDEED : "LIFE DURING WARTIME"

This is another one I had serious misgivings about. Well, I had misgivings about it from the beginning actually. People who saw it before told me repeatedly and with utter conviction that the film was the most boring thing they had ever seen. “Nothing happens” they told me with a certain amount of glee “good luck with that one”. I may have enjoyed the film purely out of spite but no in all honesty, it’s a good film. It’s subtle. It’s a little too close to real life for comfort. It isn’t entirely pleasant in the topics it chooses. All in all, I can see why my colleagues called it “pointless”. For me, it is full of delicate touches and dark humor – some of it truly priceless stuff.

Families. You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. And relationships – who gets those? Life During Wartime is the story of a family. Trish is now separated from her husband Bill – a pedophile who is now in prison. She is getting ready to marry her new lover who she hopes will both make her happy and be a role model for the boys. Bill, her eldest, is off at university although he is the most traumatized by the whole event. Then there is Timmy, (who thinks his father is dead, as do the rest of the neighbors) who is preparing for his Bar Mitzvah in the middle of all this madness. Chloe, the youngest, is almost completely pickled in medication so she seems OK. Then there is Trish’s sister, Joy, bringing herself and her troubles to visit. Her husband Allen has… Problems… Then there is Helen, their other sister, who is “a writer” and who has cut all communication with the family – however Joy will search her out too… Between Timmy trying to understand whether his father is dead or alive, not to mention the exact meaning of the word “pedophile” and Joy trying to put the ghosts of her past to rest, many questions concerning forgiving, forgetting, life, sex and relationships will emerge. With mixed results.

Now , on reading the synopsis, I can quite understand if you have your doubts. I’ll address those possible doubts first. No, we are in no way made to sympathize with Bill the pedophile. He does figure in the film but the film leaves us in no doubt that what he has done is disgusting and horrible, the consequences this has is in fact kind of the point. And no, there are no “details” (the lack of details in general is in fact one of the main themes of the film).

Now for the film itself. Well, I liked the idea of dark comedy about sex. I mean, when you combine the words “sex” and “comedy” it shouldn’t necessarily equal “American Pie” (I hate the American Pie series by the way and I have been unlucky enough to be forced to watch quite a few for professional reasons so I DO know what I’m talking about). There can be a dark side to sex and dark comedy is thus born. As for including something as shocking as pedophilia (and some other stuff but I don’t want to give the plot twists away) well, one of the best ways of defeating something like that is to laugh. Maybe not “forgive and forget” as the film claims but accept and move on. But forgiveness and forgetting are discussed at length in the movie. My “comic” highlights are Trish (the multiple Emmy and Golden Globe award and nomination bedecked Allison Janney I personally remember her from JUNO but she seems to have obtained fame in a US series called The West Wing) and her interaction with her son Timmy (Dylan Riley Snyder – who should go very far indeed if this performance is anything to go by) and her new boyfriend Harvey (Michael Lerner – Oscar ® nominee for his part in Barton Fink). Joy (Shirly Henderson who I saw in “Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself” and absolutely LOVED) is the more serious half of the film but she also had her moments. Oh and there is a “remix” of “Hava nageela” (if I misspelt that please correct me) towards the end that I personally found priceless…

Yes the film is about forgiving and forgetting, yes as the director Todd Solondz says it is a “dark comedy about sex”. But the theme of the film is I think, above and beyond anything, is that if you look closely enough, you can find something truly touching and funny in the darkest corners… That’s what it made me think of anyway…