EAT PRAY LOVE
US, 2010, 133 minutes, Colour.
Julia Roberts, Billy Crudup, James Franco, Richard Jenkins, Javier Bardem, Viola Davis, Luca Argentero, Sophie Thompson, David Lyons, T.J. Power.
Directed by Ryan Murphy.
For the many readers who liked Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, they will know that the title refers to the twelve months that the writer took out of her life to take stock, enjoy and marvel at the world, and to come kind of self-forgiveness and acceptance. She spent four months in Rome (eat), four months in India (pray) and four months in Bali (love). For those who did not read the book, the film is an opportunity for them to accompany Liz on her geographical, psychological and spiritual journey.
What makes the film easier for many audiences is the fact that Julia Roberts plays Liz Gilbert. Twenty years ago, she was the glamorous Pretty Woman. Ten years ago, she was the feisty saviour of victims, Erin Brockovich. Now she offers a character for women in mid-life who want to take an initiative to discover their better selves. Julia Roberts, looks beautiful at all times, but harried at first, becoming more radiant and then, without make up, her older, even plainer, self. Though we are conscious that it is Julia Roberts we are watching, she does transform herself into Elisabeth Gilbert making the journey credible.
Though the film is long, the first episodes are rather hurried, too hurried to really grasp the personalities of her husband who loves her (Billy Crudup) but whom she divorces, of her younger, actor partner (James Franco). We get glimpses (and during the journey some flashbacks) of the relationships and why they failed. Viola Davis is solid as her best friend.
Then the film settles down to indulge us with the vistas of Rome and plenty of food, glorious food, Italian-style. With good friends and learning the difference between entertainment and real pleasure (Italians pointing out that this is a mistake that busy Americans make), Liz puts on the kilos with happy abandon. And, then she is in India.
At the ashram in India, Liz assumes the dress styles, the rituals, the manual work of service (yes, that is Julia Roberts scrubbing floors), the silences, the hospitality and the meditative space that leads her to a conclusion that ‘God is within me, as me’, a reflection worth some more reflection. The film captures the colours of India, even at a wedding, and should entice happy visitors to Italy to take a second look at their affluent world in comparison with the poverty and hardships of India.
There is a standout sequence in the Indian episode, a clip that could stand alone for use in seminars on alcoholism and self-improvement. The writing of the film takes off and is brought to dramatic power by the performance of Richard Jenkins.
What do you do when you have purged yourself of some spiritual ailments? Go to Bali, seek the help of a wise man and some alternative healing – and allow yourself to fall in love. That requires inner freedom, an acknowledgement of past failures but, most importantly, discovering self-forgiveness. In the beauty of Bali and with Javier Bardem on hand, it is, after many difficulties, possible.
The trouble with Eat Pray Love is that one wants to respond to the character and how she handles her journey rather than sit back and accept the film and Liz Gilbert. This is very much a First World story, the aftermath of New Age fashions and the discovery of Eastern mystic practices if not Eastern religion. Very few (very few) women can take the time, let alone afford the time and expenses for such a journey. This is the spiritual trek of a wealthy woman. While holiday and break are necessary, and Liz is introduced to some mysticism and asceticism in India, we ask, ‘to what purpose?’. By the time she has come to terms with herself and found love, we wonder what the moral bases of her life consist of, what is the nature of her integrity and the tension between some absolutes she has discovered and the relative importance of principles to be held on to or discarded.
Many men in the audience have found sharing this journey a tedious movie experience. Many women will be encouraged to follow Elizabeth Gilbert in her search in as much as their means allow them. Her story, book and film, is at least an attempt, in a pluralist world that has become even more pluralist, to attempt a search for life values.
1. The adaptation of a popular story? Audiences dissatisfied with this film version? The reasons? The intended audience, age, gender?
2. A first world story, affluent woman, no major conflicts in her life except personal, female, the issue of money, having a year off, becoming free, free choices? Reality or fantasy for the audience? The criticism that she was whining about her life?
3. The style, lush, Julia Roberts and the cast, locations, the different worlds?
4. The opening in Bali, Liz and her work, encountering the old man, his wisdom, understanding her, sympathetic, inviting her back, the promise and the return?
5. The introduction to Liz, in her forties, her work, hopes, her mother and comments about her life, her relationship, the personality of her husband, her relationship with him, the marriage failing, their lives, the clash? The separation? The effect on her husband, his grief? The discussions about separation and divorce? Liz and her social life, her friendship with Delia, the discussions with her, confiding in her, listening to advice? Going to the theatre, seeing the actor, David and his performance? The nature of the play? Avant-garde? The attraction, the age difference, their being together, different worlds, different interests, the decision to part?
6. The plan to go to Rome, the views of the city, postcard style, living in ordinary Rome, her apartment, the woman renting it, the conversations, in Italian, pizza and the importance of food? Meeting the friends, Giovanni, the relationships, sharing the experience? The Scandinavian friends? The experience of travel, going to Naples? Eating? The American learning the mistake of not distinguishing between entertainment and pleasure? The pleasure of good food?
7. India, the different culture, experience, visuals, her arrival, settling in at the ashram, the community, the personnel, the outlook on life, the different jobs and cleaning, the guru and her advice, her meeting with Richard from Texas, their talking, his life, his outpouring his life story, the drink, ruining relationships and his life? India, the possibility for change? Liz and her contemplation? Getting in touch with her real self? The nature of her prayer, discovering that God is within me, as me?
8. The return to Indonesia, to Bali, the beauty of the locations, as a place, as a way of life, style, the Indonesians themselves and their villages, way of life? Her settling in? Where she stayed? The variety of people? Returning to the old man, talking with him again, his wife, the advice? Meeting Felipe, his background, his life story, in South America, in Australia? Their outings together, sharing, communicating, falling in love, the differences, her rejection, the sense of timing? The arrival of Ian, the dalliance, his hedonism? Felipe and his son, the bond between father and son, her experiencing this bond? The son approving of Liz? The reconciliation with Felipe, love, the possibility of a future? Her learning the lesson about self-forgiveness?
9. What had Liz learnt from her experience away? What had the audience learnt? A first world story in a first world and a developing world? Her crisis irrelevant for a developing world? The depth of the film? The shallows?
