In America

+++Spoilers Below+++
Time enough for hard questions
Time enough for all our fears
Time is tougher than we both know yet
Time enough for tears

Time enough for being braver
Time enough I love this time of year,
Time is tough, its running away from us,
Time enough for tears

(Time Enough for Tears – written by Gavin Friday, and Bono, from the In America Soundtrack – performed by Andrea Corr)

In America beautifully and movingly translates the experience of grief to screen, Johnny and Sarah with their two kids, move from Ireland, through Canada, into America, they are clearly struggling with the loss of their son, who died in tragic circumstances.

We see that as they cross the border into America, we see that as they try to settle in to a new apartment. We see that Johnny is unable to get work as an actor, because he cannot feel - He cannot act, even for his kids.

As he cannot feel it makes sense that it is through the eyes of the children, the eyes of Christy, and her camcorder, we hear and see the story be told. The children also struggle in their own way, seeing America as a new beginning, a new playground. A playground stained by pain, a pain, they try to distract their parents from.

As they explore their new home, an apartment block, filled with junkies and other social outcasts, hope comes, through knocking on a door. The two kids Christy and Ariel at Halloween knock on the door of the man who screams, a recluse, with his own story, and his own grief.

Matteo (the man who screams) is a painter, who is dealing with the knowledge he is dying. There’s a natural bond between the family who is dying, with life, and the man who would love to live but instead deals with the reality of his imminent death. He offers the family faith; he is the catalyst to awaken them from their grief. And as he dies, we see their new child be born.

The relationships are real. The grief is clear. We do see both parents show their grief, for Sarah, who cannot look into Johnny’s eyes for they remind her of Frankie. Johnny, after a night at the fair, starts playing a game with the kids, and then as he realises he is looking for Frankie he stops, as he stops his wife urges him to continue playing for the sake of the kids.

We too feel the loss of Frankie. And the kids feeling the loss of their parents is highlighted by the scene in Heaven (an Ice Cream parlour), were Ariel says – you don’t play with us as you used to.

Another standout moment is when Christy (Sarah Bolger) sings Desperado. She has a beautiful voice. And that song speaks her heart. Christy later admits that she lost something, and has been holding the family together.

The last scene is one that stays in my mind, we see Christy, turn off her camcorder, and tell us, this is not how she wants to remember her brother; she wants to remember his face, and she asks if he can see her.

I don’t think I’ve been as moved by a film in a long time. The story engages with you, at times, you feel like you are watching someone else’s home movies. The acting of Sarah and Emma Bolger is also brilliant, it is so natural, and the natural joy, naivety, and at times maturity Sarah and Emma bring add to the films impact.