Parked

A kind follower has requested our comments regarding that brilliant film.  Having just published a video interview on the same subject, it seems a good place to start.

Best Performances: Parked

This is an unforgettable film. I watched it on a Saturday morning well over two years ago and, still, merely thinking about it, certain images return. They are difficult and haunting and have to do with Cathal’s deterioration. Having followed Colin Morgan I have learned that he puts a lot of study into his portrayals because he says it is important to him to be genuine and authentic. And that is what we see. Colin often portrayed Cathal with his chin pulled way in … tucked into his adam’s apple. It was particularly noticeable in the swimming pool and gave his face a distorted appearance. He was very bouncy with his walk. I think it was part of portraying the hyperactivity of drug use … the jittery, never stand still quality of revved up metabolism. He does change physically, it seems, with every role so far.  He is a chameleon.

   

Subliminal Memory: It took a long time before I could watch “Parked” for the second time: Having finally done so, I was a wreck. I had cried a lot the first time through … cried for a very long time … had images in my head for weeks. This time there were huge sobs coming from deep inside, and I couldn’t stop them. They started very early with hearing Fred’s Theme. It invoked the story again … it was alive from the first chords. … my intention is to describe how this film resides within us, what a masterpiece it is … that merely hearing Fred’s theme brings it back … sadness, hope, devastation, heartbreak and all. This time, we know where the story is going … the tragedy that is waiting to befall Fred’s young friend, who has also become our young friend.

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The poetry in him, the goodness, the sensitivity, the concern for others. The brutality of his life choices.  The never-ending cycle that he could not break.

The scene with his father, the end of hope.

   

The scene on the beach , the cruelty, the loneliness … the glint of blue behind the tear filled eye.

The moments of Cathal in his coffin revealing the innocence underlying his suffering.

All these memories come back full and strong.  We cannot leave them behind.  Cathal has become more than a character in a film.  He is our child, our son, our brother.  The sense of his tragic loss, to us, to Fred, to Jules stays with us long after the curtain closes.

The second time through this film, I noticed particularly that almost every time Cathal used a drug, pot or otherwise, he laid back and looked at the sky … it was repetitive and evident … I thought it a very intentional design on the part of the screenwriter to bring us full circle to Cathal’s end … although, so subtle that I did not observe it until my second viewing. He had taken a “hit” just before the beating … perhaps this was too soon for another …. He was hurt, physically and emotionally; and, I think, his always and only answer was to escape into a world he found more peaceful and accepting. This was done with no thought of what tomorrow would bring … and perhaps the idea of tomorrow was becoming too much for him … but I do not think his intention was to die … simply to escape. I think this may be true of a lot of people who feel too hurt to allow themselves to become fully conscious of the cruelty around them. I think revealing this suffering was the intention of the writer and may have been what attracted Colin to the role.

…. And so, this beautiful boy sought relief … laid back upon the earth, and once again beheld the stars.