Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 17-April-11
Spoiler Rating: Low

The Old Man and the Sea (1958)

The Old Man and the Sea fits well in my series about movies based on Pulitzer Prize-winning novels* because it wears its origins on its sleeve. Much of the film involves a narrator (Spencer Tracy, who also stars) reading from Ernest Hemingway's slim book. This makes sense due to the author's stature and the sparseness of characters and action. True, a geezer sitting in a boat while a voice reads from a novel doesn't equate to the most exciting entertainment experience, yet the movie stirs basic emotions and holds one's attention with two leading questions: will the old man land a fish? And, will he make it back to shore?

The story takes place in Cuba (where, let's face it, the Celtic Tracy looks like a fish out of water). The old man lives in a village where people subsist on what they wrest from the sea. He has travelled a bit (African lions haunt his dreams), but he is ending his life in the place that has truly been home. His wife is dead and he has no children, only a young boy from the village (Felipe Pazos Jr.) who loves him and looks after him. The old man has gone almost three months without having any luck, as he puts it, in his vocation. An air of diminished possibility clings to him. In short, he can start catching fish again or die.

The viewer is drawn to the old man not just because of his vulnerability, but also because of his strength. There is still some fight left in him. This spark of energy, devoid of any hardness, is evidenced by his admiration for the rhythms of life. As Tracy narrates behind the camera and mutters to himself in front of the camera, a simple philosophy emerges which encompasses both a human being's pursuit of fish and fishes' instinct to survive. Respect permeates the picture: for the hero who isn't beaten yet, for the marlin that takes his bait (this is one tale where the fish really is thiiiiiiiiiiiis big), for the cycle of sun and moon over the ocean, and even for the sharks that stalk the old man if only because they bring out his spirit. When the old man's adventure concludes after three days at sea, the bittersweet result accords with his, and the movie's, regard for the harsh perfection of the natural world.

*See the Index by date for a list of other films in this month's series.

Copyright © 2011 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.