The Loneliness of Two People Depicted in the Movie 'A Perfect World'
Memories from childhood are mysterious.
Even though I forget the small details, the feelings of 'I wanted you to do this for me back then' strangely remain.
I wanted you to praise me more.
I wanted you to play with me.
I wanted you to listen to me.
Perhaps the feeling of 'I want you to see me' that lay behind the toys I wanted lasts much longer than the toys themselves.
Whenever I watch the movie 'A Perfect World', I always think about things like that.
A road movie about an escaped convict and a young boy.
Looking at the words alone, it sounds like a pretty dangerous story (laughs).
But the core of this movie is not the crime.
A man who couldn't quite grow up and a boy who couldn't live like a child.
It is a story about those two people who happened to end up in the same car.
◆ Synopsis
1963, Texas, USA.
Butch Haynes, who escaped from prison, takes a boy named Phillip hostage during his flight.
Butch is played by Kevin Costner.
On the other hand, Phillip is a boy raised in a strict home environment.
He has had little experience with the games and events that children his age normally enjoy.
Naturally, the two start out as 'criminal and hostage'.
However, as they continue their escape by car, that relationship gradually begins to change.
They eat together.
They talk about trivial things.
Butch joins Philip in doing things he had always wanted to try.
As these small moments accumulate, a strange sense of trust begins to grow between them.
And pursuing them is Red Garnett, a Texas Ranger played by Clint Eastwood.
He, too, does not see Butch merely as an escaped convict.
The pursuer and the pursued.
And the boy traveling with them.
As their relationship becomes clearer, this film evolves into something more than a simple escape drama.
From this point on, it is a movie better watched without knowing what happens next.
Please watch the film to see where the journey of Butch and Philip leads.
What stays with me most about this film is the way Butch treats Philip.
Butch is not a model adult.
To begin with, he is a criminal.
I cannot condone what he has done.
But when Philip says he wants to try something, Butch does not dismiss it out of hand.
He doesn't say, 'No, because you're a child.'
He doesn't say, 'No, because it's dangerous.'
He doesn't suppress him so easily like that.
It seems as though Butch's own childhood is reflected in that.
Things that were not done for me.
Things that I wanted.
I want to give those things to the boy in front of me.
I feel like that kind of sentiment is present.
Perhaps people cannot completely discard their former child selves just because they have become adults.
Rather, they carry that child with them in their hearts forever.
That is why, when seeing someone else's child, one might be reminded of their own past, or in the moment of being treated kindly by someone, the loneliness of the past can be healed along with the present.
Butch and Phillip are completely different in age and status.
However, in the sense that they both carry an 'unfulfilled child' within their hearts, they are somewhat similar.
That is perhaps why they connect in such a mysterious way.
And the title 'A Perfect World' is also interesting.
The world within the movie is not perfect at all.
The family.
The society.
The adults.
No one is perfect.
Yet the title is 'A Perfect World'.
I feel that this phrase does not mean 'a world without any problems'.
Even if just for a fleeting moment,
'I wish this time would last forever.'
A place where you can feel that way.
A time when you can be yourself without being rejected.
The moment you finally get what you wanted when you were a child.
That might be what a perfect world is to that person.
I don't think growing up means graduating from being a child.
It means moving forward while still keeping your former self somewhere in your heart.
And it also means being able to give someone else what you didn't receive when you were a child.
It might be a kind word.
It might be time spent together.
It might be a simple phrase like, "Give it a try."
Watching 'A Perfect World' makes me think about things like that.
There is probably no such thing as a perfect world.
But perhaps we can create a "slightly perfect time" for someone else.
Thank you for reading until the end.☺️
◆ Film Introduction
Title: A Perfect World
Original Title: A Perfect World
Release Year: 1993
Country of Production: USA
Genre: Crime/Drama/Road Movie
Runtime: 138 minutes
Director: Clint Eastwood
Main Cast:
Kevin Costner
Clint Eastwood
Laura Dern
T.J. Lowther
Recommended for those who:
・Want to savor human drama over spectacle
・Like road movies
・Enjoy works that make you think about parent-child relationships or childhood
・Like movies that depict characters who cannot be simply divided into good and evil