Co-editor Francesca discusses the first virtual meeting of her Spanish film club and this week’s movie: Revolutionary Road (2008). For privacy purposes, the names of participants have been changed.
The three days of debate surrounding the appropriate video calling app on which to host our weekly film club would have undoubtedly seemed bizarre, and pretty futuristic, to the characters of Revolutionary Road, based firmly within black and white television confines of Eisenhower’s America.
Revolutionary Road (2008), an adaption of Richard Yates’ classic novel, sees Kate Winselt and Leonard DiCaprio reunited post-Titanic as dreamless dreamers Frank and April Wheeler stuck in 1950s suburbia, directed by Sam Mendes of 1917 and American Beauty fame.
Frank (DiCaprio) is stuck in a job he dislikes but which pays well, while April falls further and further into despair as an unfulfilled housewife, having given up on her career as an actress.
After an argument, April proposes “their last chance,” to escape the life they always deemed themselves separate from, above: flee to Paris. April could support them while Frank discovers his true calling.
We watch the excitement of the dream reawaken their passion and repair the past damage of their relationship, while being painfully aware of the inevitable: They will not go to Paris.
Here lies the first big question of the evening:
Would Paris have saved April and Frank? Or was their relationship doomed?
Terry, a sharp-minded American professor thinks it would have. “It could have been New York, or Athens, but they needed something drastic. They needed a change.”
Straight-talking Maria, a young professional from Galicia, disagrees. Nope, she replies. Paris is a distraction, running away from their problems, which lie with their lack of determination. Which brings us onto Frank. Why did he change his mind?
My guess, having recently read an imagined memoir of Laura Bush (for my book club, of course), is that it was about ensuring a legacy. This was a big deal to men during this time, and frequently Frank is bothered by the question of if he is “man enough,” a question used often by those around him to achieve their own ends.
Elena, a teacher from Galicia rarely without a smile on her face, meanwhile, is convinced that he never really wanted to.
Or, as our facilitator Max suggests, is it plain cowardice?
Switzerland-born architect Javi thinks we are too harsh on him. If he had to side with someone, it would be him. Frank is simply trying to be sensible, given April’s unexpected pregnancy.
Definitely women were not given a very favourable portrayal.
Whereas Michael Shannon portrays the (slightly cliched) character of the clinically insane man who is the only one to see the true insanity of their society, his mother is incredibly annoying and seemingly perfectly suited to the way of life. Similarly in their only friend couple, the wife is empty-headed and constantly smiling in public.
We discuss the position of women at the time, and how it would’ve been so hard for April to be trapped by having children.
Here, we can draw parallels to Marriage Story (2019), the movie choice of a previous month, where Scarlett Johanson’s character is able to escape her own situation. Both have become trapped in a marriage where their husband’s dreams are more important than their own.
But April has always been too repressed to be able to fully state hers. Even when she frames the ideal of Paris, it is as something which will fulfill Frank, allowing him to actualise his own potential. Nor does she have any chance of being able to make a life on her own.
A perspective is raised I hadn’t considered, but once stated rings true: Frank does not truly love April so much as the great man, so above the boring conformity of the life around them, she reflects back at him.
And so, her self-abortion that goes wrong. Was it suicide?
It was a symbolic suicide, says Terry. April already felt dead to the life that she was leading; she had nothing left.
We come away agreeing that it was ultimately the tale of two people who manipulate each other, perhaps unwittingly, because they don’t know how to communicate their deepest feelings; and that Kate Winslet’s acting was phenomenal.
I am left with my head buzzing with questions beyond just the film itself. What does it mean to live a good life, a fulfilling life? How easy is it to fall into what we have always seen as not for us? And what opportunities do I have which would have been a distant dream to April?
Film Club allows me to appreciate film on a deeper level than I did even while working at an independent cinema. I come away feeling in awe of the thoughtfulness of my fellow film-lovers, and with the satisfying notion that I, too, have some thoughts that are worth being listened to.
Two hours later, Javi says, “I miss seeing you all in person, but this was one of the most enjoyable evenings I’ve had since quarantine began.”
Afterwards, we exchange messages on the group WhatsApp about how much we enjoyed it and enjoyed hearing each other's thoughts. It reminds me of how true community extends much further than we sometimes think.
Perhaps, we muse, April and Frank simply did not make enough effort to enjoy their lives and find something interesting in it. Maybe for starters they could’ve joined a film club.