Saturday, March 14, 2009

Seven Pounds: Who deserves to live?



"In seven days, God created the world; and in seven seconds, I shattered mine!"


Seven…that sacred number in all cultures and religions..is that whole story is all about!


Seven people he killed…Seven people he will save!


Does this make him a god ?


The whole idea of the movie is that Ben is after very particular people (7 exactly) whom he's very keen to help…even if that help meant to donate money, his own house, or his own organs..his own life!


The hero is seeking salvation, paying for the sin he committed, killing his own wife, along others in a road accident! 7 died..and his soul died with them then! You don't know what's his job, you don't need to know anything..but that he pops into people's life now..to help them! He changes Destiny of other people..giving them an opportunity to cherish life..rather than those who died..because of him!


When the famous Jigsaw hero of the Violent scary movie series, SAW, decided to play a game with those who did not appreciate life, he played by his own rules…and wanted to see who'd really deserve a second chance to live!! Cruel as it may seem, Jigsaw appointed himself a god for controlling the lives of those people, killing those who did not deserve it, and saving those who'd appreciate cherishing life!


The analogy is there in a way or another, but rather in a more merciful way… Ben pops in the lives of 7 people, to see if they deserve it..he picks them deliberately..and decides to help..by literally all he's got!

Who deserves to live..is the question! Ben or his brother Tim..the one who has family...and children, but ill...or the one who's healthy and a murderer , no life, no home? Who deserves to live... the lovely girl who wants to have a good heart and can run..and live life fully, or the one whose heart died in the accident and is left with a pumping heart that forces him to live? Who deserves to live the coach who is loved by all his team and is quite decent with teenagers but suffering from kidney disfunctioning, or the one who crashed lives already?! ..and the list goes on and on and on... But Ben has already made up his mind that he is not the one who deserves to live..and he should carry on his mission of changing others' lives!


He knew quite well that his life has ended in the day of the accident..and now he's just a walking healthy corpse..and he decided to give it away as well! He picks them..according to his own whims if they deserve it or not..if they are good people or not! He refuses to help..or stretches a hand…! He wants to have the full control..to change the destiny of those ones, as a redemption for those he killed…or who in the same terms their destinies have changed to the worse – or may be to the best- by their death!


But this idea of having control…he decided when to take his life off…when to die..when to end his own life..and when to order his friend to take action for the heart transplant…!! He feels the power of having control over lives..his and others!!


But despite all, there remains the question…apart from anything..are you really willing to give away organs of your body…upon your death? Can you donate your eyes, liver, kidney, lungs,..and even a heart?! This is quite controversial…but highly moral as well!


Are you willing to give away your heart..to plant it in someone else's chest?! Both literally and figuratively?


Do you know that with no knives you can give away your heart…and this is even could be harder..that your heart pumps for someone else…?! How beautiful.. and… hard as well it is!


The movie sets Ben as a godlike indeed…having control of destinies…! You neither hate him, nor sympathise with him…you just ponder at his doings!


But the movie also wickedly raises the controversial moral issue of donating organs…how far can you go for donating your organs..upon life..and upon death?! Do you believe in it? Will you give someone a chance to have eyesight once more? Can you help a man to breathe properly with your lungs? Will you have a girl with a heart of yours pumping life into her….both her life and yours?


Artistically speaking, Will Smith indeed did a great job, his reactions, facial expressions and his delayed surprise for the audience …were simply amazing!! The painful way of his suicide he chose as a catharsis for his sins..he wants to pay back for all what he did…! But though he crashed his life in 7 seconds… he created 7 stories to live forever!

The soundtrack and choice of songs were definitely amazing and of perfect timing! Best scenes were: when he was with Emily in the meadow, the scene of his death with the final revelation of what happened in his past life; also the scene of Emily listening to his heart beats in her body, and meeting Ezra then…the eyes do recognize the loving heart after all!!


Finally, the technique of revealing what has happened in flashbacks..is not new..for it's the exact way that was in Mel Gibson's Signs before…till at the climax you see the crashing point of the past! It's quite an intense moment for the spectator !


And as he said…" Live Life Abundantly"

2 comments:

محمود سعيد said...

على الرغم إنى أعجبت بفكرة الفيلم وقصته ومستوى التمثيل والإخراج

إلا إنى كرهته لأن هذا البطل وما هو ببطل تخلى عن الحياة وهى نعمة عظمى .. ليوزعها كنعم صغيرة على آخرين .. بل واختار واختبر من سينعم عليهم بمقايسه

وبالمناسبة عند اليهود والنصارى خلق الله الكون فى ستة أيام وأستراح فى اليوم السابع

وعند المسلمين خلق الله الكون فى ستة أيام وما أصابه تعب

Nour said...

A great critique as always ya Goog!
However, I do have one comment: Ben did NOT have FULL control. If you can remember, before deciding upon killing himself, he went to ask the doctor if there was any chance that Emily might get a donor (other than him). He wanted to share life with her, and if there was such a possibility, he definitely wouldn't have killed himself.

No one is ever in FULL control of their life. No one.