Oh, the heart beats in its cage ⚓

artliesandcoco:

365 Movie Challenge | 034 | The United States of Leland (2003) | January 15, 2012

Tells the story of a young man’s experience in a juvenile detention center that touches on the tumultuous changes that befall his family and the community in which he lives.

“Leland: The worst part is knowing that there is goodness in people. Mostly it stays deep down and buried. Maybe we don’t have God because we’re scared of the bad stuff. Maybe we’re really scared of the good stuff. Because if there’s no God, well, that means it’s inside of us and we could be good all the time if we wanted. So when we do bad things, it’d be because we want to or because we have to. Or maybe we just need the bad stuff to remind us what the good stuff is in the first place.”

“Leland: I think there are two ways you can see the world. You either see the sadness that’s behind everything or you choose to keep it all out.”

“Leland: It covers my eyes. It’s all I can see. Say there’s some kids playing baseball. All I see is the one kid they won’t let play because he tells corny jokes. And no-one thinks they’re funny. Or I see a boy and a girl in love and kissing, you know. I just see that they’re gonna be one of those sad old couples one day who just cheats on each other and can’t even look at each other in the eye. And I feel it. I feel all of their sadness. I feel it probably even worse than that sad old couple or that corny kid will ever feel it.”

“Leland: And that’s when I figured out that tears couldn’t make somebody who was dead alive again. There’s another thing to learn about tears, they can’t make somebody who doesn’t love you any more love you again. It’s the same with prayers. I wonder how much of their lives people waste crying and praying to God. If you ask me, the devil makes more sense than God does. I can at least see why people would want him around. It’s good to have somebody to blame for the bad stuff they do. Maybe God’s there because people get scared of all the bad stuff they do. They figure that God and the Devil are always playing this game of tug-of-war game with them. And they never know which side they’re gonna wind up on. I guess that tug-of-war idea explains how sometimes, even when people try to do something good, it still turns out bad.”

“Pearl Madison: I’m only human, man. Leland: It’s funny how people only say that after they do something bad. I mean, you never hear someone say, “I’m only human” after they rescue a kid from a burning building.”

This is such a heartbreaking story. It’s the type of movie that stays with you, there’s no getting away from the way it makes you feel about your own life and human existence/experience in general. Absolutely brilliant performance by Gosling, great script, just perfection.

★★★★★ | Watch | IMDB | MUBI | Director: Matthew Ryan Hoge