by SallyLightfoot » Tue Oct 23, 2007 12:33 pm
Warning-- Jacob's Ladder: spoilers ahead
In one of my favorite movies, Jacob's Ladder, while doctors try to save Jacob's life on a battlefield operating table in Viet Nam, his brain's misfiring synapses ricochet between a fantasy version of his life and the unbearable grief of his real one*. In his waning stream of consciousness, he returns home in the wee hours of the morning to find the house dark and still, the family asleep upstairs. When Jacob approaches the staircase leading to the bedrooms above, he is greeted by the vision of his young deceased son, Gabriel, a loss which the family never recovered. Sobbing, Jacob embraces his son. The boy comforts his Dad, and tugging his father's hand, the boy says "C'mon Dad." They ascend up the stairs, into the brightness of a dawning day.
This scene gets me every time. If you have young kids, I think, this scene resonates very powerfully.
The scene seamlessly cuts to the bright light of the operating table. Jacob's heart has stopped beating. His life has finally departed his body, and the doctors record the time of death and retrieve his dog-tag id from his neck.
Juxtaposed with the previous scene, it is a jarring, devastating end to the film. It leaves you reeling. In all, it's a great, great movie-- one of my favorites, directed by Adrian Lynne.
*Main theme of the movie as described by one of the characters: "If you're frightened of dying, you'll see devils tearing you apart. If you've made your peace, then they're really angels freeing you from the world.
Great movie.