MovieChat Forums > 51 Birch Street (2006) Discussion > Thought provoking *Spoilers*

Thought provoking *Spoilers*


I started watching the film and wondered "What sort of man marries someone else when his wife is barely cold in the ground?"

By the end my heart was a little sadder and my soul much wiser.

It was a fantastic, and beautifully candid, piece of film making.

I really hope that by the end Doug realised (and I hope feels) that his father, Mike, really did/does love him, and was very proud of him.

The thought this has left me with is - At what point do you call your failing relationship quits?

Mike and Mina's relationship appeared to be incredibly complex with Mina's affairs of the heart, and the mind, being a hugely impactive factor on the overall tone of the relationship.

From it outside looking in it appeared that Mike spent 54 years doing what was right by his wife and his family regardless of his own feelings.

It proves that you cannot judge withoughout the facts, and in fact should not judge at all.



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Very good points. This is a remarkably even-handed documentary from someone who at first seemed to close to the subject to be objective.

No, we shouldn't judge, but it's hard to watch an intensely personal film like this without forming opinions of the subjects.

Mike at first comes across as a villain, but by the end, he redeems himself with his honesty. It was a bad marriage for both parties, and it lasted for 54 years.

The saddest thing is that Mina never found true love, while Mike did at the end (if not earlier). I gathered that Mina's affairs were more than "of the heart" and "of the mind," though.

I especially found touching when the filmmaker asks Mina's sister whether she would want her diaries revealed, and this was a turning point in my appreciation of the film. Mina was a lonely soul who wanted to be understood, and now she has received her wish.

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Mike at first comes across as a villain


How often, though, have we seen the typical fifties dad villified? Not one of Mike's children thanked him for anything he had done for them. The poor guy comes back from WWII (which he never talks about) and proceeds to make a nice life for his wife and 3 children on Long Island. His wife doesn't work, but Mike enjoys his work very much and is happy to provide for his family.

Would it have killed any of his kids to step back and see what Mike provided for them as a family? A nice safe suburban home, annual vacations, pretty much anything they wanted by the looks of it. No, each one of Mike's kids wallowed in self-pity a fair bit and then were miffed that the poor schmuck finally finds happiness at age 83!

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I agree completely. Initially I thought he was heartless for moving on so quickly but in reality, he just stuck with his marriage and as they said in the movie, he got his happy ending later in life

Do guys like "the thing"?
They like it better than no thing.

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