MovieChat Forums > The Frame (2014) Discussion > We're supposed to feel "sorry" for Alex ...

We're supposed to feel "sorry" for Alex from the very beginning...

posted 9 years ago by BCunited
1 reply | jump to latest

I had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine who just watched The Frame for the first time last night. By the end of the film, he was so moved and felt so sorry for Alex and what in his life had brought him to that point. But admitted that he didn't understand or appreciate the ending as much as he could or should have. And I think his reason why is very interesting:

He said that for most the first half of the movie, he mistook Alex's robber-lifestyle as something that was supposed to be 'cool'. And he attributed this sadly to our modern society's influence, that glorifies some truly heinous stuff. He thought Alex's gang-lifestyle was almost glorified intentionally in the film, and so by the end was confused that Alex found himself in such a secluded hell(when he had previously thought that it was the story of some cool anti-hero). Upon further reflection tho, he believes the viewer(in contrast to modern society), is actually supposed to feel sorry for Alex right from the start. And that the movie actually sends this message. That in the TV version of his life, his bad choices are glamorized as 'saints and robbers', but in reality, like most people who are doing those things in real life, he's going through hell. There is nothing glamorous or exciting or cool about Alex's life. Even the amazing chase sequences, while pleasing to the eyes, are meant to invoke Alex as running from something. He's not happy, there's not joy, nothing good. The very first scene where he's stealing the cars/trucks, is not supposed to make us go, "cool, who is this guy", it's supposed to make us think, "Wow, what happened to this guy that brought him to this". And when we feel sorry for Alex all the way through, continually asking what went wrong for him, that's when the final dramatic scene of what happened to his parents becomes all the more moving. Alex is not the hero, ever in the film, although he seems very cool at times in his robber-persona, he is actually the victim of the story, and the sooner we realize that while watching the film, the sooner we will be anticipating the backstory of his life that led him to this, and all the more powerful the ending is for us.

Thought this was very interesting insight...

[–] emvan 9 years ago

That's a great insight. I'll modify it only slightly by saying that the filmmaker probably doesn't expect us to have that kind of empathy for Alex at the outset: some viewers will think he's cool, others (like me) that he's interesting but not very admirable or likeable. The first viewing is about correcting that mistaken reaction.

Sci-fi movies that deal with metaphysical issues are often puzzle movies that do not reveal the emotional context of their characters until the end. Which of course is a lot like real life.

This movie will be a completely different experience, emotionally, on a second viewing, once you already knowing Alex's back story (which is relayed in a really terrific piece of filmmaking).

So this movie connects a truth about human interactions (our empathy for others, especially those who are in some way difficult to like, grows as we know more about them) with some truths about the way people are portrayed in movies and on TV. Any time you can address important truths about human psychology (in this case, more than one, the second being how we are trapped by our own behavioral frames) and at the same time explore a major metaphysical issue (God and free will) while commenting on the way our life stories are mirrored back to us by the media -- that's a damn smart movie.

What's really interesting is that we know that the mere facts about Alex's background are part of his TV show (Sam knows them), but knowing them doesn't create the empathy. That only happens when we experience it from the POV of Alex as a child. That has implications for the metaphor of TV-showrunner as God that I'll leave for others to explore.

Prepare your minds for a new scale of physical, scientific values, gentlemen.