Love and death in the film The Fault in Our Stars (2014): plot summary, essence, meaning of the film, explanation of the ending, similar dramas.
Genre: drama, melodrama, adaptation
Year of production: 2014
Directed by: Josh Boon
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Laura Dern
tagline: “The story that won millions of women’s hearts”
Awards and nominations: In 2015, the picture received 3 Mtv channel awards.
Josh Boone’s film is based on John Green’s bestseller of the same name. The plot of the film “The Fault in Our Stars” tells the story of two teenagers with cancer who managed to overcome the fear of death. This simple but touching story, reminding us how important and valuable life is, helps us understand that all our everyday problems are just little things. The only thing a person really needs is faith, hope and love.
What is the movie about
Brief description of the content of the film “The Fault in Our Stars”. A girl named Hazel has been sick with thyroid cancer since she was 13. She had to go through a lot of procedures and undergo chemotherapy. Soon the treatment stopped working, but eventually the doctors found a new drug. Thanks to him, Hazel survived and slowly began to recover. However, everything experienced left an imprint on the girl – she developed depression and the doctor advised her to start going to a support group.
Shailene Woodley as Hazel, Ansel Elgort as Augustus Waters. Frame from the film.
Hazel was reluctant to study, but she didn’t want to upset her parents, so she ends up attending a studio called the Jesus Section. Its leader Patrick suffers from testicular cancer, but this does not prevent him from infecting the group with inexhaustible optimism.
However, Hazel does not like all this and one day, having left the studio in annoyance, she runs into a tall, handsome young man – Augustus (Gus). The guy came to support a friend, Isaac, who survived the removal of one eye and is awaiting another operation. Augustus himself also has problems – he was recently diagnosed with osteosarcoma, as a result of which his leg was amputated and now he walks with a prosthesis.
A smiling young man tells the children that, despite the limitation, he wants to live life brightly and boldly – so that he is remembered. Hazel, his idea seems frivolous, childish, and she objects to him: no one needs a person, except for those closest to him, and even after a while they can forget him.
Out on the street, Hazel sees Isaac in the company of a girl and she suddenly becomes dreary. Soon Gus joins her and, having exchanged a few words with her, invites her on a date.
They stop by his house and Hazel enters Gus’s room and sees a large number of sports awards. The guy confirms that he is a former athlete and asks Hazel about her hobbies. The girl likes to read, her favorite book is “Royal Ailment”, which tells about a girl with cancer. Gus believes that this book is already very depressing and gives his new friend his more optimistic one.
The guys start talking. And soon Hazel learns that Isaac was abandoned by the girl with whom they had recently sworn eternal love to each other – she could not accept his disability …
Nat Wolfe played the role of Isaac. Frame from the film.
Gus, meanwhile, read The Royal Affliction, did an analysis of the work and remained of his opinion: the meaning of this book is too gloomy. In addition, the writer took it and for some reason simply cut it off in mid-sentence.
On his initiative, Hazel, who wants to know how the book ends, contacts the author of The Royal Affliction and asks him if the main character will survive. The writer does not want to spoil, but for some reason invites the girl to Amsterdam. Alas, the trip is canceled – after all, Hazel is in remission and needs constant monitoring. The upset girl is rescued by Gus, who managed to arrange a meeting with the writer. However, shortly before this, the girl begins to have an attack, after which she suddenly clearly understands that she does not have long to live, and she does not want to tie Gus to herself. However, the guy is adamant: he wants to be with her, no matter what.
A little later, the girl finds out that her mother has agreed with the doctors and she is allowed to go to Amsterdam for three days. She informs Gus about this and he invites her to go along. There, Gus invites the girl to a restaurant and declares his love for her. Hazel, knowing full well that she also loves him, nevertheless laughs it off.
The next day, the guys go to the house of the author of The Tsar’s Illness, where they are met by the writer’s friendly assistant. The man himself is not too happy with the guests – he especially does not like the fact that Hazel is dressed exactly like his heroine.
Playing the role of a gloomy genius, he refuses to answer questions and is openly rude to the guys. Those, realizing that there was no point in this meeting, leave, but the assistant catches up with them. After apologizing to Hazel and Gus, she invites them on a tour and there the girl confesses her feelings to him. The guys spend the night together, and then the whole day in the company of Mother Hazel walk around Amsterdam.
One evening, Gus tells his lover that his cancer has returned. Returning home, the young man begins a new course of chemotherapy, with Hazel and Isaac supporting him. They suddenly begin to want to be weird, which they do with great pleasure. But after all the adventures, Gus becomes ill and is taken to the hospital. There, the young man’s mother tells Hazel that he is dying…
The Fault in Our Stars ending explanation
Explanation of the ending of the film “The Fault in Our Stars”. Near the end, Hazel takes Gus to the park and asks what he’s thinking. The young man replies that he is still afraid of oblivion. To this, the girl tells him that his fears are groundless – after all, at least he has her, who will always remember him.
Eight days later, Gus dies, and the author of The King’s Ill suddenly arrives at his funeral. It turns out that the guy had previously written to him and asked him to compose a eulogy for Hazel. But the opposite happened – he died first. The speech at Gus’s funeral was delivered by a girl. Rejecting the unnecessary “cheat sheet”, she spoke from herself.
Probably, the meaning of the ending of the film “The Fault in Our Stars” (as well as the whole picture) is quite simple. It sounds like this: appreciate those who are nearby, because it will not always be like this …
The meaning of the film The Fault in Our Stars
We see all the events of the film “The Fault in Our Stars” through the eyes of a young, terminally ill Hazel. The huge gap between her way of life and the frivolous freedom enjoyed by healthy boys and girls erects a granite wall of misunderstanding between her and her peers. And this is understandable: when you are 16, life seems endless and filled with vivid impressions … But Hazel does not think so – and is already buying a dress for her funeral. A simple thought that runs like a refrain throughout the film hurts the heart: not even a diagnosis is terrible – the proximity of death is terrible. And the doom that this girl-child has to face is also terrible. In this regard, she seems much more mature and wiser than her peers.
And yet, Hazel is a teenager. She wants to walk, see life, fall in love and go shopping. The comforting alternative of attending a support group is not very pleasant … However, it is there that she meets her love.
Josh Boone has created an almost perfect example of teen-adult cinema. The young viewer will probably not think much about the essence of the film, but instead they will watch a touching tale about two lovers whose feelings cannot be changed even by death. An adult viewer under the top layer will see a hidden meaning and a reference to such titans of world literature as Beckett, Shakespeare and Kierkegaard. The fact is that closer to the finale, this film suddenly ceases to be teenage and turns into a philosophical reflection. John Green, followed by Josh Boone, brings death closer to two young heroes for a reason. The meaning of all this is to talk with the reader and viewer about the appropriateness of any of our actions.
Laura Dern played the role of Hazel’s mother. Frame from the film.
The title of the painting is very metaphorical. One would like to ask, who is to blame for the fact that people and, in particular, children receive a terrible diagnosis? The interpretation is simple and terrible: “The stars are to blame.” However, it cannot be said that Green’s novel and Boon’s film are only about this. Last but not least, this is a movie about pure and sincere teenage love, about the fact that dreams come true. And he also says that in the vast universe there will definitely be a person who needs you.
In the picture there is a very curious nested story about the writer – the author of “The Tsar’s Ailment”. His book also tells the story of a girl with cancer, and the author decides to cut it off in mid-sentence. Against this background, almost Hazel’s main dream is to meet her favorite writer – she really wants to know what will happen to all the characters in the book next.
Here you can see how the metaphor of the work goes to another level. A book within a book and the behavior of the author-creator, as it were, voices the philosophical idea of the whole action. She sounds like this. If our universe is finite, this means that there is no meaning in anyone’s life (short or long). Against this background, the fact of awareness becomes important. According to the author of the book “The Fault in Our Stars” (and the director who repeats this idea), the Universe made efforts to become noticed, and our consciousness grew out of this. A conscious person knows that he will die. And so the banal call of the “Jesus Section” that sounds like “live now” is actually very important.
The Fault in Our Stars is a bittersweet, at times very painful film. It is impossible to call it an operational tear squeezer, if only because the authors could reveal the intent of the work only by putting the characters in a hopeless situation.
This is one of the films that can be safely given to teenagers for review. Yes, of course, I really want to save their minds from thoughts of illness, grief and death. But the fact is that only by understanding the inevitability of death and accepting it, you can truly live.
Frame from the film.
Similar films
Here are a few films similar in meaning to “The Fault in Our Stars”:
- “Hurry to love” (USA, 2002). Landon is the self-confident and beautiful idol of all schoolgirls, Jamie is the daughter of a priest. Against all the laws of logic, a cynical young man falls in love with Jamie, but the girl is seriously ill.
- “Now is the time” (UK, France, USA, 2012). Seventeen-year-old Tessa was given a disappointing diagnosis. Having come to terms with him, the girl decides to live her life in such a way that not a single minute is wasted.
- “Kit” (USA, 2008). Natalie is terribly annoyed by the new one – a young man named Keith. However, gradually her heart thaws, and she falls in love with him. But they were destined to be together for a very short time.
- “See you” (UK, USA, 2016). Lou and Will are very unhappy with their lives. Soon they will meet and understand a lot.
