The Italian drama film The Place (2017) is the famous directorial work of Paolo Genovese. This is an intriguing story about people and their desires. What are people willing to do to fulfill their dreams? What task must be completed by someone who has decided to bring what he wants to life? The creators of the film tried to answer these questions.
A mysterious man is sitting at the table. He can help the character realize his most cherished dream. There is only one condition. For his services, he asks to complete his task. Some tasks cause bewilderment on the faces of restaurant visitors. Assignments sound terrible, but every character in the movie has a choice. The Mysterious Man does not force anyone. Will the characters risk overstepping moral principles? Will they be able to perform a mean act in exchange for their wish fulfilled? The list of characters’ dreams is quite large. But are the heroes of the film ready to go over their heads?
The meaning of the dramatic film The Place
Restaurant patrons have high hopes for meeting a mysterious stranger. Each of them has their own life path and their goals and desires. Only for his services, a strange man set a certain price, which depends on the complexity of fulfilling a dream.
The film The Place makes the audience think about their existence and their role in the fate of other people. The filmmakers have chosen an unusual strategy. The camera never left the café. Everything that happened to the characters, the audience learned from the dialogues of the characters. But this did not stop us from presenting 9 full-fledged stories. The meaning of the film The Place is that at each stage of life a person makes a certain choice. This ability is inherent in all people. And for this choice each person bears personal responsibility.
In the film, the emphasis is not on the fulfillment of desires by a mysterious stranger, but on the decision-making by the characters, on which not only their own lives, but also the lives of other people depend. The heroes of the film had to realize that they were ready to do a bad deed to others for their own benefit. However, not everyone is ready to take responsibility for their actions. The characters begin to blame the strange man for what happened, claiming that he pushed them to meanness. So it was easier for them to abstract from the evil he had done. It was in this way that the actors tried to transfer their guilt to another person. Only the mysterious stranger initially said that all tasks are voluntary and can be stopped at any time. But the characters were too interested in fulfilling their desire. They did not fully realize how much pain their actions bring to other people.
In the center of the life of each individual person should be himself. And for every situation that happens to him, he must answer for himself. The film presents a monstrous lack of will and a complete unwillingness to take responsibility. The characters are imperfect, they do not realize the evil that is in them. They shift the blame on anyone, but stubbornly do not notice that they are solely to blame.
The ending of the film turned out to be bright, filled with deep meaning. The mysterious stranger claims that he is tired of his activities. He no longer wants to do what brings too much grief to others. “I want to stop doing this so that I don’t know how much evil there is in this world.” People are mired in squabbles and scandals. For many, material problems come to the fore. Only they do not notice that everyone has difficulties. But people are too fixated on themselves and their desires. They don’t realize that their actions can hurt others.
The lives of others are interesting. The viewer watches how characters who are endowed with human vices come to a mysterious stranger. Characters are found in everyday life. The heroes of the film are presented with all their shortcomings and temptations. They only think about themselves. But despite the selfishness, some characters are not devoid of humanity. Before completing the proposed task, they doubt for a long time, weigh the pros and cons. They do not tend to make hasty decisions. Such characters understand that the fate of another depends on their choice. Some are simply not able to cross the line separating them from meanness.
The heroes of the film commit murders, betray, betray, step over moral principles. They want to get what they want. But the mysterious stranger does not condemn them. A strange man just does his job, which eventually became hateful to him. This is a kind of intermediary, which is neither a higher power nor evil in the last resort. The film The Place is not a film about joy and a cheerful life. This is a dramatic story about what people are willing to go to fulfill their dreams. After watching the film, the viewer will definitely have a desire to look inside himself and understand what he is striving for, what goals he sets for himself and by what methods he achieves them. The Place is an amazing story about human nature and the vices that haunt people.
