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“Being John Malkovich” A mysterious work that foreshadows the “present” of identity and technology
2021.02.27
Release the oppression, the foresight of the work
What is brought home to me once again is the universality and foresight of the film "Being John Malkovich." At first glance, it seems like an absurdist drama, but what it depicts is the issue of human identity and desire. In other words, it is about "what is oneself?"
This film was made in 1999, so watching it now, more than 20 years later, the technology featured in the film feels timeless. However, what really strikes home, especially now that social media has become so advanced, is that the hurdle of "becoming someone other than yourself" has become much lower than it was back then.
If we want, we can create alternate identities on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc., access them anytime, anywhere, and even become famous. These are much more convenient than the "hole" where you can only become John Malkovich, and you have a 15-minute time limit. However, because of this, the identity issues and the problem of not being satisfied with oneself that the film depicts are much more serious now than when it was made. We can also understand that the ease with which devices can take away human privacy is a more serious and familiar problem.
"Being John Malkovich" (C) PolyGram Holdings, Inc. All Rights reserved.
On the other hand, this film has a certain progressiveness in that, while Kaufman initially affirms "one's true self" (though he does not specifically state the ending of the story), he does not provide a clear answer to the problem of identity. Kaufman describes his wife Lottie, who is a key person in the film, as "a person with repressed energy and the energy to discover oneself," and "repression" and "discovery of oneself" are exactly the keywords that unravel the theme of this film. Beyond the drama of extremely confusing identity and desire, Kaufman "at least" affirms that humans are as they are, whatever that may be.
I emphasize "at least once" because a cruel ending is also prepared for the protagonist Craig, who is likely a projection of Kaufman himself. A talented creator who is not blessed with opportunities to present his work and who is also unable to achieve success in love, Craig surrenders both his work and his private life to another person, Malkovich. So what awaits Craig as a person when he is forced to leave the "container" that is Malkovich?
Just before writing Being John Malkovich, Kaufman was writing a sitcom script. What was it that stressed him so much? It was the need to imitate the voice of another creator. Unable to write well, Kaufman eventually found himself unable to speak up in meetings, and finally came to the conclusion that he couldn't pretend to be someone else. He thought that the best solution was to find a job where he could be himself. This thought led to Being Being John Malkovich, so it means that Craig, who is the closest person to Kaufman, is the one who quickly abandoned being himself and was the first to betray the scriptwriter's beliefs. It is only natural that this man should be punished.
By the way, it's scary to think that Kaufman "started writing this film without any particular strategy," even though it's so complex and so personal. At first, he only had the idea of a married man falling in love, and John Malkovich didn't exist. Later, he came up with the idea of "entering someone else's brain through a hole," and the two ideas merged to get the story moving.
He said, "I didn't start writing this movie thinking that identity was the theme. There were a few things I was worried about, and they came together in the script." Regarding this, director Jones said, "That's why Charlie's script is interesting." "Because it takes you to a place that even Charlie himself doesn't know."
[Reference materials]
・Being John Malkovich(American Criterion Blu-ray)
Text: Takatoshi Inagaki
"Being John Malkovich"
Blu-ray: 1,886 yen + tax / DVD: 1,429 yen + tax
Publisher: NBCUniversal Entertainment
(C)PolyGram Holdings, Inc. All Rights reserved.
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