I love transcendentalist films. Notably, the works of Yasujirō Ozu and Abbas Kiarostami are directors who make movies that are great at making viewers feel and understand the passage of time and the impermanence of the world around us as time moves on to new lives and to newer societies and cultures beyond our own. But understandably, most viewers wouldn’t watch films with long one-takes of the world and silent sequences where the story doesn’t conventionally progress. So when Robert Zemeckis does his latest cinematic experiment with “Here,” I respect everything that he and co-writer Eric Roth try to do throughout the many narratives they weave.
“Here” is a film adaptation of a six-page comic story by Richard Maguire that was then expanded into a 300-page graphic novel. Like the graphic novel, the film tells the story of the Earth from the beginning of the universe to the present day, all in one static shot. From this static shot, we see the meteor hit the Earth, the Ice Age come and go, the Lenape tribe going about their day, and then Americans turning that forest into a suburban neighborhood, and the camera now shows the living room of one of the homes on the block. Notably, throughout the film, that house is owned by the Young family, including Richard, who we see go from the newborn baby of Al (Paul Bettany) and Rose Young (Kelly Reilly) to a man played by Tom Hanks. From there, we see Richard find love in Margaret (Robin Wright), build a family, endure financial hardship, and watch history pass them by.
I would like to confess that I always had a soft spot for Robert Zemeckis. I write this since, beforehand, I had ripped into his “Pinocchio” remake a few years ago in the Campus Times. But I would like to say that I treat Zemeckis’ filmography the way a loving father treats his son. No matter what dumb film he experiments on with terrible results, I will love him for his earnest desire to innovate on the cinematic medium like he did with “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and the “Back to the Future” trilogy. Naturally, that love led me to go to the theater to see the movie on the big screen when most people weren’t. And this time, I wasn’t disappointed in his efforts, as this is one of the best films of 2024.
One joke said about this film is how cinematographer Don Burgess (a frequent Zemeckis collaborator since “Forrest Gump”) had the easiest job in the world when doing a film with no camera movement to worry about. However, so much of the intricate presentation shows effort in what is in the frame and what isn’t there. In addition, having frames inside the frame shows a window into a different moment. It allows for creative moments of correlating different moments separated by decades, allowing us to see more of this place. I wouldn’t want to spoil it, but there is a great shot where a mirror was used to see offscreen space that allows for a great composition. When I saw it, it made me remember how much I love Robert Zemeckis’ vision.
The writing from Zemeckis and Eric Roth (previously screenwriter on “Forrest Gump”) does its best at building up the bits and pieces of many different lives. Beyond the story of the Young family, Roth and Zemeckis add different storylines to the film, making it fascinating to see the many stories that can occur in one place. It includes the life of a Lenape couple who raise a child, William Franklin (Ben Franklin’s son), the man who invents the La-Z-Boy, and a modern family who lived through the pandemic era. Each moment in time is as interesting as the main plot, as they show how times change, yet things like love and family are universal to all the characters surrounding this fixed environment. However, sometimes, the dialogue was somewhat on the nose with the theme of mindfulness and time passing by for all the characters. But most of the scenes of the Young family, and the love and regrets that each character builds up throughout the narrative, are something that I feel all ages will relate to, no matter their life experiences and time periods.
The performances are good across the board. Tom Hanks and Robin Wright still have the romantic chemistry they formed in “Forrest Gump,” which shows in their playing a married couple who still love each other no matter what. But the film’s standout performance is Paul Bettany as Al Young, as we watch him go from a war hero buying the house for his pregnant wife to an old man now being taken care of by a middle-aged Richard. Bettany exudes the change a man goes through in life, starting as a strict and aggressive drill sergeant-like father who orders his children to do things for him. Later on, we see him get older, as regrets of his own life begin to come out, as he projects it into his children and numbs his guilt through alcohol.
The phrase I thought of the most when watching “Here” was one commonly attributed to Ozu’s work: “mono no aware.” The Japanese idiom loosely translates to “the pathos of things” or “awareness of impermanence,” which means being mindful of the things in this world that hold so much emotion to you, despite knowing that those things will not be here forever. I’m unsure if Robert Zemeckis has seen films like “Tokyo Story” or “Late Spring.” Still, I can tell that Robert Zemeckis was able to direct a transcendental-like movie with a conventional narrative that allows anyone to experience the passage of time by contrasting the centuries-old narrative into one part of the world.
“Here” is in theaters now!
