One thing is this movie always gets to me and that's the son feeling the need to disguise himself as Albert. When he said he came back as Albert because thats who his dad respected. So how bad does your dad have to make you feel that when you greet him in heaven you pretend to be someone else because even in that situation being yourself wasn't enough?
shareI'm surprised no one responded to this.
I refer back to a very respected and wise person who said to me before my son was born, "When a child is born he/she is perfect in the mind. It's only after the parents make mistakes (as all parents do) and the world shows them that life can be more than unkind that they get screwed up. Before that time they are a blank slate, ready for what we can teach them and hopefully guide them in the right direction."
The parents made mistakes. Kids sometimes misinterpret what parents are saying due to immaturity. The daughter obviously misinterpreted what her dad was saying about the stewardess. But in her afterlife it made her happy. The son was a bit more troubled. He wanted to be the "only person his dad would listen to...his mentor". Meaning mostly that his dad did not listen to him like he wanted in his living life.
There are NO perfect parents. As my quote above states...the moment after our child is born we start to screw them up in some ways because we are human too.
In the end, both parents understood their mistakes and wanted to try again with the guarantee that they would both be back in a "heartbeat". What a wonderful opportunity.
Thanks for the response. I saw this movie years ago and the scene where his son reveals that he isn't Albert and that he came back in disguise because thats who his dad respected has haunted me in a way for a very long time. I mean what would a parent have to do to make his son assume he should great him in heaven in disguise.
sharemax von sydow's character explains this in the end. those were his kids. you don't tend to think of your kids teaching you lessons or guiding you through heaven and hell. you tend to think of it the other way around.
who's the teacher, who's the father, gets in the way of who we really are to one another.
ian needed to guide this dad through accendence into heaven. then again decendence into hell (heh in the case of the movie, they took an elevator up to hell). if ian would have shown up as ian, his dad might have not listened to him.
I agree with zenbuddha. IMHO,that Ian chooses to appear to his dad as Albert has nothing to do with his father disrespecting him in any way. It has to do with choosing to appear as someone his father actively respected in life.
share