MovieChat Forums > Frank (2014) Discussion > My take on this movie, Jon's story

My take on this movie, Jon's story


At the end of this movie it made me think of how misplaced Jon was. The whole movie kind of is about Jon's voyage, he wanted to be a musician so bad that he could not see that this group he ended up in was really not about sharing music with an audience but rather a way for this odd group to cope with their lives, by sticking together. Like a kind of group therapy. It indeed was a mental hospital,and he had no place in it. Jon realised this in the end, and he managed to repair the damage he had done, and I think he learned that creativity does not need a goal, and it needs no fame.
Also, I think he learned that you don't need to have bad experiences (e.g. a bad childhood) to write music from your heart, you just need to live and not try to be something you are not.
And about the responsibility of influence. It's important in life to listen, and to feel, what is what, otherwise someone end up getting hurt.

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Both Jon and Frank are misfits.
Both want to be popular.

Jon wants to be adored by a mainstream audience for being a pop star;
Frank wants to be appreciated for creating wonderful music.

Frank realises that his friends are all the audience he needs.

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In my opinion, Frank doesn't want to be popular, his aim is music for music, art for art. And he knows all along that the persons he really needs are his friends, the members of his band.

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You hit the nail on the head with that summary. I think it is unfair to paint Jon in a negative hue given that he really was an innocent kid with potential, but his naivety was rushed into a situation entirely out of his comprehension. He wanted the fame and attention that many musicians seek starting out, but realized and learned that regardless of talent or attention, it's meaningless without any maturation, unity, and selflessness (something of which the band largely lacked).

I found the film incredibly unsettling for someone like myself, and irritated at the fiasco and personas portrayed in the film because I dealt with something similar abroad. Unlike Jon lol, I realized in under 3 months that the group I was associating with would never accept me because I wasn't "them" because I wasn't a byproduct of extreme dysfunction.There was just a complete disconnect like in the film -- something of which I subconsciously understood and thus wrought on bad memories. I do love, as another user aforementioned, that the group collectively learned more about themselves after the chaotic dismantlement. It's bitter-sweet, tragic, and deep.

I really appreciate seeing this film. Great comments from not just OP, but also the other contributors. You guys helped go in detail I may have missed while trying to open my candy without making too much of a ruckus.

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