The movie was okay. But it lacked something to make me fully connect with and care about the character. He never fully expressed regret or guilt over his actions - his outbursts were more signs of frustration over the loss of control.
I agree. When talking to either his wife or Bethan his tone seemed patronizing. Especially to Bethan while she was in labour. He just seemed so removed although wanting to do the 'right' thing. If he so desperately wanted to do the right thing why didn't he tell his wife what had happened months earlier? He only decides to tell her he was unfaithful when he learns that Bethan became pregnant. He probably hadn't even given Bethan a second thought until she called him.
When Katrina asks him if he still wants the phone number of the councilman after they have been discussing what will become of their marriage and he says yes, she correctly acknowledges that his work has always come before their marriage. He's still thinking of work even at the brink of losing his marriage. So when he has tears coming down his face it isn't that affecting.
He is a man who compartmentalizes everything in his life--his work, family, the past. Even while driving to the hospital to hopefully attend the birth of his child, he tells Katrina that he hopes to come home the next day. He will only spend that evening with Bethan. Who knows how often he will see his new child. He only seems to be interested in giving his name to the child so that he/she won't be a 'bastard.'
I got the feeling from the film that Ivan is supposed to be some kind of hero because he isn't leaving Bethan in the lurch. While that is admirable, I think his getting involved with her in the first place subsequently inflicted a lot of damage on his family. He is also damaged in the sense that he has never made peace with his past or his father. He is so intent on not being 'weak' like his father but hasn't owned up to his own scars. He seems to think he can just fix the things that are broken--fix his marriage; fix his wife's broken heart; fix sad lonely Bethan; etc. He should start with fixing himself.
And all the pieces matter (The Wire)
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banapaulo
10 years ago
I got absolutely zero sense that the film was trying to make Ivan seem like a hero. The screenplay made him seeing like a man who is emotionally stunted because of something that happened with his father and feels that this one decision - being there for this woman as their baby is born - will help him escape the shadow of his father, even as it *beep* up his whole life. He has no delusions about it *beep* up his life, though he clearly is naive in thinking that the world will fall into place eventually because he's "doing the right thing". The screenplay shows him to be human but deeply flawed. The music is atmospheric rather than emotional, and the camera remains impassive through his various emotional states.
The ending, to me, was a way of giving a ray of hope to Ivan's situation even as we clearly realise there's not going to be a happy ending. He is not going to patch things up with his wife, he is not going to get his job back, he is probably not going to have any lasting relationship with this lady he has nothing in common with. But the baby has been born, he has nearly done what he set out to do, and now he can start on his "practical next step". That is his perspective, which is what the film is about, but the filmmakers know we are intelligent enough to see beyond one mad night.
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