Personal Mythology Addition: Vanilla Sky

"Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around."
                                                       -Sofia Serrano

Ever since first viewing it about 12 years ago, I've felt a strong connection to Vanilla Sky. And yet my adoration for the film has often been a little hard to place. I mean, I've appreciated the performances of Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz, both of whom it seems to me put their all into making this movie. And I've found the story, of the protagonist losing his one chance at true love, to be sad and moving. But I've also had a sense that there were deeper themes at work that, while I never managed to identify, had nonetheless worked their way into my experience as a viewer. And then, a few nights ago, I decided to watch Vanilla Sky for about the umpteenth time, and it all fell into place. Thanks to my recent musings on existentialism, it occurred to me that Vanilla Sky is basically existential thought put to film. And I think that it is the film's engagement with existentism that really elevates it from being just another one of my favorite movies to being a work of art that has had a significant and meaningful place in my life. If anyone out there has yet to see the movie, I suggest checking it out before reading ahead (i.e. spoiler alert). For anyone else, here's a breakdown of the film from an existential perspective...

Vanilla Sky touches upon a variety of existential motifs, most notably death and freedom. David Ames, the protagonist, is a man who has it all; money, power, and friends. And without want or worry, David's life is pretty much just an extended party. His frivolous existence, meanwhile, only serves to distract him from ever paying attention to the big existential concerns in life (i.e. freedom, death, isolation, and meaninglessness. For more, read here). When tragedy strikes and David is horribly disfigured in a car accident, he experiences for the first time in his life the harsher realities of existence - rejection, heartache, pain, loneliness. Finding his new life intolerable, David falls into despair. He becomes defeatist and self-pitying. And, ultimately, he ends his life. But thanks to a slightly confusing sci-fi plot the film doesn't end there. David, it turns out, has signed a contract with Life Extension, a futuristic company that provides clients with the opportunity to enter a state of suspended animation and permanently dream a life of their own design. Upon David's death he begins the "lucid dream" that he has purchased; a virtual reality of sorts in which his life has turned out much differently. A surgeon has now corrected his disfigurement and he is living happily ever after with his true love Sofia. Over time, however, David's subconscious rejects the dream, which throughout the film slowly devolves into a nightmare. David is eventually visited by a Life Extension representative, who offers him a new choice. He can have his lucid dream corrected and continue to sleep, or he can wake up and live a real life again, with all of its pleasure and its pain. In one of his last lines of the film, David states "I want to live a real life... I don't want to dream any longer."

The beauty of Vanilla Sky is that what should for all intents and purposes be a depressing movie is an uplifting treatise on embracing life, meaning, and freedom in the face of pain and loss. Ironically, David's previously carefree life of partying, snowboarding, and womanizing - what most Americans might refer to as living life to its fullest - was just an empty charade. It is not until the film's conclusion, when David chooses to return to the real world with full knowledge of life's difficulty, that he finally understands what it means to really live. As one of the film's characters is fond of stating "The sweet is never as sweet without the sour." Here's the film's climactic scene...

As an additional point, I have to say that the decision to take a heartthrob actor like Tom Cruse and ruin his good looks was, in my opinion, a pretty brilliant move by the film-makers. Say what you will about Tom Cruise, the man has shown throughout his career a desire to take on serious and challenging roles. And the yearning and despair he shows in this movie reveal the depths of his talent.

In any case, Vanilla Sky has definitely made canon status in my personal mythology. I should add that the film is actually an American re-imagining of the Spanish film Abre Los Ojos, so anyone with an interest in Vanilla Sky might want to check that one out as well.