Being John Malkovich Group 2: Shuk-Kwun, Fuji, Sam F

Being John Malkovich

• Title: Being John Malkovich
• Year published: 1999
• Director: Spike Jonze
• Screenwriter: Charlie Kaufman
• Lead actors:
• John Cusack
• Cameron Diaz
• John Malkovich
• Catherine Keener
• Orson Bean
• Running time: 113 minutes
• (www.imdb.com)

                                     Trailer:

 

Plot Summary

Craig Schwartz is a defeated puppeteer who lands a job at LesterCorps. He discovers a portal to the mind of John Malkovich at the LesterCorps office and by going through the portal is able to see the world through the actor’s eyes for fifteen minutes. Craig tells Maxine, a coworker who he is in love with (and obsessed with) about his discovery. Maxine, the cunning character she is, turns entry into the portal into a profit-making business. 

Craig’s wife, Lotte, decides to go through the portal herself and falls in love with Maxine while in Malkovich’s mind. Craig learns about Lotte and Maxine's blossoming relationship and decides to go through the portal in hopes of gaining Maxine’s love by "being John Malkovich." Maxine finds out that Craig is able to control Malkovich’s body and persuades him to stay as Malkovich so they can make a fortune together. 

However, Craig is later forced to leave the actor’s body by a group of elders who plan to use Malkovich as a vessel to live forever. The elders blackmail Craig into thinking that they will kill the pregnant Maxine if he does not. Craig thus shortly returns to being Craig Schwartz again, only to witness Maxine confessing her love to Lotte and revealing that she is pregnant with Lotte’s child. This happened when they were intimate while Lotte was in Malkovich’s body. Craig tries to enter the portal again to try to mend his relationship with Maxine but gets stuck in the mind of Maxine’s daughter, incapable of controlling the daughter's body or escaping her mind.

Film Techniques Used Throughout The Film

Framing:

At the opening scene of the film, the puppet looks up at Craig who is controlling its actions. Craig is shot from a low-angle, showing his dominance and control over the puppet. Through puppeteering, he can escape his helpless reality and have control over his puppets’ lives and live out his fantasies.

Additionally, at the start of the film, Craig returns after being punched by the father of a young spectator of his inappropriate puppet show. Lotte immediately goes to hug and comfort him. This shot uses a close-up to display the intimacy, care, and sympathy that Lotte has for her husband.

Sets:

One of the most memorable aspects of the film is the location of LesterCorp, Craig’s workplace that holds the portal to John Malkovich’s mind: Floor 7 ½. It’s characteristic low-lying ceilings reflect how Craig feels constrained by society as his puppeteering talents are not recognized, stating: “I think, I feel, I suffer. And all I ask in return is the opportunity to do my work, and they won’t allow it” (Being John Malkovich).

The Schwartz’s small, messy apartment also reveals valuable information about the characters. There are many animals in the dim rooms, creating a claustrophobic setting that demonstrates how Craig and Lotte do not prioritize their relationship. Craig is more concerned with his puppets while Lotte devotes her time to her pets. Despite being married, they do not appear to be in love and the state of their house represents this unhappy relationship.

Lighting:

Generally, low-key lighting and a greenish tint are used to show Lotte and Craig's mundane and dreary lives. However, when a character is in Malkovich's mind, warmer tones and brighter lighting are used instead to portray the freedom and excitement that they experience there and perhaps a more authentic sense of who they are. Through the portal, they can escape their lives, see the world as someone else for fifteen minutes, and discover themselves. As Lotte explains, “Being inside did something to me. I knew who I was. [...] for the first time, everything just felt right” (Being John Malkovich).

Scenes of Craig and Lotte’s interaction in their poorly lit house use side-lighting as one side of their faces casts a shadow on the other side, hinting “at a character’s secrets or that the character is somehow torn between opposing forces” (Golden 15). Both characters are lustful for Maxine and lie to each other to hide their secret. While Lotte is torn between Maxine and Craig, Craig is more resentful than remorseful that Lotte gets Maxine’s affection, though he does occasionally seem divided between the two women.

Props:

Craig is a master of puppets, which hints at his ability to manipulate people's minds and explains why he could control the actor’s body when “being Malkovich.” He was introduced as a broken man whose only control is over wooden dolls. Unable to get what he wants in real life, he replicates his desires on puppets. This portrays his obsessive nature and allows the audience to understand him better. 

Towards the end of the film, John Malkovich is revealed to be a vessel for a group of elders so they can live forever. However, they only have until midnight before Malkovich turns forty-four years old and is no longer suitable for this feat. Since Craig was occupying Malkovich’s body, the elders anxiously threaten Craig to leave by kidnapping Maxine. Although they succeeded, the elders only have five minutes left. Therefore, the clock at the office was used as a prop to heighten the suspense and make the audience nervously question whether they will make it or not.


Editing:

A flashback was used when Elijah, Lotte's pet chimpanzee, saw Lotte’s hands tied behind her back by Craig after he found out about her affair with Maxine. The chimp was reminded of his childhood when humans hunted his troop, tied up his parents and captured him. This prompts him to help untie Lotte and free her from the cage, demonstrating how chimps also have cognition and sympathy for others.

When Craig is still in Malkovich's body and the group of elders is running out of time to enter Malkovich’s portal, parallel editing was used to switch between the scenes of the impatient elders and Craig debating whether he should go back to a life of nothing to save Maxine or to stay as the successful Malkovich. This intensifies the plot and creates a sense of suspense that makes the audience anticipate what will happen next.

Universal Themes

Identity:
After going through the portal for the first time, Lotte explains to Craig: “Being inside did something to me. I knew who I was. It’s like everything made sense [...] I’ve been going over and over my experience last night, Craig. It was amazing. I’ve decided that I’m a transexual. [...] It’s just that, for the first time, everything just felt right” (Being John Malkovich). Seeing the world in someone else’s perspective allowed Lotte to understand it better, making her realize her desires and self-identification. However, she becomes obsessed with the idea of “being John Malkovich” because the experience gave her a sense of realization and a self of identity.


Lust vs. Love:

Lust is “an intense physical attraction. You desire your partner due to a strong sexual connection. Love [, on the other hand,] is attraction and affection. You profoundly care for your partner, which creates an emotional attachment in addition to your sexual connection” (www.zoosk.com). Questions regarding this difference are raised, for example, by Maxine and Lotte’s relationship. Although the women claim to love each other, Maxine originally only wanted to meet Lotte when she was in Malkovich's mind to have sex. Lotte also seems to possess the “if I can’t have you then no one can” mentality when she chases Maxine around with a gun with the intention of killing her towards the end of the film after Maxine left Lotte for Craig. This makes the audience wonder if it is love or lust that these characters have for each other.

Human Superficiality:
In the film, John Malkovich is an actor turned puppeteer whose artistry is well-known and respected. He appears to be enjoying a life of fame and success, yet all these assumptions are made without knowing the personal life and past of the actor. Towards the end of the film, Lotte was chasing Maxine in Malkovich’s subconscious, and various stages of Malkovich’s life can be seen. Instances where he was bullied and abused as a child reveal the difficulties that the actor hides from the media. The public only knows a portion of who Malkovich is, and his reputation is built on his media portrayal. Despite the hardships he faced in his life, people are still envious and want to be Malkovich because he is rich and famous, demonstrating how superficial people are.

Word count: 1297 words

Review of the Movie

We think that the film is extremely interesting and has a good balance between the lightness of comedy and the heaviness of metaphysics. Some stimulating philosophical questions raised include: What is ethical? How could it be? The fact that there is even a portal to someone’s mind is also thought-provoking. However, the storyline is strange and not fitting for everyone, especially those who are prudish and sensitive to vulgarity (including some foul language and sex scenes). 

We recommend the film to people who are intrigued by mind-traveling or the fact that someone could be in the mind of someone else, but wouldn’t recommend it to an average viewer because some ideas are very disturbing. For example, we find that the idea of people using and exploiting others’ minds for their own benefit to be unethical, but because Craig is the main character of the story, the audience feels oddly compelled to sympathize with him and almost hope he has a happy ending. 

Nonetheless, for a comedic film, we find that there are many scenes that are humorous, including the instance where John Malkovich goes through his own portal.  He experiences a bizarre scenario where everyone in the room has his face and only says “Malkovich”. The absurdity and John Malkovich dressed as various characters made the scene very entertaining and comical. 

Also, we think that the actors did a spectacular job using props, facial expressions, and body language to portray their character and the emotions they are experiencing. Particularly, John Malkovich, the actor, did a phenomenal job demonstrating the character’s confusion and horror when Craig was able to control his movement and speech while in his mind as well as his struggle for control over his own body. This made the scenes very believable and evoked the audience’s sympathy for him. For these reasons, we would give this film 3.5 stars out of 5.

Connections with Course Material

Metaphysics:

After going through the portal behind the cabinets in his workplace to Malkovich for the first time, Craig tries to explain what happened to Maxine: “Anyway, the point is, this is a very odd thing. It’s supernatural, for lack of a better word. I mean it raises all sorts of philosophical-type questions, you know … about the nature of self, about the existence of a soul. You know, am I me? Is Malkovich Malkovich? I had a piece of wood in my hand. I don’t have it anymore. Where is it? Did it disappear? How could that be? Is it still in Malkovich’s head? I don’t know! Do you see what a metaphysical can of worms this portal is?” (Being John Malkovich). This raises the questions: “How are the mind and body related? Do people have immortal souls?” (Philosophical Terrain 21). What is real? How can one know that what happened actually happened?

Axiology:

The movie also raises questions regarding ethics. After Craig discovers and tells Maxine about the portal to John Malkovich, Maxine tries to convince Craig to create a business with it. Craig was at first hesitant and said: “Tickets to Malkovich? […] But Maxine, there’s something, I don’t know, like profound here. I don’t know if maybe we should exploit it? You think?” (Being John Malkovich). This prompts the questions: “What makes an action right (or wrong)? […] What is the good life? What gives life meaning? What makes someone good (or bad)?” (Philosophical Terrain 21). Craig ultimately decides to collaborate with Maxine and they used the portal to earn money. When Malkovich finds out about this tunnel, he warns Craig to stop the business and tells him that he will pursue legal actions against him. Craig says: “you can’t do that. Can’t you see, it’s my livelihood [to which Malkovich replies,] It’s my head!” (Being John Malkovich). Since Craig is the main character, the audience feels compelled to sympathize with him. However, his actions and speech are very unethical because he is manipulating another person and taking advantage of this ability. Does Craig have the right to exploit someone else’s consciousness? Is egoism fundamentally selfish and immoral or is it essential for survival?

Non-human animal consciousness:

The film also covers the philosophical and scientific debate of whether or not non-human animals have consciousness. Consciousness is defined as " the quality or state of being able to perceive or be aware of an external object or something within oneself" (Study Guide on Consciousness). At the beginning of the film, Craig was sitting on the couch watching TV with Elijah, the chimpanzee, and tells him: “you don’t know how lucky you are, being a monkey, because consciousness, is a curse.” He is suggesting that Elijah, a non-human animal, does not have consciousness. However, later in the movie when Craig ties Lotte up and traps her in the cage after discovering her affair with Maxine, Elijah remembers his traumatic childhood when looking at her tied hands. He recalls how his group was hunted down by humans, how they were also tied up, and how he was captured. He then unties Lotte and helped her escape. This demonstrates how non-human animals do have memory, sympathy, and emotions. They are also capable of performing cognitive tasks such as untying a cord.

Questions

1. In a scene of the movie, Craig tells his wife's pet chimpanzee that "You don't know how lucky you are, being a monkey, because consciousness, is a terrible curse” (Being John Malkovich). Given the film, what do you think he means by that? Do you agree or disagree? Why?
2. If you could be inside the mind of anybody for fifteen minutes, who would it be and why? If not, why?
3. If you could live forever by traveling into the consciousness of another person, would you? Why or why not?

Interesting Websites

What are animals thinking and feeling?

Most of the qualities traditionally deemed to belong solely to humans are often shared among other non-human beings as well. Although many non-human animals have similar behavioral, instinctual, and social attributes in common with humans, human beings continually degrade and exploit other species and destroy their habitat. In this video, ecologist Carl Safina discusses these similarities and the consciousness of other animals.

What is Consciousness? - Three Stages of Consciousness

Michio Kaku defines consciousness as "the process of creating multiple feedback loops to create a model of yourself in space with regards to others and in time in order to satisfy certain goals." He theorizes that there three levels of consciousness: the understanding of position in space, the understanding of social hierarchy, and the understanding of the future. He also attributes a unit to consciousness: a thermostat.

Sources:

“Being John Malkovich.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 24 Nov. 1999, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120601/. 

Cosmology Today. “What is Consciousness? - Three Stages of Consciousness | Michio Kaku.” YouTube, 3 Mar.  

2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iONlo9WcKgQ

Golden, John. “Introducing Cinematic and Theatrical Elements in Film.” Teach with Movies. N.d. Web. Accessed
27 Aug. 2019

Hogan, Brianne. “Lust vs. Love: 5 Ways to Tell What You're Feeling.” The Date Mix, Zoosk, 5 June 2018,
https://www.zoosk.com/date-mix/dating-advice/lust-vs-love/. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019

nicbarts. “Being John Malkovich Trailer.” YouTube, 2 Aug. 2006, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icysehz-OVc

“Philosophical Terrain.” Knowing the Inner Self – McKinney, edited by Kelly McKinney, John Abbott College, pp.
19-21. Course Pack.

Spike Jonze, director. Being John Malkovich. USA Films., 1999,
 http://putlockers.fm/watch/zdKaWgx1-being-john-malkovich.html. Web. Accessed 26 Oct. 2019.

"Study Guide on Consciousness." Knowing the Inner Self - McKinney, edited by Kelly McKinney, John Abbott
College, pp. 3. Course Pack.

TED. “What are animals thinking and feeling? | Carl Safina.” YouTube, 17 Dec.
2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9KeyKVuLHU&t=1s