Changeling, based on true events, is one of the most provocative movies liberated on-screen. The movie begins as a story of a single mother, bound by her lonesome life, caring for her little boy and providing for her home. There is no defined direction to this movie as the story becomes more than just about the mother and her missing child: it transforms into a tragedy of struggle, and frustration.
There is a war between the powerful and powerless that’s taking course in the movie. To watch this movie is to live forever in the dark. I couldn’t understand the why, but I was looking for the where. This movie conveys fortunate when unfortunate is all it’s got. It represents life when death is all around. It gives hope when disappointment is all that’s felt. And I feel miserable when I wish I had something less miserable to focus on. Changeling is based on a true story and it’s heartbreaking as it is courageous. It is frustrating as it is foreseeable. The impact of the press was given much importance in the script of the movie, as it was years ago in reality. To read was to believe. That was the wave of influence that newspapers had on their readers.
Even though the scenes in the movie were easy to grasp, there was something missing that needed to be found. This movie confused me into believing the hard truth but only for something that is so easy to understand. The characters played in this movie are justified and their motives plausible. The way each person is carefully given personality makes Changeling well illustrated. There is no time-killing pointlessness in the movie and the story felt as real as it could be. The expectations that were dictated by the plot seemed well-defined by the actors, especially Jason Harner (as Gordon), who’s acting was completely crazy and up-to-the-par of the movie. As much as I love Angeline Jolie (as Christine) and John Malkovich (as Reverend Gustav), they both completely surpassed their designated scripts as opposing to the way this movie was made out to be seen. The actors fit well with the kind of cinematography the director wanted to accomplish.
The way Changeling was staged, with women given utmost fashion and cultural responsibility, while men given more of a formal responsibility made me feel like this movie knows what it’s up against: an era at the cusp of an evolution. The story was made out to be very queer and hysterical- emotionally and foreseeable- fundamentally.
Changeling is not changed but the growth of mentality. I wished that the silent struggle would come to an end, but it never did. Changeling is the fight between love and hope; between what is lost and why. Changeling characterizes misery the way ice melts and fire burns; it’s inevitable. I’ve lived in this movie and after it. And in the end, the light in the darkness was the darkness itself.
Changeling changed the change by justifying truth when lie was all they’d got. It showed the sufferings are not felt, they’re understood and that is what makes the soul go mad.