Garp and How He Saw the World (film)

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Movie
German title Garp and how he saw the world
Original title The World According to Garp
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1982
length 136 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director George Roy Hill
script Steve Tesich
production Robert L. Crawford ,
George Roy Hill
music David Shire
camera Miroslav Ondříček
cut Ronald Roose ,
Stephen A. Rotter
occupation

Garp and how he saw the world (Original title: The World According to Garp ) is an American tragic comedy from 1982 . It goes back to the book of the same name by the writer John Irving . Robin Williams played his second film role with TS Garp and his first in character. The title track is " When I'm Sixty-Four " by The Beatles .

action

Jenny Fields, daughter of a shoe manufacturer, doesn't want to go to college because it would mean becoming a future wife and housewife. Out of spite of her parents, she trained as a nurse and refused to meet men or to marry. During the Second World War, she worked in a military hospital and saw this as an opportunity to fulfill her dearest wish: she wanted a child, but not a man who had further rights to her body. She becomes pregnant by the dying “Technical Sergeant Garp” and names her son after the soldier TS Garp.

Garp grows up under the care of his mother, who is now a school sister in a boys' school. Although he is not treated as an outsider by those around him, he is often referred to as a “bastard”, a boy without a father.

Garp has now grown into a teenager about to graduate. He's the best wrestler on the school team, but doesn't know what he wants to do professionally. Then he falls in love with the daughter of his new wrestling trainer, Helen Holmes. In conversations he finds out that Helen would never marry a wrestler. If she ever married, it would only be a writer. So Garp tries his hand at writing.

Garp decides to go to New York to become a real writer. To his amazement, his mother also goes with him. She also felt the need to write, according to her reasoning. One evening the two of them are walking when they see a group of prostitutes. Jenny Fields desperately wants to talk to one of them to find out more about the lust of men and the feelings of prostitutes. This is how Jenny finds her topic and writes a biography about herself and her lifestyle. The book becomes a bestseller and Jenny Fields becomes a feminist pioneer.

Garp has also published a little story so that Helen will marry him, which she does. His first novel got him good reviews, but hardly any buyers. But he is everywhere he introduces himself known as "TS Garp, the bastard of Jenny Fields". His second book is not a commercial success either. He gets writer's block and Helen gets a job as a literature lecturer.

Both look around for a house. When they inspect one, a small plane crashes into the house. Garp convinces Helen to buy: The house is disaster-trained and is now absolutely safe, since the likelihood of another plane crashing into the house is very low. Garp thrives in his new role as a househusband and father.

Jenny Fields, whose parents passed away, built a women's refuge in her parents' home. During a visit there, Garp meets several strange people. Among them are members of the “Community of Ellen Jamesian Women”, a radical women's group whose members have their tongues cut out in protest because Ellen James, an eleven-year-old girl, was raped and had her tongue cut out by the rapist. Furthermore Roberta Muldoon, formerly the left winger of a football team. She becomes Garp's best friend, he has no use for anyone else around his mother.

Helen begins a relationship with one of her students. Garp's ex-girlfriend reveals this, whereupon he leaves the house with his two sons. When Helen comes home, she receives a call from her husband. He demands an immediate termination of the relationship and is very upset, although he too has had a few affairs. Helen calls her lover. He really wants to see her again and parks in front of the house. Helen gets in the car with him.

The lover promises her to leave her alone if Helen grants his wish for oral sex. Helen surrenders to her fate. Meanwhile, Garp and his sons drive home. They want their father to let the car “fly”. To do this, he turns off the headlights and turns off the engine. Garp knows his house and his parking lot, which is occupied by the lover's car. A terrible accident happens.

Garp and Helen stayed with Jenny Fields. The wounds of the accident are physically slow to heal: Helen suffered a stiff neck and a broken nose when her lover jerked his knees up because Helen had bitten off three quarters of his penis as a result of the car crash. Garp broke his jaw and bit off a piece of his tongue. Duncan, the older son, lost an eye when he hit the gear lever. The younger son Walt was thrown through the window and is dead.

Mentally, Garp and Helen in particular are going through a difficult time. Garp feels uncomfortable in the company of the many abused women and longs for reconciliation with his wife. These wounds are finally healing: Garp is writing again and Helen is pregnant again.

Garp has published a book about rape and an article on the Ellen Jamesian women targeting the group. He has already received threats about it, but is more concerned about his mother, who is being threatened by members of conservative groups because of her biography. Jenny Fields is invited to speak at a women's demonstration. When she parted, he paid her the greatest compliment when he confessed to his mother that he had never needed a father.

Jenny is shot at the demonstration and Garp wants to go to his mother's funeral. However, since this is supposed to be the first feminist funeral service (at which no men are allowed), Garp dresses up with the help of Roberta. At the celebration Garp is recognized by Pooh Percy, who has also become an Ellen Jamesian, and denounces him because of the book and exposes him in public. He manages to escape from the angry crowd of women when he is stopped by a young woman who reaches into her pocket. However, she reveals herself as Ellen James, who wants to thank him for his article because she never wanted to be associated with the radical group.

Garp stops his writing. He becomes a wrestler trainer at his old school after his father-in-law passes away. One day - Helen is sitting in the wrestler's training room while her husband oversees the wrestler - Pooh walks in and shoots Garp. The film ends in the rescue helicopter at his wife's side with the words that he would ultimately fly.

background

The film was not a commercial success, but received favorable reviews from critics. Glenn Close and John Lithgow were each nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The film also won several critical awards. Nevertheless, it did not come to German cinemas until years after it was released. For Robin Williams, it was a first step towards establishing himself in the serious subject.

Trivia

The author of the novel, John Irving , plays a supporting role as a referee who directs Garp's wrestling match against another student.

Reviews

“A stylishly staged, episodic tragicomedy about life, love and death; a film full of life wisdom and truths that is both cheerful and sad. "

"Director George Roy Hill (' The Clou ') created a wonderful mix of dramatic, satirical and absurd scenes with his star team."

"A bitterly evil film full of black humor that makes fun of the middle-class search for meaning, ideal world thinking and human futility in a neurotic society."

"Hill and Tesich have not shied away from re-bundling the almost unmanageable threads and motifs of 'Garp' and knotting them differently - occasionally even more wittily than in the novel."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Garp and how he saw the world. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. cinema.de
  3. prisma.de
  4. ↑ Comforting to laugh, sad to howl . In: Die Zeit , August 14, 1987. Retrieved October 1, 2013