Conference bookie::movies

    From the old file (one I happened to have around)
    
    		-John Bishop
    
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Note 3108.31                     Jacob's Ladder                         31 of 45
MINAR::BISHOP                                        62 lines  11-JUN-1991 23:06
                       -< Much better than I'd expected >-
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    Well, I think it does work well on the little screen when on video.
    As for the story:
    
    (spoilers)
    
    
    There are several possible stories/resolutions here, and the only 
    servious objection is the one mentioned before ("Why is he in 'Nam
    at all?").
    
    Story 1, the vanilla "Owl Creek" plot: a man dies, and as he dies
    he hallucinates an escape and life after the war.  The chiropractor
    is to explain his pain, etc.  This isn't good enough to cover things
    like the car, the flashback to being bayonetted by a buddy, and so
    on.
    
    Story 2, "Owl Creek" with chocolate chips: a man is dying, but he
    was dosed with an experimental chemical before.  This explains the
    flashbacks, but not the car, nor why the chemist tells him, unless
    
    Story 3, story 2 with a cherry: assume that there is a life after
    death, and there are "helpers".  Then the chiropractor, the chemist
    and the dead son are helpers.  Or
    
    Story 4, story 2 with fudge sauce, no cherry: a side-effect of the
    drug is a momentary flash of super-high IQ/telepathy as one dies,
    and Jacob is either being told by his body/the actual chemist what
    happened.  Either 3 or 4 is fairly satisfying, but they don't cover
    the car, nor do they cover the new girlfriend, whom he did NOT know
    at the time he went to 'Nam.
    
    Now, as one time we are told the son died before Jacob went to 'Nam.
    But one of the mementoes in his cigar box is a letter from the son
    to him while he was there (a slip or deliberate?).
    
    The presumed life history (PhD, then war, then Post Office) and the
    car make another story possible:
    
    Story 5, a man divorces his wife and goes to Viet Nam to escape some
    internal pressure.  He might be drug-experienced, he is interested in
    the occult.  While there, he is one of a group used as guinea pigs in
    a drug experiment.  He survives (we can assume that the end of the 
    movie is not literal but figurative), and rejects the upscale life 
    for the Post Office job--he says "I wanted to stop thinking". He
    gets an infection, and dies, hallucinating about his current life.
    In this version, the son may be a helper or a hallucination, but 
    Jacob dies in the tub of his 106-degree-plus fever.  This explains
    the car, but not the tone of the movie.
    
    I don't feel happy with any of these stories.  But I like the movie,
    and particularly liked one feature of it: there are no betrayals by
    the apparently "good" people in his life, and there is no scene in
    which a good person suddenly goes bad: I feared that he would see
    his son, only to have the boy turn into a rotting corpse or some 
    monster.  The good are good and the bad are ambigious, which leads
    me to lean towards the theory that the son and the chiropractor are
    meant as helpers/angels, and that the voice-over at the end is the
    director beating us over the head with the message of the movie.
    
    If only the rest of it hung together!
    
    		-John Bishop
    

    This is one of my *favoritest* movies!!! But (at least IMO) it isn't
    meant to be *figured out*.....at least not to the point of *how*
    and*why*, it's more to leave you with *deep* questions/wonderings and
    evoke *spiritual* type emotions AND it also has a GREAT political
    storyline that should make you question the goverments role and lack of
    ethics in Vietnam. This movie reminds me alot of my all time favorite
    movie Pink Floyd's "The Wall", and if you didn't get that one (and it
    has *very* *little* to do with an overdose of drugs!!!!) you most
    likely won't be able to grasp "Jacob's Ladder". Both of these movies
    are more *philosophical* than anything else. 
                                                Natalie

    IMHO this movie was totally depressing. I cannot say it was not good,
    especially as I like Robbins, but it left ee with a vey bad feeling.
    Andrea

    I finished Jaccob's Ladder utterly confused, depressed, and with a
    strange and persistent mental "itch" or a feeling like something slimy
    was crawling over my soul.  Unpleasant at best really and I shall not
    watch that one again.
    
    Andrew
    

    Well I must be extremely odd because this movie always leaves me
    feeling uplifted and peaceful!
                                  Natalie

    Sorry, my earlier reply somehow got screwed up, maybe it REALLY died
    and did'nt know it.
    
    I enjoyed this film, reminded me somewhat of watching 'Angel Heart'.
    
    I found the 'hallucinations' very disturbing, especially the
    occaisional shot of a cloaked head shaking violently - don't know why -
    but that really affected me.
    
    I bet Ken RusselL wished he'd directed the 'party' scene

    There was an interview with the Director of this movie not so long ago
    as I remeber it Jacob became aware as he was dying that it was the
    drugs that had made what happen, happen.  All the rest of the film was
    his inclanation of life as it would of been if he had lived.  I believe
    he was so horrified in his drugged state, he couldn't let go until his
    own brain could understand what had happened, after the drugs wore off.
    Or so the director explained it anyway, bit wierd, but a mojorly
    fantastic film
    
    did that make any sense, ha never was any good at explaining things.
    
    

    Re .9
    That's what I'd worked out for myself.  But it took a bit of thinking
    about after the film had finished!   I really enjoyed the film (if
    that's the right word).  It was dark and depressing, but it was very
    thought provoking and I was totally absorbed when I was watching it -
    that's very rare for me.

    
    Re.9
    
    That was how I interpreted it. I was very confused until the quote from
    his chiropractor at the end. I can't remember the exacvt quote, but it
    was the one about letting go once you had found your peace.
    
    Excellent film, but I wouldn't call it a feel bad film. Although it's
    dark and has a depressing view of governments, I think the ending is
    very uplifting. Probably, because the ending is done very well and you
    get a feeling of his peace. I think that feeling probably comes from
    the lighting through the film. All the way through it's very drab
    except the ending which is filled with lots of warm light.
    
    Graham.

    Saw this over the weekend and I keep thinking about it....
    
    I checked the credits carefully to see who played Gabe (the little
    boy), but I didn't see him listed. I thought it was the boy from Home
    Alone fame, can't remeber how to spell or pronounce his name McCaulyor
    something or other....was it him? 
    
    Mrs �
    

    
    yes it was the sickening Master Caulkin...
    
    Graham.

	I saw it and was moved. The plot was interesting, and I love
	films with spiritual values - films that show us there's life
	after death, which I happen to believe in..

	Poul

    I thought it was cack!
    
    
    
    					ian

               <<< DSSDEV::VALKYR$DKA200:[NOTES]MOVIES.NOTE;1 >>>
.14> films that show us there's life after death, which I happen to believe in..
    
    actually 'life during death' is probably a better way to explain it.
    
    
.15> I thought it was cack!
    
    vocabulary alert!!!  what is cack?  It doesn't sound too good.

    
    Crap... Literally...
    
    Graham.

    I thought this was a most strange and interesting movie. I wouldn't
    recommend it for standard entertainment for the normal movie goer, but
    for those with a rather bizzare sense of entertainment..  like me.
    
    :) Michael

    I saw the movie at the theatre years ago, then again at home on video,
    then again a few months later and then maybe again.  I lost count. 
    It's a very complex movie.  That's why I like it so much.
    
    The quote from the chiropractor someone mentioned earlier was from
    Meister Echhart.  It goes something like...
    
    "Hell is that part of you which holds onto life when it's your time to
    die"  
    
    There was another quote, maybe from Eckhart as well....
    
    "The devils you see tearing your life away are really angels freeing
    you".
    
    IMO, all the characters Jacob was hallucinating while dying were
    angels.  The chiropractor would be something aligned to his guardian
    angel (if you will) because he was Jacob's sanctuary and was the only
    one giving him the strainght scoop through the whole experience.  The
    one exception would be his comrad who was also suffering from the
    hallucinations.  I believe in the initial scene of the movie, when the 
    squad was being attacked, that guy got fried and would ba a "lost soul"
    similar to what Jacob was while dying.
    
    Jacob had to let go of his life before he could die and be with his
    son, Gabe (coincidental name?).  His hallucinations begin in a tunnel,
    the NY subway (a tunnel!  sound familiar).  He was lusting after that 
    foxy little brunette who worked in the post office (Jezibell(sp) =
    temptation!!! coincidental??). So he had to work out his lust for her
    before he could die proper.  He was told about the abuse he suffered in
    Nam by his buddies even though he, as a dying victim, knew nothing
    about it. He had to go through the process of forgiving the government,
    or whoever, in the brief time he had yet to live.  His Nam buddies
    (angels) informed him about what happened and eventually set the
    example of letting the matter go.  And the chemist turned out to be a
    person who was looking for forgivness.  Jacob let it go.  Other
    "earthly" baggage Jacob had to let go... food (contents of the frig
    were less than appatizing), money (wallet was stolen), and his body
    (smashed and crashed several times as his guardian angel kept
    *adjusting* him in preparation for his death). At the end, Jacob had
    let everything go.  He even gave the taxi driver his very last bit of
    money if you'll recall.  He had nothing left and just wanted to go
    home.  The "pearly gates" at the apartment complex where a big hint
    about what was going on.  The dark room lit up as the sun was rising.
    And then his son Gabe waiting for him was the clincher.  Jacob died.
    
    "Hell is that part of you which holds onto life when it's your time to
    die"  Jacob went through Hell while he was dying.
    
    "The devils you see tearing your life away are really angels freeing
    you".  Al the angels, the apparently good ones and the bad ones were
    each freeing Jacob.
    
    I wish I knew the Biblical significance of "Jacob's Ladder".  Might
    mean something like taking steps to get to heaven and that would line
    right up with the whole movie. 
    
    And if I watch it again, I'm sure I'll pick up more.  As I said, it's a
    very complex and powerful movie.  It went right over the heads of 90%
    of the audiences when it came out and never did well in the ratings. 
    
    
    -dave
    

	re .-1: excellent review! This was also how I saw the film..

	For me, the strongest part of the film was the scene where
	he suddenly realized what was happening and decided to let
	go - he knew he should go to the apartment, knew the door
	was unlocked etc. (this was also the point where I suddenly
	understood what was happening myself).

	Poul