The Nature of Nicholas (2002)
Spoiler Alert
- This film is very intricate and very complex. To
discuss it requires spoiling many of this things about
the film that are better left for discussion until
after you have seen the film. I hate to spoil much
about this film because it is a film seeking distribution
and because it is so powerful and troubling and best
viewed cold. However, because some people may never
get to see the film or because, hopefully, some will
get to see the film and want to discover more about
it on-line, I've decided to write my review as if
the reader has seen the film. You have been warned.
"The Nature of Nicholas" is that
he is gay... It doesn't take us long to figure this
out. But since Nicholas is very young, probably just
11 or 12 and just beginning to struggle through adolescence,
and because he it appears to be living in the 1960's,
he doesn't know what to do with his feelings. The
obvious object of his affection is his young schoolmate,
Bobby. At first we think Bobby will be an typical
antagonist for our hero but very soon we realize that
this is not the case. Bobby is by no means a bully.
Bobby likes a young African-American
girl named Jenna. Even though it appears to be the
60's, nothing about the color of her skin is ever
mentioned. Bobby somewhat forces Nicholas to go to
a party at Jenna's and the game Spin the Bottle is
played. We can see Nicholas is very uncomfortable
when he is called upon to go into a closet and kiss
a girl.
Nicholas has a fairly loving mother
but he uses her as an excuse for why he must stay
home at times and not do the things other boys do,
like go to parties thrown by pretty girls. At first
we think she may be an overbearing busybody but we
come to realize as the film progresses that there
is nothing seemingly abnormal about her. His father,
however, is presumably dead and all Nicholas has left
of the man is the iconic image of his uniform, which
he keeps in his closet. The father is in this uniform
in all of his pictures as well. Eventually the metaphoric
sense of the fatherly (i.e. masculine) pressure of
his memory will manifest itself in his exhumation
from the grave.
When it is implied that Nicholas
presents his homosexual feelings to his chum, a serious
and surprising turn of events begins to take place.
The film begins to take the form of metaphor and Bobby
splits into two personalities, two separate physical
people, the normal child we have seen from the start
of the film and another form that is harrowing and
disturbing. Bobby's alter-ego, presumably his "gay"
side, becomes decaying and zombie-like. For a time
we wonder if this is truly what writer/director Jeff
Erbach is saying. But as the film progresses, this
metaphor becomes more and more painfully obvious.
One has to struggle to determine if it is a wise idea
to present homosexuality as a sickness, a disease,
a death. Again, this is a quite complex film.
One of the things that keeps the
film from seeming derogatory and incorrect is that
it is set in what appears to be the 60's. The costuming,
the sets and the props all appear to be from the early
60's. Wisely Erbach and his production team never
mention a specific date and never venture too far
from home, where it is easy to continually present
this period setting. There are no cars and no real
city settings, for example. In presenting a time period
but not specifically stating what date it is, the
film represents the archaic and outdated mode of thinking
that is at play here. Homosexuality is presented as
a "diseased" idea and a "sickness" because that's
how it was perceived in the past, especially pre 70's.
So the ideal we are presented with here is an antiquated
notion. And the obvious statement is that this antiquated
notion is outdated yet it still exists to this day.
The notion, sadly, is seemingly timeless.
This is why it is important to think
about the African- American teens in the film. Although
this is seemingly the early 60's, a time when a white
boy would never date a "negro" girl, or be allowed
to, that's exactly what happens here. And no adult
steps in. Why? Because the theme of the film, that
homosexuality is treated as wrong and sick is a notion
that is timeless. We presume we are in the early 1960's
but if we truly were, the African-American girl in
the film would not be there in the role she is in.
Some antiquated notions evolve and are foregone. The
African- American girl here is in the mode of the
"present" but the homosexuality in the film is treated
much as it was in the 1960's and before. And the message
is that it is still being presented in that outmoded
ideal today. (It is also important to note that just
as Nicholas must pretend to be something he is not
to be a part of society, the African-American girl
also presents herself as a white girl would have.
She too presumably "pretends" or at the very least
"assimilates" to be accepted).
Erbach's film is nearly perfect.
The use of sound, at times Lynchian, is flawless.
There is almost no music in the film and this, coupled
with its halted pacing, makes the film claustrophobic
and troubling. We're seeing a world where nothing
seems "normal" and everyone, from mothers to friends,
are seemingly not what they appear to be. Abounding
in the film is an uneasiness that reflects Nicholas'
inability to figure out (as well as fit in to) the
real world.
The acting here is amazing, especially
considering that our protagonist is perhaps 12 years
old or so. Jeff Sutton is simply phenomenal as the
title character. Able to express nearly everything
in a quizzical look or a blank expression, Sutton
seems to genuinely understand the complex material
he is presenting and evokes enormous empathy. David
Turnbull, meanwhile, as Bobby, is called upon to present
two characters in one and he too does so with enormous
talent and understanding. Such amazing comprehension
of the complexities of the material from the two young
actors who have never appeared in a feature film before
is amazing. These young men make every moment of the
film work.
Also of note is Ardith Boxall as
Nicholas' mother. Able to present her character as
both accessible and troubling, Boxall makes the relationship
she has with her son fit perfectly into the theme
of the film. She is just distant enough without being
overbearing, just close enough to not be one-dimensional.
And Boxall also seems to truly hold the pacing of
the film that Erbach presents in perfect cadence.
She is the on-screen metronome that keeps the whole
film working perfectly.
"The Nature of Nicholas" reminded
me of several films including "The
Reflecting Skin" and "Play
Dead." Like "Skin," it presents a young boy's
world as metaphor and keeps us involved by continually
asking us to question what is reality and what is
not. Like "Play Dead" it presents a troubling homosexual
theme in a way that doesn't come across as derogatory
yet continually causes us to question whether or not
the whole film is a good idea or not.
But "The Nature of Nicholas" is
surely an important film. While presenting an idea
in a way that makes us both questioning and uneasy,
Erbach has opened us to thinking about exactly how
society treats pubescent sexuality. And how we must
continually work to protect those who are coming to
terms with their own sexual identities while giving
them the freedom to do so on their own way, in their
own time. It's a complex and thought-provoking quandary...
much like the film itself.
Notes:
Also with Tom McCamus.
The wonderful cinematography is
by Brian Rougeau.
Filmed in Canada.
The official site is http://www.thenatureofnicholas.com
The film's tagline: A boy will be
pressured from the grave" is just stupid. This marketing
ploy, of presenting the film as a thriller or a horror
film, makes its entire theme questionable. This needs
to be changed immediately.
Viewed in Austin in March 2003
at the SXSW Film Festival.
