Longing links absurdities and grief, but it quickly unravels.
Following Daniel's old flame, Rachel (Suzanne Clément) tells him about his son; he visits Canada for the burial and stays to learn about the child he never knew. Here Daniel runs upon a buddy of Allen's who seems to be trying to extort $5000 from him, his curiously young 16-year-old lover, and his teacher Alice (Diane Kruger), about whom he kept notebooks of poetry. With these many hints of Allen's complicated background, Daniel develops a fatherly relationship and affinity to the lad whose life he wishes he could have been actively involved in.
Daniel feels a fatherly bond and camaraderie from these many hints into Allen's complicated life. Gere's acting is subdued and quiet; his character development across the narrative seems to occur in strange flashes as he melds from a detached businessman into a weird absent father and, at last, the flag bearer of Allen's legacy. Another major figure here is Kruger, whose teacher-student relationship with Allen strayed more than a few lines. Her last part in Allen's death becomes still another item for Daniel's obsession.
Themes of Grief & Parenting Miss The Mark Longing
Longing is a complex movie that does a decent job setting up a gripping Drama and then spends the remainder of its running time failing to suitably address the issues it raises. Like Allen with his teacher, Daniel fixes on an imagined version of his son. The eerie dream sequence in which Daniel eventually meets Allen before facing the eerie vision from one of Allen's poems of a massive naked Alice straddling the school building, which has to be seen to be believed, finest captures this separation from reality.
Longing hoped for poignancy, but it fell on ridiculous. Whatever Gabizon is trying to convey never quite succeeds. Though it's awkward, Gere tries his best to make Daniel's ill-considered impulses real. Longing does reflect the risky behavior of a man who wants to be a part of a life he helped construct, as the grieving process is not logical. But in the process, it seems as though he is simply trespassing into a community he does not belong to. Longing hoped for poignancy, but it sadly came out as ridiculous.
Longing is a convoluted film that does a good job setting up a compelling drama; before failing to appropriately respond to the questions it raises
Longing, the English-language debut of filmmaker Savi Gabizon, opens really nicely before gradually losing direction. Alarmed and swiftly tries to phone a lawyer before he finds out the boy died before they ever had a chance to meet, Richard Gere plays aging businessman Daniel Bloch, who discovers via his ex-lover that he had a 19-year-old son named Allen. Daniel seeks to solve the riddle of his son's existence as the narrative moves on; there are poignant moments but generally the tone is odd, the character's logic is unclear, and the execution is awkward.
Longing is a remake of Gabizon's critically praised film Ga'agua, which received accolades on the film festival circuit, hence something basic seems to have been missed in translation. Longing is a moving tale about an absent father trying to make up for lost time, but Gere's star power only helped to lessen the emotional impact of Daniel's perplexing conduct and reasoning, therefore undermining the once-promising potential of this film. Sadly, what worked so brilliantly in Ga'agua felt absolutely ridiculous in Longing, a disheartening turn of events that is usually the result of directors remaking their own films for a larger audience.
A Major Theme of Longing is the Connection Between Absurdity and Grief, but This Idea Switches into Hyperdrive When Daniel Connects with Another Mourning Father in the Graveyard Where Allen Was Buried
Longing then really starts to come apart as Daniel begins organizing a wedding for two dead young people he never met. Though Longing never fully explores this side of the narrative, Daniel's crazy wedding plans may have been a thematic starting point to discuss the often irrational desires of those deep in loss. Rather, they follow his confusing plan to respect his son's legacy after some brief interrogation from other characters including Allen's mother, stepfather, and the bereaved parents of the young girl.
Daniel waxes poetic about his kid's inner emotional life, apparently blind to the reality they never met or spoke and that he didn't even know his son existed until a few days before. Longing is a 2024 movie with a convoluted story looking with love and human connection. Examining the complex life of its individuals, the film negotiates their emotional paths and challenges.
