The Thirtieth Night

 

Last Saturday, Nick was annoyed after watching An American Werewolf in London.

He had wanted to impress a colleague from work and went with her to a midnight screening.

— What a ridiculous movie!

— You don't like horror films?

— Not really. They're just so ridiculous and absurd.

— A young man turning into a savage beast under the full moon seems ridiculous and absurd to you?

— You’re not about to tell me you believe in werewolves, are you?

— Never have I shared a room with one, I’ll admit. Perhaps they don’t exist. But the idea of someone being the victim of something inside themselves, something uncontrollable… that’s deeply dramatic. That American Werewolf in London is just as much a drama as Duet for One is a horror film.

— Wait—what's that one?

— Ah, a marvelous film. It's about a violinist who is struck with multiple sclerosis.

Nick chewed on my words for a moment, then said:

— So you're sayin’… lycanthropy is like, a symbol for something real.

— Exactly. As though the fantastic element is the ‘X’ in an equation; a space where any value could be placed.

— And those little ghost dudes that keep following him around?

— It’s quite clear that, as the wolf, he has no memory of his actions. So those he killed return to remind him of what he’s done. And more: they tell him that as long as he lives, they can never rest — which means he’ll forever be haunted by his victims.

— Guilt!

— Perhaps remorse. So we have this werewolf he can’t control… and, let’s admit it, remorse — which he also can’t control. And he can’t escape either, unless he kills the beast… which means, killing himself.

— So the movie’s about euthanasia?

— I wouldn’t go that far. Others might interpret it differently. Let’s use a broader term: suicide. According to the film, he must take his own life to kill the beast and bring peace to those he killed. Taking one’s own life is suicide. Of course, the movie also allows for the beast — and the man — to be killed by others, which would make it murder.

— One way or another, it’s gotta end in death. Huh… when you put it that way, it kinda makes sense.

— Of course, if we put these ideas to the film’s director, it’s quite likely he’d call us fools and laugh in our faces. Perhaps all he wanted was to scare people and make them laugh between the screams. Maybe for him, the point of the movie was simply to put money in his pocket. But once he made the film and released it into the world… well, the child is no longer his. Each viewer becomes a sort of “parent” to it, projecting their own values and interpretations — often more revealing of themselves than of the filmmaker’s intent.

— Yeah… I guess I’m not really into fantasy stuff. I like more down-to-earth stories.

— Wanna watch Duet for One?

— Totally! Let’s do it.

By the time the film ended, we were two souls in love with the same story.