Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

Kinda floored.

There's an old Jewish parable about a prince who believes he's a chicken. The king sends for wise men from the farthest reaches of the kingdom to help revert the boy back to the regular, human prince that he is. They try reasoning with him, negotiating, bribing. Nothing works.
Then, a Rabbi comes. He strips down to his underwear and begins pecking food on the ground just like the prince has been doing. He tells him, "I'm a chicken just like you. Mind if I join you?" After a couple of days of living like this with him, and the boy convinced now that the Rabbi is indeed also a chicken, the Rabbi puts on pants. "What are you doing?', asks the boy. "Well, my legs are getting cold," responds the Rabbi. "But I can put on pants and still be a chicken can't I.". The boy agrees with the logic and, since his legs are also cold, joins in. Slowly but surely, the Rabbi adds more normalcy to his life: putting on a shirt, shoes, eating from a plate, etc. And the boy joins in. After a couple of weeks, the boy and the Rabbi are acting completely normally. "But don't worry," the Rabbi tells the boy. "They just think we're humans. We know that we're actually still chickens."

That parable always stuck with me. The gentle educational method. Not resisting, but giving in to the madness and helping guide the person back to reality by going along with them. Allowing them to cope with reality in the way that they need and supporting them rather than scolding. Introducing normalcy only as they're ready and only on their terms.

The doctor in the movie, and the entire community, reminded me of the parable. Going along with Lars' psychosis. Understanding that this is what he needs to cope with the craziness of his past. The craziness of life. They "go along" with him but in fact are also affected by living the life that hes created. They're also affected positively. Maybe Lars wasn't mad after all. Maybe the chicken prince figured out the actual way to approach this crazy thing we call life.

The movie has a tightrope walk to walk. Lean one way too much and it becomes an absurdist comedy. Lean the other and it's a serious melodrama. It walks the line really well. The directing supports the necessary tone, but all credit is due to the script and performance by Gosling. I can't imagine anyone else doing it. Funny in a sad way when necessary. Depressed, earnest, soft-spoken when it's called for.

Impressed by this movie.