Tehran- “Here” is a 2024 film by renowned American film director Robert Zemeckis and will be reviewed Sunday evening at the Alasbaran Cultural Center in Tehran.
Film critic Kurosh Jahed will be taking part in a review session following the film’s screening.
“Here,” an adaptation of Richard McGuire’s acclaimed 2014 graphic novel, takes a non-linear approach to storytelling, exploring events that occur in a single plot of land and its inhabitants ranging from prehistoric to 21st centuries. Throughout the film, the visuals are often split into multiple frames, showing different periods simultaneously, increasing the depth of the story.
The plot begins with dinosaurs roaming the land before extinction, and eventually a glacial age that gives way to lush landscapes. The story moves to the people of Renni Lenape and focuses on a couple whose love story is interrupted by heartache and loss marked by the occasional appearance of hummingbirds.
Over time, the land will become part of the property owned by William Franklin, son of Benjamin Franklin. By the turn of the 20th century, the house appears as the central location for most of the narrative action. The Harter couple occupy the house. There, John’s passion for flying ultimately leads to an untimely death from the Spanish flu.
Subsequent residents include Lee, a bohemian inventor, and his wife Stella, a pinup model in the 1940s, who eventually leave to pursue her California dreams. The young family moves in after World War II, raises three children, and faces life challenges, including marriage to Margaret after Richard’s unexpected pregnancy.
The film also chronicles the lives of Al and Rose, facing health challenges, as they scale back to Florida, and continue to change in their homes after they leave. By the early 2000s, Richard and Margaret navigate the complexities of divorce, but new family Harris experiments with their own percentage of heartbreak when family tragedy clashes amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a moving conclusion, Richard returns to his now empty house, trying to spark memories with Margaret, who is struck by dementia. As he revisits special moments in their lives, the film culminates in nostalgic reflections about love and memory, revealing the enduring importance of “here.” The final shot of the hummingbird unites the emotional tapestry woven throughout this story.
sab/