Review of Indignation (2016) by Jim B — 22 Aug 2017

Having read a number of members' reviews, it occurred to me that appreciation of this movie's plot threads are easily missed by younger generations of viewers. Having grown up in a time close enough to its setting, I instantly became immersed in its unfolding.

The film is, indeed, accurately described as a coming of age movie. In contemporary times, we've become accustomed to films that are brash, raw in passions, in your face obvious actions. But this film presents the issues involved with the subtlety, quiet intensity, and nuance which corresponds to what it seeks to portray.

There is a sense of the unspoken but ever-present influence of the Jew as "other," as seen when the Dean informs Marcus he was purposely assigned to Jewish roommates. And despite the fact that Marcus had deliberately stated his father's profession was "butcher," the Dean repeatedly inserted his own preference for qualifying that with the terms "kosher" butcher.

The Dean saw Marcus' intention was to view himself and to be viewed as a rational, non-sectarian person, but it became clear that Dean Caudwell took it on himself to put Marcus in his place, to accept the category prescribed for him.

He was determined to make him conform. Marcus, a highly intelligent, well read young man refused to submit. Checked, the Dean then began attempt to pry into Marcus' personal life, his relationship to his mother and father.

The result was a tension-ridden psychological arm-wrestling match, where, again, Marcus refused to tolerate the Dean's underhanded ploy. The centerpiece of the film is Marcus' being drawn ineluctably to the luminously pretty Olivia.

It is a classic case of an inexperienced young man being dazzled into pursuing a young woman, one who as he begins to learn has had more experience than his virgin status. We see to warning signs: the surprising sex on the first date--almost unthinkable in the early 50's US, the scar on Olivia's arm from an attempted suicide, her allusion to that being the reason she left her previous college.

But even as Marcus learns of these things, his growing intoxication with Olivia blinds him to their implications, with the ultimate tragic results. And that's what this movie is: a tragedy. A brilliant young man with a bright future is ultimately undone by a beautiful but deeply flawed young woman.

"She's weak," said Marcus' wise mother, "but her weakness is her strength." But, despite his agreement to stop seeing Olivia, his fate has already been sealed. Once you tune in to the themes and emotions that flow through this movie, it carries you rapt to its jarring and tragic conclusion.

A wonderful film.