The Yellow Handkerchief: A Part not Apart

Have you ever had a weekend that was utterly rejuvenating and yet extraordinarily exhausting simultaneously?  If you pretend that my weekend began last Wednesday then that previous statement would apply to me. There were lots of friends, old and new, lots of food, lots of alcohol, and most importantly lots of laughter. While all I want to do is curl up in my bed with a bottle of aspirin and sleep forever, I also want to shout from the rooftops just how incredible most people in this world are. 

I feel refreshed. I also feel ready to announce this week’s winner of JHiggs’ awesome giveaway.

Congratulations, JWink22! I so very excited you won this because you are a long time supporter, reader, and commenter of KSIBTU. I love you. I appreciate you. I’m excited for you, and I will be contacting you shortly to discuss the next step!

Now I feel ready to talk about The Yellow Handkerchief. This is one of my favorite Kristen movies because I find her performance rather honest. She doesn’t say very much, but when she does say something I find that it isn’t bullshit. A lot of times lines are put in a movie to create dialogue, but every word she says in this movie has a distinct purpose.  For me the biggest selling point of this movie is the growth of all of the characters and as cliché that it sounds, it’s entirely applicable to this movie. William Hurt’s character, Brett, doesn’t belittle the kids as they give him advice. I wholeheartedly appreciate that fact. He doesn’t treat them like children; he treats them as his equals, and in the end—they certainly pulled through for him.

The movie opens with Brett getting out of jail, and I’m going to cut right to the chase—I was about 99% sure for the majority of the movie that he killed his wife.  All of the shady scenes between the two of them made me ponder how he only got 6 years for that. In the midst of it all I recalled the poster for this movie that looks as such:

so THAT is where that ridonk manip is from.

And I was like oh my word, how fucked up is it that they show him with his wife that he freaking killed! My mind automatically goes to the worst-case scenario. 

I got a little ahead of myself there for a moment though. We then cut to a diner where we meet Gordy, played by Eddie Redmayne, walking around. Then it cuts to Martine, played by Her Holy Hotness, getting rejected by a boy. What an a-hole he is, ya know!? 

come to meeeee!!! I won't reject you, Kristen Martine

I kid, but in all sincerity it kind of stings when you watch someone getting rejected, you know? 

Anyhow, we watch as Gordy asks for cameras with expired film and we begin to realize that he’s a bit… quirky to say the least. He’s that kid, and I hate using the word weird, but he is—he’s a bit weird. (We’re ALL weird.) There is something a little off about him but he is just so darn friendly that you feel bad for him. My initial thoughts were that he was made fun of in school and always overcompensated with kindness and trying to talk to anyone who he could find. I was partially wrong on that one, thankfully. 

The three of them end up waiting for the same boat to cross the river and Gordy begins to mess up his cameras. He then tells Martine to do something so he can take a picture.

#BallerinaStew

I am thoroughly impressed at Kristen’s flexibility. I can't lift my foot off of the floor. Keep your heads out of the gutter for like five seconds while we ponder the fact that I never even knew she had these abilities, whether they are perfect or not. I suck at dancing. Ask any of the ladies who saw it this weekend, but some people just like to dance. I like to dance and in this movie so did Martine. I like when stars surprise you, like how Anne Hathaway has an incredible voice? Well, Kristen Stewart is like a little ballerina, and I also kind of like how it is never discussed, you know? Every chance she has while stagnant she is always moving, but we never really get into why that is. 

Then they are in Gordy’s car and a storm comes. Then I hid. 

Dear Toronto,

Found this while googling thunder storms.

I'm never coming back.

<3,

Me

Did you guys know that thunderstorms are my greatest fear in life? I think I may have told you this, but I sincerely mean it. I will shake, cry and freak the eff out. It is an entirely irrational fear, one I have NO control over. Then again, aren’t most of our fears irrational?

The three then end up together in a motel room because of the terrible rain.  Martine calls her father and has a tumultuous talk with him. At the very end she calls to him and her father hangs up. And so she goes into the bathroom and she cries and my heart breaks. There is nothing worse than being a child with unreciprocated love. I personally know many people who grew up without their parents telling them they loved them for no other reason then it just wasn’t their thing. Since we are all friends here I have no qualms telling you that I never had that kind of relationship with my father—I just didn’t. I knew he loved me, but saying it? It just wasn’t said—ever—literally until I was 18. Now he says it all the time, but it’s something I remember and that says something in it of itself.

I adore this picture and scene.

It can be hurtful, and although you know they love you deep down inside—it doesn’t matter. Words matter. Affirmation matters. Hearing people you love so desperately reciprocate those feelings makes you feel worthy of the feeling in the first place.

Kristen’s reaction to her father is heartfelt for me, and it’s genuine, and it’s something everyone has felt once in his or her life. It’s real.

Brett then says he is going to sleep in the bathroom, aka confine himself, and that leaves Martine and Gordy alone. Two teenagers alone in a motel room means one thing, and Gordy tries to get some with a Jedi-mind trick. 

“You’re so pretty when you do certain stuff, it kind of makes me horny. I’m getting obsessed. I think it would go away if you just kissed me once, it wouldn’t be this obsession thing. What do you say?”

“So it’s like an obsession thing? You touch me and it goes away?”

“Kind of, yeah.”

“Why is that?”

“The mystery is gone.”

ORLY?

the determination on that face, damn.

But then it’s too much too fast and he is pinning her down and she is wondering how she got there because she is still too lost in her own life to understand any new possible feelings. 

That being said—that night she expressed feelings (between her dad and Gordy), and in the next scene her leggings are gone. One layer of her exterior layers of protection has now been shed. Interesting. 

She then engages in a real talk with Brett, and it is so very clear that their chemistry together is perfection. He intrigues her, but she feels oddly comfortable around him. I can’t help but wonder if it’s because he’s a father figure she so desperately desires. He is kind, gentle and protective over her, for a 15 year old girl who feels lost in her own skin, what more could she want?

(o_O)

Let’s cut to the scene where Brett and May are about to make kissy time and he gets a bit overzealous and then goes crazy breaking her window. This was when I was 99.9% sure he killed her and I was freaked out as to why he was hanging out with a bunch of kids. 

When the car fails to work, Martine has another conversation with Brett for a while and Gordy finally puts her self absorbed and needy ass in its place.

“I’m gonna start walking soon.”

“Fine, walk.”

Low and behold, by the time they begin to drive the next day, her red undershirt is now gone as well.

The altercation outside of the convenience store happens and then the three speed away. I think this is my second favorite scene in the entire movie because it is the first time we get to really see Gordy. It is the first time he breaks through his goofy exterior and breaks down, and it’s the first time Martine engages him.  It’s the first time she can really see that everyone has shit they are dealing with and perhaps she isn’t alone in being alone. 

Close ya mouth! You'll catch flies!

And then the cops pull them over and they watch as their friend gets handcuffed and taken away. 

You know what made my heart soar? They waited for him. They had enough faith in this stranger that they only knew for two days to wait for him. I would’ve never waited—in fact I would never have the courage to take the journey in the first place.

We then cut to Brett and May finding out they are having a baby, and I’m ecstatic. Here is this man who has been in and out of jail since he was a child and he finally has something to live for. He finally has something to be good for, and he is so excited. I sincerely didn’t know what his reaction would be, but I find nothing sexier than a man who is so excited to be a dad—a good dad. 

But it’s sad, and May has a miscarriage and it is blamed on the fact that she has had an abortion. Brett can’t deal with it and he blames her. I hate that. I sincerely hate that aspect of this movie. I don’t care if it’s true or not, I don’t like it. He has a right to be upset but he does not have a right to make her feel badly for her past decisions. It’s not an easy choice to make—so he took something she most likely thinks about every day of her life and threw it right back in her face. No.

Now for the part of manslaughter. We find out that Brett was in an argument with May, a passionate one, and what may have seemed like him hurting her was seen by an outsider. The man tries to pull him off of May, Brett hits him, and the man happens to hit his head on a fire hydrant and die upon impact.

Martine loses it. This is my favorite scene in the whole movie and Kristen at her finest.

Are you preggers? You're absolutely glowing

“That was an accident. It was an accident.”

“No accidents.”

“What did May do after that?”

“May? I only saw May one time after that.”

“One time! Why! I would’ve waited. If somebody had loved me like that I would’ve waited and waited. You had a fight. It was an accident. I would’ve waited for years and years. She’s cold.”

And so she sits and cries. She cries because Brett actually left someone that loved him, and Martine has been left by someone she loves. It’s the opposite for her, and here she is still waiting for her father to just fucking call her phone—to care—to do something. All she wants is to be loved and to have someone wonder where she is or how she is doing--and here Brett is, someone who had it all and he willingly walked away from it all.

Although this is my favorite scene as far as Kristen’s acting goes, I hate this idea. I hate it. Why is that?

I have mentioned my friend Lizzie several times before on this blog. Lizzie once had a male friend and for this sake we shall call him Peter. Peter and Lizzie had gone on several dates, but nothing ever romantically transpired between them so they opted to stay good friends. One night they were walking home from a bar with a couple of friends on campus. A boy runs up to Peter and asks him for his wallet. Peter tells him to get lost. The boy punches Peter in the head. Peter falls to the ground.

Dead upon impact. 20 fucking years old. 

Imagine being that parent? Getting that call that your son was walking home, got hit in the head, and now he’s dead? Unforgivable, no matter what.  An accident doesn’t remedy a situation and jail doesn’t bring him to life. There is no right answer to this, but this was a situation that I partially lived through and I just felt like this movie romanticized it. Many of you will disagree with me, but I hope you can understand where I am coming from when I say—the situation being an accident doesn’t make it better and it is not an ample justification. A dead man/father (kid) is a dead man/father (kid). 

The only redeeming quality about this, for me, was his owning it. Brett owned it, and May even said it, “my husband put himself in jail.” I sighed a big sigh of relief when I heard that because he was taking ENTIRE responsibility for his wrongdoings and he understood why they were so wrong. He wasn’t hopeless. He wasn’t heartless. He gets it. He understands. Thank baby Jesus for that. 

Martine and Gordy are left alone and he asks why she trusted Brett.

“I trust sad people.”

“I’m sad.”

“Do you think I shouldn’t trust him?”

“I think you should love him. He’s as good as anyone else. He’s fucked everything up.”

I think we all know we are no longer talking about Brett.  Then my favorite line of the entire movie is said,

“I’ve never felt a part of anything here, I’ve always been apart from everything.”

A part. Apart. Those words mean EVERYTHING to us as human beings. No one wants to be apart. Everyone wants to be a part. What a play on words. Ugh, so fucking beautiful, seriously. 

Gordy and Martine finally have an honest conversation, and the next morning she wakes up and has his shirt on.

This movie warms my heart.

All layers (excluding pants, but let’s be serious) were shed. Nothing that was a part of her in the beginning is there any more. She has shed her secrets, her insecurities, her faults and her fears—and there she is--with a boy who cares about her. 

When the two of them are sitting at breakfast all cute and shit and you cannot help but smile. #LoveFTW!

Brett explains his postcard and his request to his ex-wife. I’m a sucker for a good love story so I was flying high when the kids wouldn’t take no for an answer. Here’s what I love. Brett brought Martine and Gordy to a point where they had no choice but to be honest with each other and most importantly themselves.  People who feel alone are together in their aloneness, and once you realize that—you aren’t so alone.

They returned the favor. They get into that car and start searching and when we come up empty handed and I want to gut May. But then? Then Martine spots a bunch of yellow squares flapping in the wind and we find all of the yellow handkerchiefs hanging around her houseboat like a sail. And they embrace—all four of them—and in that moment there is nothing but love.

oh my gosh, William's face. STOP.

Sappy ending but a great one-- they were a part of something not apart from everything.

The plotline of this movie could’ve been entirely trite: three lost souls on a road trip searching for something real, one more lost than the next one. But it wasn’t. The actors who played these characters entirely redeemed a story that could’ve otherwise been less than lackluster. 

Gordy and Martine 4eva.

Eddie Redmayne was a real surprise for me. I read that he went to Eton and was a veteran of Shakespeare. His accent is fucking FLAWLESS. FLAWLESS. I know a couple of other British actors whose native tongue sometimes peaks through. Eddie was on the money with every freaking line. He possessed the spunk and charisma needed for this role all the while being able to emit the proper emotion when necessary. It was genuine and came from a real place.

William Hurt? What is there to say? He’s phenomenal. He carries the movie, obviously, seeing as he is the main character. I love his voice. His inflections. His mannerisms. His calming aura. His sense of knowing; I love everything about him. 

awwww

But Kristen. I love Martine. I think she did a very good job with that accent. I’m not 100% on it, but it’s rather charming. She is very authentic in this movie and very aware of what she is playing. Her sense of longing for love is so very apparent, and yet she is open to what she is experiencing. Her growth is visible but more importantly believable. She isn’t perfect at the end—but she is perfect in her imperfections. She’s aware and she doesn’t feel as alone, and at the end of the day that’s all we can ask for. People. Someone to care.

Roger Ebert put it best in his review of The Yellow Handkerchief,

“Stewart is, quite simply, a wonderful actress.”

You can't not smile looking at this.

Well now I think that makes KStew better than you.

[A/N: To @Buff_82, @BellasMummy86, @Cindelro, @CheerySarcasm, @CalliopeBlabs, @FeelGoodEachDay, @Just2cusmile, @KSpice75, @quiet_soliloquy, and @theurbanwhisk: you ladies made this past weekend fantastic. Baby showers, sangria, bagels, more sangria, prosecco, vodka (lots), and karaoke—my word—there is no better life than this one.  

Now for the movie: thoughts on TYH? Favorite parts? Favorite lines? Parts you didn’t like? Overall feelings in general? Let’s discuss. I am no longer away so I can RESPOND to you guys again! Yeehaw! I will see you here Friday, as per usual, so have a kick ass week!

Oh, and one more thing.  Sometimes we feel as if we are apart from everything and it sucks. Always know that you are a part of THIS, right here, and you can never be alone in that.]