Waturi even mocks the idea that a normal adult could feel “good”—”I don’t feel good! And where Vivian saves Edward’s elitist cred by wearing that brown polka dotted dress to the polo match, Joe saves Patricia Graynamore’s life with the ridiculous umbrella and the mini-bar. He’s not just there as a prop to Joe’s spiritual enlightenment, and Joe isn’t going to become some surrogate son to him after a few hours—Marshall has his own children, his own style, and a job he seems to enjoy. Thank youMy weblog: best razor for men, I don't even know how I ended up here, but I assumed this put up was great.I do not know who you're however definitely you are going to a well-known blogger if you are not already.Cheers!Here is my website; check my source. Think about it, in Die Hard Hans Gruber pretends to have lofty political ideals in order to pull off a heist, and his entire view of the world comes from magazines; Back to the Future is largely about Marty wanting the trappings of upper middle class life; any John Hughes’ movie could be retitled #firstworldproblems with no loss of emotional resonance. He is isolated and depressed and his life just doesn’t seem much worth living. You could look at it in terms of writer and director John Patrick Shanley’s career, or Tom Hanks’. This is one of my favorite movies. Joe Versus the Volcano is a true early-1990s cult film. The timing is slightly off on this, but I choose to assert that the whole sequence with Marshall is a critique of the Magical Negro crap in general, and Driving Miss Daisy in particular. Sure, he’s going to die in a few months anyway, but he’s choosing to go leap into a volcano. I really enjoyed your analysis and presentation. I studied the way my mother engaged with her mom’s nonsense, or backed away from it. View discussions in 1 other community. It’s also … She has faith. “The way to read a fairy tale is to throw yourself in.” —W.H. How many went from being loved ones to being objects of fear and pity? We have read the Heros'/Writers journey and are in the process of writing our own musical. I have seen this one probably over 20 times and it just baffles me how so few people have heard of it. Luckily, the hotel’s concierge sets her up with an older, female tailor, and then Edward takes her shopping again the next day, and finally leaves her with multiple credit cards so she can go on a spending spree. It has a lot of thematic symbolism, and is better the more times you see it. There is no way to ignore the financial transaction happening here. At the dawn of the ’90s, a film was released that was so quirky, so wei While the red and orange image of the volcano contrasts the drabness of the office, it also indicates danger. Instead of being depressed about their situation, she asks, "Who gets a honeymoon like this?" Thanks for taking the time and the detailed analysis. But once Joe abtains his luggage, he sleeps in a hotel--alone--but in the middle of a bed in expuisite pajamas and sheets with his arms set like in a casket., a death-like albeit peaceful pose The next scene he is in the air in a sleek airplane. JVtV is actually an examination of morality, death, and more particularly the preparation for death that most people in the West do their best to avoid. They are all fundamentally about control. The volcano is symbolic of the sexual magic /Tantra/ The Holy Grail. Who in their right mind wants to watch a comedy about the tedium of work?” And I see your point. "We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." Amazon.com. Come memento her mori on Twitter! The Volcano. level 1. She knows they are going to be okay somehow, and then the luggage appears. No one will miss him, no one will mourn him. Tom Hanks had mostly appeared in light comedies like Big and Splash, with occasional poignant performances in Punchline and Nothing In Common hinting at the multi-Oscar-winner within. Hindmick pulls a gun on Joe to protect Graynamore from Joe's anger, and to allow Graynamore to keep the yacht. When Joe and DeDe are having dinner, he extends his open hand to her, and she puts her tightly balled fist into it. Is this like dying and being raised form the fallen world to the skies and ultimately. Thanks for a great post. Richard O'Connor, PhD, "Undoing Depression". I’ve always been drawn to narratives about death. We need to see the joyful silliness of the Waponis balanced with the real fear that Joe has in the face of the volcano. I love that Harry Potter has to walk into the Forbidden Forest to face Voldemort, that Luke goes to the second Death Star knowing that the Emperor will kill him, that Meg Murry walks back into Camazotz knowing that she can’t defeat IT, and that Atreyu battles Gmork rather than just sitting back and waiting for The Nothing. The two of them teaming up for what looked like a silly rom-com, directed by the guy who wrote Moonstruck? Will love conquer all? Over the course of the film, Joe goes from having a long, tedious life rolling out in front of him, to knowing he only has six months to live, to believing that he only has a few weeks to live, to, now, facing his death from dehydration within a few days. But again, nope. He knew I wanted this boat and he used it and he got me working for him, which I swore I would never do. Joe Vs The Volcano wisdom. When Patricia hears the name of Joe's doctor, she recognizes it as that of her father's personal physician. Or is Joe a jerk for asking her out at all, when he know he only has six months to live? Well done, I will share this over and over. I’m not here to tell you who you are… clothes make the man, I believe that. They are the descendants of a contingent of Druids, Jews, and Romans who shipwrecked at the base of the Big Wu and married into the native families of the island. save. And as if that hellish circular conversation isn’t enough, there’s the green light, the buzzing flourescents, the coffee that can best be described as ‘lumpy’, and the coworkers, who are just as sad and defeated as Joe. 157 joe's pov - island l57 joe versus the volcano - rev. We first see the duck in the doctor's office, just before he tells Joe that he is sick (which is untrue). It is a place where the gods live. The moment that Small Leah found unbearably cheesy now plays as a necessary fairy tale ending, with the adult twists that the Waponis are wiped out, the crew of the Tweedle Dee is dead, Joe and Patricia are now married and need to make that relationship work for longer than five minutes, it seems likely that Joe’s new father-in-law almost murdered him… and that’s all before we address the fact that the newlyweds are drifting through the South Pacific on luggage, with no land in sight. The company logo is seen in the entrance to the factory, in the crumbling wall in Joe's house, in the shape of the lightning bolt that sinks the boat, in the way up to the volcano, and, in the film's trailer (included on the DVD) is the lightning bolt that travels up the film's title and strikes the top. but the suit is, of course, metaphorical. A man can contact higher powers and experience the presence of the gods at a mountain or a volcano. Heroes are supposed to be brave and quippy. Not surprisingly, this is the same ratio of people who like pop music (90) and people who can't stand it (10).My personal opinion is that the 90% represent those who sit in front of something on the screen and want it to be fed to them it little bites that don't require much chewing. The plot of JVtV is simple: sad sack learns he has a terminal illness. All the New Young Adult SFF Books Arriving in February! Noble sacrifices are supposed to be noble, duh. Work isn’t supposed to be fun in Mr. Waturi’s mind, and since he’s the boss he’s allowed to humiliate his worker by treating him like a child, at the same moment that he demands his worker put away childish things. I always thought the duck (or goose) was an omen of Joe getting ridiculed. “Why are you such a buzzkill? Against this despair, Joe makes only a single palliative gesture: bringing a musical lamp in as a Band-Aid to a gushing wound. And wherever I go, I'll still have my trunks! Maybe because of my past, or maybe because of chemistry, I spent a few years in my early 20s waking up each morning with death on my chest. As funny as Joe Versus the Volcano is, though, it deals in some heavy questions about life and meaning, all under the guise of a fable, a myth in sync with the likes of Homer’s The Odyssey. Thus, the luggage salesman probably isn't a drone but someone like an angel who facilitates Joe's passage from this low and fallen world to a higher sphere. John Patrick Shanley's quirky comedy Joe Versus the Volcano comes to DVD with a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Related quizzes can be found here: Joe Versus the Volcano … He’s changed his outward appearance, but that hasn’t really touched his interior life, and he still needs to prepare himself to die. This is one of those typical conversations where we’re all open and sharing our innermost thoughts and it’s all bullshit and a lie and it doesn’t cost you anything! In actuality, Joe Versus the Volcano is a work of profound crypto-philosophy, more on par with Groundhog Day than You’ve Got Mail. This underscores the idea that it isn’t the money that’s transforming Joe. Which again, snobbiness does indeed suck, but perhaps I’m just not seeing a feminist victory in a broke sex worker celebrating capitalism, but only after two older men help her, and only at the expense of two other women (who probably can’t afford to buy any of the stuff they sell). As a result, Joe makes an outlandish decision to alter his life and heads off on his adventure to accomplish it. With Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack. And going a little further into the future, Pretty Woman gives Mergers & Acquisitions—and prostitution—the exact same sheen. After childhood, it’s a fact of life.”. It must represent the principles Joe has learned that will survive his death/s, because you can't take anything with you except what you ahve learned and who you've become. Eventually the crack/decay spreads and the whole house sinks into a lake. Best. ... the movie as a collection of symbolism, then you can really start to enjoy the movie. To withdraw your consent, see Your Choices. Joe is happy at first, then remembers his fate. John Patrick Shanley's quirky comedy Joe Versus the Volcano comes to DVD with a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. And I could treat you like I did back out on the dock, but that would be me kicking myself for selling out, which isn’t fair to you. At the end of the day when Joe asks Marshall to dinner, Marshall refuses. My life! Joe has a lot of baggage in the form of neuroses and hypochondria, but he has no weight—nothing ties him to life. Rather than lying to us and making that somber and orderly, the movie embraces the absurdity by throwing Waponis and luggage salesmen at us, but also giving us that raft scene, and also making us walk up the mountain with Joe. I just watched this movie for the first time, and I looked up some commentary. Behind the cheese factor, however, Joe Versus the Volcano is one of the most deeply impactful films to have come out in the past thirty years, and now, as the world seems increasingly like a lost cause, and nihilism increasingly resembles realism, the message it instills is vital, a spirit-saver. I’ve been trying to write about this scene for a while now, and I always dance around it. 3/17/00. And finally, their third dimension--after surviving the ocean and jumping into the volcano--seems to be an afterworld of peace and no worries. There are a number of ways one could approach Joe Versus the Volcano. One centers on the idea that Joe versus the Volcano is a child's fairy tale inspired by Joe's juvenile lamp, the one with the 'island paradise' pattern that becomes a motif. I guess? It’s also a fascinating critique of the capitalism celebrated in ’80s movie clichés. Replacement of a missing body part with such a device. joe vs the volcano symbolism. It's the goofball characters and sneaky symbolism of the screenplay by Shanley that make this wacko project the comic delight that it is, however. This made Small Leah squirm and back away from the TV. It looks like a movie you can take your kids to. Most of all, it looks like a by-the-numbers rom-com. Amazon.com. The scene where Joe quits is devastating and life-affirming. Her failures as an adult and an artist eat away at her soul, and within a few hours she’s asking Joe is he ever thinks about killing himself. Hanks and Ryan are the right actors to inhabit it, because you can never catch them going for a gag that isn't there: They inhabit the logic of this bizarre world and play by its rules. However, on this episode of HMP, Laurie Chester brings her love for the film and points out some symbolism that makes you question if it's horrible or not. Nobody's talking about the ending. Whether it's Abe Vigoda … Finally Joe meets the neshama, the highest part of his soul, symbolized by Patricia (from the Latin for "noble"), who is searching for independence and meaning, willing to explore philosophical questions and infused with optimism. This is, by far, the best commentary that I’ve seen about Joe Vs. the Volcano including the comments. Caught between a lonely demise in an Outer Borough and a noble (if lava-y) death, sad sack chooses the volcano. She's an optimist. best. spirit, allegory movie w lots of symbolism, a fable. It was a slow degradation under flickering pale light. Yes, he gets an Armani tux, but we later learn it’s the suit he plans to die in. Joe Versus The Volcano (DVD) Tom Hanks stars as Joe, a squashed bug of a guy under the heel of ahideous corporation, working in an awful office with bad air, bad lightand lousy coffee...Then everything changes in this romantic comedy aboutcourage and a man's soul ... of a man coming back to life on a journeythat takes him halfway around the world. In the movie, she wants to give up the fight and commit suicide. The point of this is that Marshall has his own life. They are pure and in love, they sacrifice their desires for something greater. Once he buys his luggage, he has a physical tether, in the form of ridiculous bags that he has to cart around everywhere. And here’s where Shanley’s background in the theater shines. But rather than taking the obvious route and having Joe abandon his baggage as he gets closer to the Big Wu, the movie follows its own crooked path. Really superb!I'd like to add a bit more to the symbolism of regaining Joe's lost soul: In Kabbalah, there are three levels to the soul. Yes, it's flawed, and the Deus Ex Machina ending somewhat unforgivable. Hi, great observations about this profound movie. "941" must mean something (Joe vs the Volcano was pre-Matrix and we KNOW how the numbers in The Matrix are very symbolic....haven't figured it out ..yet...btw in the Tarot deck The Devil is XIV and the Lovers are VI ....Joe and Patricia become paradoxically "unchained" from the "things of Man" (The Devil- matter- material) thru the Divine sacred love of the Lovers- ...all paradoxical like the Divine Feminine .....2016 = 9- wake up- we are waking up ... :). I liked the message about the sacrifice he endures to preserve his relationship with the elevated soul, which brings him to the realization that he appreciates life and thanks God for being alive. DeDe seems like she could have walked in off the set of Moonstruck, actually. - … Indeed, the … By jumping in (to the mysteries) together is what grants them eternal life. Tom Hanks' character finds redemption on an unlikely and surreal voyage. Joe Versus The Volcano (DVD) Tom Hanks stars as Joe, a squashed bug of a guy under the heel of ahideous corporation, working in an awful office with bad air, bad lightand lousy coffee...Then everything changes in this romantic comedy aboutcourage and a man's soul ... of a man coming back to life on a journeythat takes him halfway around the world. In the same way, Joe Versus the Volcano talks about people losing their souls, but not to sin or hell, just to the grind of everyday life. View discussions in 1 other community. Attempting to be a voice of reason in an unreasonable world. 157 joe's pov - island l57 joe versus the volcano - rev. When a hypochondriac learns that he is dying, he accepts an offer to throw himself in a volcano at a tropical island, and along the way there, learns to truly live. Hedaya essentially repeats endless minor variations on the same … Thank you so much for taking the time to post such a comprehensive study. Joe survived the temptation test of Angelica as siren and qualified to move on to V and the yacht. As a child I couldn’t accept that. JVtV’s peak comes a few days after the sinking of the Tweedle Dee, when Joe, sun-addled and delirious from dehydration, watches the moon rise. Of course, we can also see this is a horrifyingly bleak business transaction, in which Joe is literally selling his life now that he’s gotten a better offer than $300 a week. Now, about Marshall. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. If they still could, my grandparents would choose to be that person under the moon, arms raised, accepting and alive. Yes, he gets a haircut, but when he does it’s not a huge reveal of a new beauty—rather Marshall, the chauffeur who’s been driving him around (more on him in a sec) says, “You’re coming into focus, now”. It's the part of us seeking comfort. In this Invaders from Mars -like dream logic, the movie is a stylized picture book because it's being dreamed by a reader of stylized picture books, a kid. As funny as Joe Versus the Volcano is, though, it deals in some heavy questions about life and meaning, all under the guise of a fable, a myth in sync with the likes of Homer’s The Odyssey. If we want to look at this scene positively, he’s trading 5 months of life with no money and a painless death for a few weeks of extreme money, adventure, and a death that will be terrifying and extremely painful, but also intentional. 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