Wednesday, September 21, 2005
The Woodsman

Kevin Bacon (left) as the central character, Walter, in "The Woodsman"









"We are quick to forgive our own trespasses, slower to forgive those of others.The challenge of a moral life is to do nothing that needs forgiveness.In that sense,we're all out on parole."

- Roger Ebert in his review of "The Woodsman".


"The Woodsman" is not an easy film to sit through.I've heard about this film for sometime now but have put off watching it until now...because of its difficult object matter:Paedophilia.

But this film isn't just about it.It's about a paedophile's psyche and the struggles that he/she might go through.It's a movie portraying how a child molester/paedophile named Walter (Kevin Bacon),who after serving 12 years in prisons for molesting a couple of kids,was released on supervised parole to allow him to try and re-enter society.


Arriving in the city of Philadelphia,he is moved into a small apartment across the street from an elementary school and is given a job at a lumberyard,indeed a second chance.A quiet and guarded man who keeps to himself at his workplace,Walter finds unexpected solace from Vickie (Kyra Sedgwick), a tough-talking woman who promises not to judge him for his history.

But Walter cannot escape his past.As convicted sex offender,Walter is shunned by all his family,except his brother-in-law,Carlos (Benjamin Bratt),lives in fear of being discovered at work, and is hounded by a suspicious local police officer,Sgt Lucas (Mos Def).The film is a quiet observation about this man as he tries to re-enter the world even while he is battling his own inner demons;his sense of morality which tells him that what he is doing/feeling is wrong,his desire to be normal versus his innate sexual desires which he is continually fighting against but gives in to sometimes...all this even while he observes another dangerous paedophile at work opposite his house.

The storyline is simple and the narrative straightforward,what the movie gets right is,I feel,its refusal to get into didacticism and its refusal to paint Walter as some all-out pitiful character nor an outright monster.

"The Woodsman",because of its observational style,looks for us to peer into this man's life and understand his struggles,this does not necessarily involve pitying him.And sometimes,while it is easy to feel pity for him,the movie's straightforward style also makes it easy for us to be disgusted/sickened by his behaviour.For an actor to take up such an unenviable role and to furthermore,put in a wonderful performance is quite a monumental task.Step forward Kevin Bacon.

I have seen some of the Oscar-nominated performances of the past season and Bacon's performance is at least equal (but how does one measure equals or better anyway since subject matter is different and how much a performance touches each individual is different as well) to most of these other nominated peformances.It is criminal that he wasn't nominated but bearing in the mind the subject matter,it is easy to see why.But still,I am less applauding for the bravery of taking up the role than his performance,which is breathtaking.

Sometimes,in the presence of a meaty role,it is very easy to be flaunt your acting chops and become flashy and overact.Bacon's understated,low-key and honest performance is instead a stamp of approval to the maxim that sometimes "less is more".But while Bacon is praiseworthy,he was ably supported by a good cast consisting of Sedgwick,Bratt (wow,the guy can actually act),Mos Def,Eve and I think,the child actress who will probably be ignored,Hannah Pilkes...because of her minimal (but impactful) involvement.


I cannot talk about this movie without talking about,what I perceive to be,the central and most important scene in the movie.Indeed,the movie probably revolved around that pivotal scene,which (may have) changed Walter's life around.

The scene occurs late in the film where Walter stalks an 11-year old girl named Robin (Hannah Pilkes), who has a love of bird-watching to a park,leading to a conversation on a bench.And as they converse and his desire for her mounts, he realizes that she has been the victim of abuse by her father.The conversation is unsettling because of the dynamic between the two of them.The resolution of this conflict would mark a major turning point in Walter's life.


At the end,I have to go back to Ebert's comment...which didn't strike me until after a while.While watching the movie and up till the point of finisihing it,I was content to mark it down as an excellent character study detailing the struggles of a paedophile trying to better himself while re-intergreting into society,an honest look at a reforming paedophile's deepest psyche and of those around him.

And then I realised that the movie could so very easily be about ourselves.Watch the reactions of his colleagues when they find out about Walter's past crimes and especially Mary-Kay's (Eve) almost unforgiving and biased attitude towards Walter when she found out about his past and her unrelenting efforts to drive the man out of the workplace by exposing his crimes to all.

"People has a right to know",she says.

But why didn't she own up when the boss,Bob (David Alan Grier) questioned openly on who exposed Walter's criminal past?Are we too quick to forgive our own trespasses while being judgmental (and unforgiving) of others?

8/10