Steven Hunter - The Jacket

Predestination?

The Jacket was released in 2005 and stars Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley. The film tells the story of a military man who has amnesia and gets put into a psychiatric hospital. At the hospital, the man has experimental tests done on him, but while in the drawer many strange thins happen to him. The man actually travels in the future and finds out about his death.

The movie was very good and one of the more entertaining movies we have watched so far. The imagery of Brody in the morgue drawer has significant meaning. He can only go into the future when inside the drawer, yet the drawer is meant for the dead. It is a great contrast because something that is used for death actually somewhat brings life to a person. The sounds when he entered the future where that of electrical circuits shorting out. This gave the idea that the mind was short circuiting and going somewhere not explored under normal circumstances. Another significant aspect of the imagery was that Brody kept his eyes open in the drawer. This alludes to the fact that the “eyes are the window to the soul.” This was cool because Brody’s eyes acted as a doorway into another realm of reality. Brody basically reaches a point where his mind entered a different realm. This could be due to the traumatic events he felt while at war. This coincides with the fact that once a certain amount of pain is felt, the mind can find a place to escape the pain. It is like the mediations that monks due to escape their reality and be free from attachments. Also, the movie relates to the point of predestination. Brody knew when he would die and could due nothing to stop it. This idea of fate was a main focus in the movie. It makes a person think, how much of our reality is predetermined by a greater being? I believe that God knows everything, but allows us to use our free will to make our choices.