Jacob's Ladder (1990)

[Dementeleus]

Discuss.

[mattmav45]

Simply a helluva film.

 

I watched this one in my early high school years and as a result was not able to give it the attention or respect it deserved.  This is a surreal and haunting look into PTSD.  The imagery in the film goes a long way into providing the background and support into the delusions and paranoia at hand here.  Tim Robbins is fantastic in this.

 

A couple of scenes stick out to me.  When Jacob was placed in the ice bath and had the dream where he was still with his family, I interpreted this as showing that his life post-war was a complete and utter surreal nightmare.  He even tells his wife that he was dreaming he was with another woman that worked at the post office, and that in of itself was a nightmare.  In retrospect it appears Jacob never did return from the war.

 

Finally, the last scene in which he supposedly dies in the war.  I didn't necessarily interpret this at face value.  Instead, I thought it was a symbolic way of saying that the war, for all intents and purposes, killed Jacob.  As the film eloquently showed, there was no real chance of living thereafter.

 

This is a film that consistently reaches greatness and surprised me in the best kind of way.  Damn good.

[Squaremaster316]

What the Silent Hill films should have been.