PODCAST-NINE DAYS MOVIE REVIEW

I watched Nine Days a week ago. I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Written and directed by Edson Oda, this surreal film is set in a clapboard house in the middle of a bleak desert. In this house, over the span of nine days, Will (Winston Duke) decides if a soul will be given the gift of life. If the answer is yes, that soul will be born on Earth with all the attributes they already possess. If they are not chosen, they cease to exist.

The souls traverse the desert in batches of five, arriving one after the other. Will interviews the individuals separately, sometimes with the aid of Kyo (Benedict Wong). Will’s questions differ for each candidate; his interrogation style ranges from tender to shockingly aggressive. All along, Will insists there are no right or wrong answers. But it’s clear that some answers will lead to the gift of life and others to permanent extinction.

Once souls are born on Earth, Will observes each of their lives on a 1950’s style TV, a separate screen for each person. A small room contains a bank of televisions running concurrently. The entirety of each life is recorded on a VCR tape(!) and stored in file cabinet (!)—all of which adds to the quirkiness of the film.

As the story opens, Will is dressed in a bow tie and suit jacket. He and Kyo are looking forward to watching one of their charges experience a celebratory milestone in her life. Instead, something shocking happens to this person whom they deeply value. This shakes Will to the core and makes him second guess his ability to accurately choose a soul who can thrive on earth.

Soon after the unsettling event, one by one, members from a new cohort arrive. They are a diverse group, differing in appearance, responses to the questions, and attitudes about the selection process and their prospects. The actors include Tony Hale, Bill Skarsgard, Ariana Ortiz, David Rhysdal and Zazie Beetz. Beetz plays Emma, a vibrant soul who doesn’t play by the rules. She answers Will’s questions with her own questions and surreptitiously observes what happens to the other candidates. Emma’s behavior challenges Will’s rigid perspective on life.

Nine Days is a visual treat. I loved the grim desert shots, which were filmed at Bonneville Flats in Utah. I also like the stuffy, claustrophobic interview scenes that take place in a house that my grandma might have furnished. Both spaces contrasted with the grainy, yet gloriously sensual scenes on earth that are portrayed on the televisions. The cinematographer’s use of color creates a dreamy, intense tone evocative of the tone Edward Hopper achieves with his painting, Nighthawks, a depiction of late-night clientele at a city diner.

The film moves in a non-linear fashion. Oda builds his story slowly, with every detail laden with significance. The structure is much like a hawk circling over its prey, at each turn swooping closer, until a final dive toward its target. Narrative tension builds as the viewer becomes emotionally invested in each character and at the same time realizes only one of them will receive the gift of life.

Will offers a consolation prize to those souls who are not chosen. He creates a simulation of an experience they would have liked to have had on earth. Of course, it is an imperfect facsimile. Oda’s superb storytelling and directing led me to feel deep empathy for each character, even the ones I didn’t like that much. Viewing these consolation scenes just about eviscerated me emotionally.

The film leaves many questions unanswered. Will describes himself as “only a cog in the machine.” We never find out who operates the machine or why they put Will in charge, a man who is so damaged by his own past life on earth. Oda intentionally leaves the questions unanswered, which he says reflects “the gaps” we experience in our lives.

Oda is a Japanese Brazilian man who grew up in Sao Paulo, Brazil and later received a master’s degree film in California. In an interview he says that he wrote the script himself, despite English not being his first language. I found his writing to be nuanced and poetic.

The story is autobiographical. When Oda was twelve, his fifty-year-old uncle died by suicide. As a young adult, Oda identified with his uncle’s depression. He says that this film rose out of his fear of following his uncle’s path. Drawing on his experience with his uncle, Oda explores these themes: To ensure survival on Earth, must you become a self-protective and cynical person? Given that life is inevitably filled with pain and suffering, is it worth living?

Oda slowly and skillfully builds toward an end that is both tragic and redemptive. The last scene puts Winston Duke’s prodigious acting skills on full display. Will’s riveting speech brought me to tears. Although, I wanted this movie to resolve differently, the ending Oda wrote helped me change my perspective on how to survive the hard patches in my life.

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Interested in other movie and series reviews? Check out: DADDIO, GHOSTLIGHT, or HIS THREE DAUGHTERS.

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NINE DAYS

(Photo by Jen Fariello)Deborah Prum’s fiction has appeared in The Virginia Quarterly Review, Across the Margin, Streetlight and other outlets. Her essays air on NPR member stations and have appeared in The Washington Post, Ladies Home Journal and Southern Living, as well as many other places. Check out her WEBSITE. Check out her DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING SERVICES. Check out her PAINTINGS.

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