In truth, it's more of the latter; a dark tale of possession hidden well, behind
a glossy, comedic covering. Those who saw nothing scary about Being John
Malkovich, and thought it was no more than a surreal version of Big,
missed the point.Craig Schwartz is a talented puppeteer but an unappreciated one, eeking out an
existence with his craft on the streets. His wife, Lotte, surrounds herself
with animals which she loves more than her husband.
Forced into finding a job to pay the way, Craig takes up a post as a filing
clerk with the Lester Corporation; an organisation which has its low-ceiling
offices between the 7th and 8th floors of a Manhattan skyscraper.
Here he meets Maxine Lund, the object of Craig's unrequited love and here is
where he discovers a portal which leads directly into the mind of John
Malkovich, real-life star of theatre and TV.
Maxine teams up with Craig to commercially exploit this portal and give the
public first hand experience of what it's like to be John Malkovich.
Lotte falls in love with Maxine, as Craig has done before, but both are spurned
until Lotte, and later Craig, enter Malkovich whilst she engages in sexual
activities with him.
Craig eventually finds a way to remain within Malkovich, partners with Maxine
and sets Malkovich on the path of a new career; puppet master.
Having found himself a new future, Craig's life becomes less than happy as
Maxine loses interest in him and longs to be with Lotte and, unknown to him,
Dr Lester, owner of the Lester Corporation, has his eyes on the portal,
seeing Malkovich as the way to achieving eternal existence.
The concept of actually peeking inside someone's mind and seeing the world
through their eyes is bizarre, taking over a body and using it as a host,
better than one's own, is stranger still.
It's a worrying idea, but not one which is uncommon as people wish they were
someone else, living the exciting lives they believe their pop star and soap
opera heroes have. We'd all like a better life; why not take it ?
There are some interesting issues raised throughout the film; Craig's belief
that to excel at his craft he must, "Get into the minds of his puppets", is
reflected brazenly as he controls Malkovich. That he escapes his own drab life
by living through his puppets is twisted, sadly predictably, as he is finally
trapped by this idea.
Maxine, unconventionally, rejects the notion that it's what's inside a
person that counts, being only able to love Craig and Lotte when inside
Malkovich and not as fleshy individuals. When the chips are finally down, and
Malkovich is freed from Craig and Lotte's presence, Maxine's choice of
lover is an interesting one, and not one which doesn't raise some
questions as to reasons of choice.
Lotte's, post portal trip, realisation that she should have been a man, perhaps
a lesbian, begs us to ask just how much are we formed by what we are and not by
what we could be. Would we still be the same if we were in a different body ?
Sean Penn's cameo appearance proclaiming that he too will be taking up the art
of puppeteer is a reminder that super-stars might too have aspirations to be
someone else, just like the rest of us.
The whole idea of the cramped 7th and a half floor dominates the proceedings
and, along with Floris, Dr Lester's hearing impaired secretary, helped
the comedy flow, but, whilst an overwhelming feature of the film, it seemed a
deliberate distraction to the real message.
John Malkovich, playing himself, was the vehicle for this film and a fine job
he did, allowing himself, albeit fictionally, to be opened up to the world.
He's bound to suffer the result of some confusion amongst his fan base where
there are those can't tell the actor from the character, let alone able to
separate the real life he lives from that portrayed on film. That the actor
was the character but the character wasn't the actor may be a little too much
for some minds to take in.
Knowing this, as he must, he played the part superbly and allowed liberties to
be taken with his fictional life to make this film work. When Malkovich
discovered what was going on with the portal and took the trip himself, it was
with trepidation that we awaited the outcome.
When Lotte and Maxine battle it out to resolve who controls Malkovich we are
presented with an array of past-life experiences, hard not to associate with
Malkovich's real-life, even though they may not have been; we too have taken the
trip down the portal with them.
How Malkovich felt about having people jump into his brain and control his
actions was only briefly touched upon. Being ridiculed by a friend for even
thinking he was not under his own control showed exactly how most people
react to those afflicted by schitzophrenia and a host of
other mental aberrations. Malkovich's
situation would have touched a nerve in sufferers of such problems.
With the end credits proudly declaring, as they always do, that all characters
were fictional, it must be asked; who is John Malkovich, really ?
Does he still invite people to, "Just drop in" ?
