I think the idea of existentialism is very present in the movie Trust. Both main characters, Marie and Matthew, do not seem to have any values in their life. For example, Maria tells Matthew that she will only marry him if he says that he loves her. Matthew is hesitant at first and even when he finally says it, I am not completely convinced that he is being sincere. This reminds me of Meursault and Marie in The Stranger. Marie asks Meursault if he loves her, but in contrast to Matthew he is blunt with Marie and tells her he does not. In both cases the characters have lack the value for love.
Throughout the movie Trust Matthew caries a grenade around with him. In the ending scene he pulls the trigger at where he works, but it does not explode. Maria Finds Matthew sitting with his grenade and ends up throwing the grenade without a care. It takes a while to ignite, but I think the fact that she threw it so carelessly is very important. I think the grenade represents taking their lives into their own hands. With the grenade they are in control of their lives. Maria and Matthew know there is a possibility of them dying, but it does not seem to cross their mind as a big problem. This shows existentialism.
I agree. I think the grenade definitely represents their lives. I never thought of the carelessness off the throw showing how they felt about there lives, but now that you mention it, I think that that idea is accurate. It definitely shows characteristics of existentialism.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good connection between the book and the movie. I agree with you about not trusting Matthew when he tells Maria he loves her. Their relationship doesn't even seem like friendship sometimes, let alone love. I think that Maria is still feeling betrayed by her last boyfriend during this scene and is scared that if Matthew doesn't say he loves her, then he'll leave her with the baby. I wonder if she actually believes him when he says it...
ReplyDeleteI agree with Will. I didn't even think of the carelessness of the grenade throwing, but since you mentioned it, I think it makes complete sense. I also think that you bring up interesting points with exisentialism that I believe is crucial in understanding the movie.
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