21 Grams

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Summary

As one man dies, another man is given the chance to live. As one woman descends into despair, another woman begins to hope again. The man who ties these two stories together is Jack Jordan - ex-con with a changed heart, a belief in Jesus and a desire to do the will of God. Three worlds collide when Jack knocks down and kills Cristina's husband Michael and their two children as they cross a suburban street. But Michael's heart lives on, transplanted into the body of Paul, just after he accepts that his own death must be near. Paul's wife Mary is delighted and tells all their friends that they are going to have a baby - providing the IVF treatment works. Paul knows that their relationship is in trouble, and would rather leave the possibility of a new life out of the confusion.

Paul is advised to forget about the anonymous family of the man who saved his life. However, something in him demands to know the truth. He hires a private detective who leads him to Cristina, now desperate and falling into old drug habits. Strongly attracted to her, but reluctant to confess the reason for suddenly appearing in her life, Paul is forced to make a decision about his dying relationship with Mary.

Meanwhile, Jack has turned himself in and returned to prison, forfeiting the wishes of his wife who would rather have kept the incident a secret for the sake of their children. He feels that, since Jesus gave him the truck that caused the accident, Jesus must have betrayed him. Shoulders heavy with guilt, Jack considers whether or not his life is still worth living.

The three stories are told in out-of-sequence fragments that gradually converge towards a difficult conclusion.

Background

21 Grams is the second collaboration between Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga, following their award-winning Amores Perros ('Love's a Bitch', 2000). 21 Grams was nominated for two Oscars - Naomi Watts for best actress and Benicio Del Toro for best supporting actor - and won five BAFTAs for best editing, best original screenplay and best acting for Penn, Watts and Del Toro.

According to the official web site, 'The 21 Grams script, originally conceived and written in Spanish and initially envisioned but not written for a Mexico City setting, evolved through dozens of drafts into one unfolding in a Middle American landscape that would encompass universal truths.' The 21 grams of the title refers to a shaky scientific experiment conducted in the early 20th century by Duncan MacDougall. He posited the theory that a person's soul weighs 21 grams, as the mass of a corpse immediately after death is this much lighter than the living body. Furthermore, in dogs the same loss was not recorded, and since dogs do not have souls, this must be the mass of a human soul. 21 Grams picks up this idea and suggests that the differential is not necessarily lost in the soul of the one who dies, but is carried by those who survive and have to continue life with loss. Each character is living with death or dying in some way. Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto says that, 'It's death that pushes things forward in their lives. Through death, they discover life' (www.21-grams.com).

Guillermo Arriaga also writes books and has worked in broadcasting as a documentary director and producer. He has written three novels, The Sweet Scent of Death, Guillotine Squad, and Buffalo of the Night, and a book of short stories Retorno 201. The film production notes make the connection with 21 Grams: 'They deal with human contradictions, the power of life, the strength of love, and the constant presence of death.' He says, 'There is always a moral issue in all of my work; moral in the sense that decisions have consequences. Almost all of my work is about the dead influencing the living' (www.21-grams.com).

Questions for discussion

1. How did 21 Grams affect you? What aspects of the filmmaking style struck you the most?

2. What conclusions does 21 Grams draw about life and death?

3. 'Life has beauty even in its roughness,' Rodrigo Prieto, Cinematographer. Did you find beauty in this film? If so, where? What about hope?

4. 'My sister-in-law's child drowned in a pool about 10 years ago - it was awful of course, and the whole family was devastated. After the death, my young son Santiago - Jack is named for him in the movie - who was about 4 at the time asked me: 'Daddy, if I died, could you ever smile again?'. In some ways, this film is my answer to his question' (Guillermo Arriaga, www.scriptfactory.co.uk). What would be your answer to this question?

5. 'No one is simply good or bad. We are just floating in an immense universe of circumstances. I like to show their weaknesses and their strengths without judging them, because only then can they reveal things about our human condition' (Alejando González Iñárritu, www.21-grams.com). What contradictions did you find in these characters? How did you relate to them and the decisions they make?

6. As Paul contemplates death, he asks himself:

   'How many lives do we live? How many times do we die? They say we all lose 21 grams at the exact moment of our death . . . Everyone. How much fits in 21 grams? How much is lost? When do we lose 21 grams? [image of smiling Cristina as she leaves saying goodbye to her sister, which corresponds in time to the exact moment that her family are being run over] How much goes with them? How much is gained? 21 grams - the weight of a stack of nickels, the weight of a chocolate bar, the weight of a hummingbird. How much do 21 grams weigh?'

   What does this speech mean to you?

Jack's story

7. What does being a Christian mean to Jack? How is death a part of his life?

8. How do Jack's choices affect his life? How do they affect his family?

9. 'I got peace like a river in my soul / I got love like an ocean in my soul / I got joy like a fountain in my soul' - why can't Jack sing along any more? What do you think of the film's suggestion that Jesus cannot always bring peace to his followers?

10. After the accident how does Jack do his duty, and to whom?

11. What does Jack's wife, Marianne, think of Jack's faith?

12. Why does Jack try to kill himself? What happens to his relationship with Jesus? Why can't Jack forgive himself?

Paul's story

13. How does he feel about dying? How is his second encounter with death different to the first? What has changed in his life?

14. Why does Paul begin the search to find his donor?

15. How does Paul account for the way that his life intersects with Cristina's?

16. Paul quotes a poem by Eugenio Montejo to Cristina:

    'The Earth turned to bring us closer / it spun on itself and within us / and finally joined us together in this dream'.

What does this film say about fate and coincidence?

Cristina's story

17. How does Cristina's attitude to her husband's killer change through the movie?

18. How does Cristina cope with her situation? What difference does Paul make to her life?

19. After her husband's funeral, Cristina tells her father, 'No, that's a lie: life does not just go on.' When disaster strikes, does life just go on? Do you believe in peace that can restore the soul, no matter what?

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