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| Image Credit: Cinema Blend |
“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”
-John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
Review of the film in a word: Leonine- Of or like a lion
Release date - 4 July 2014 (India)
Director - Josh Boone
Producer - Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen
Writer - Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
Also Known As - TFiOS
Featured song - All of the Stars
Box office - 30.72 crores USD
Stars - Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff
Rated - PG-13 for thematic elements, some sexuality and brief strong language
Synopsis - Non Spoiler Alert!
Is there a heart so cold that it's impervious to a romance between cancer-stricken teenagers who face their impending deaths with dark humour and clear-eyed reflections on mortality?
So dear readers!! The Hunger Games, Frozen, Maleficent, Divergent, and Gravity are only a few of the recent top-grossing films featuring prominent female protagonists. But The Fault in Our Stars successfully navigated that list.
While most teen blockbusters are about saving the planet, The Fault in Our Stars is about the transient nature of your own, limited life. The film is about life-and-death, but on a personal scale—and that’s the reason it’s powerful.
The Opening Shot
“As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.”
-Hazel Grace
The theme is set in the opening sequence, when Hazel (Shailene Woodley), who should have died three years ago from thyroid cancer that had spread to her lungs, is diagnosed with depression, which is "a normal side effect" of cancer. “Depression is not a side effect of cancer; it is a side effect of dying,” Hazel says in narration.
Whereas Hazel believes only in oblivion, Gus believes in something, most particularly the possibility of being remembered, despite the fact that he has lost a leg (and his athleticism) to cancer. His texts are hysterical, his spirit unbreakable, his smile semi-permanent, and his driving slapstick.
The Plot and Story line
“That's the thing about pain. It demands to be felt”
-Gus
Hazel Grace Lancaster stars in Josh Boone's stirring film The Fault in Our Stars, which is based on John Green's bestselling YA novel about cancer and love. The basic premise, if you haven't read the book or seen the movie, is that Hazel is a 16-year-old girl with thyroid cancer. Her lungs have been affected by the cancer.
Phalanxifor, the drug has bought her some time, but she's in stage four, and she's well aware of what that entails. Hazel's days are numbered unless a miracle occurs, and she is haunted by the fact that if she dies, she will end her parents' lives. “There is just one thing in the world shittier than getting cancer when you're sixteen, and that's having a child who gets cancer,” says Hazel.
The key attraction (the teenage love story is expertly bound to its emotional core (Hazel's relationship with her parents), which is why The Fault in Our Stars works so well. Hazel attends a support group for other kids with terminal cancer solely to please her parents.
She meets Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort), a one-legged ex-basketball player who has been in remission for over a year and holds an unlit cigarette in his mouth. The film's spark and flash are her friendship and eventual romance with Gus, but the scenes only serve to illustrate the film's deeper emotional foundation.
The Cast
Image Credit: The Young Folks
“Our fearlessness shall be our secret weapon.”
Shailene Woodley, on the other hand, kept the film on her hands for every painfully blunt moment and heartwarming laugh. It's difficult to play a character that many people can relate to.Augustus was a difficult role for Ansel Elgort to perform. He didn't have to do any of the emotional work; his co-star was in control of that.
Laura Dern and Sam Trammell, who play Hazel's parents, appear in a remarkable number of scenes for a genre that is normally obsessed with its tragic teenage co-stars. Hazel flashes back several times to the time when she was 13, struggling in the ICU, and her mother bent over her, tears streaming down her face, and said, “It’s okay, honey. You can let go. Don’t be afraid.”
In the words of Hazel's mother (Laura Dern), "Hazel and Gus are a cute couple." Isaac (Nat Woolf), Gus' wiseacre best friend who has already lost one eye to cancer and is about to lose the other, is a good addition to the cast (with his relationship with his girlfriend in the balance). He's a master of deflective sarcasm, much like Hazel, but even harder-edged.
The great supporting actors are the film's unsung heroes. Mike Birbirglia, Nat Wolff, and Willem Dafoe did fantastic work on this film.
Psychological Analysis
John Green was able to accomplish something with his novel that very few artists are capable of. He was able to depict life as it really is. For all of its triumphs and failures, comedies and tragedy, morality and injustice. His forthrightness was refreshing. As a result, translating that integrity took great care and grace.
Director Josh Boone recognized the difficulty and was able to strike a balance between the sentimental and the practical with the brutal realizations of leading a sick life.
It's unusual for a film to bring me to tears. It's so rare that only three films I've seen in my life have managed it. Amour by Michael Haneke, Life is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni, and now The Fault in Our Stars by Josh Boone.
The subtlety of such parent-child scenes sets the tone for the film's emotional message, which is far different from most teen romances. Hazel asks her parents about what they will do when she passes away near the end of the film. She believes their lives are coming to an end; she is terrified that their lives are coming to an end. Her family is taken aback.
“Losing you will hurt like hell,” says her mother. “But you, of all people, know it’s possible to live with pain. The way Laura Dern looks at Shailene Woodley—as though she'll never be able to look at her again— is emotionally resonant enough to move past its pretensions.
There are flaws in this movie. Obviously, it does. Augustus Waters remains cocky and pretentious despite Ansel Elgort's winning, almost-humble performance. Although there are some melodramatic and self-obsessed soliloquies about love, they make the film sound more melodramatic and self-obsessed than it should.
In the end, it's difficult to criticize The Fault in Our Stars. It avoids the melodramatics and instead goes straight for the heart. It's appealing, well-written, and superbly performed.
Quirky Highlights from the Movie
Image Credit: The young Folks
“You say you’re not special because the world doesn’t know about you, but that’s an insult to me. I know about you.”
Image Credit: Popsugar
“There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There's .1 and .12 and .112 and an infinite collection of others. Of course, there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful.”
-John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
Image Credit: Indiewire
“I’m in love with you, and I’m not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things.”
Image Credit: YouTube
“I will not tell you our love story, because—like all real love stories—it will die with us, as it should.”
Image Credit: imdb.com
“Only now that I loved a grenade did I understand the foolishness of trying to save others from my own impending fragmentation: I couldn’t unlove Augustus Waters. And I didn’t want to.”
The Bottom line
So if you appreciate the fact that the movie isn't just a cheesy, cliched love tale, you should go for it. My eyes welled up with tears at the conclusion of this film. Is it true that I'm heartbroken?
Completely. BUT, am I still willing to subject myself to the agony of watching the film for the nth time? Of course, I am, but I'll be well-prepared, with a box of tissues near at hand.
Did you like the book or the movie better? Don’t you just adore Augustus? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!
My ratings for the movie - 4.8 on 5
Written By - Prakriti Chaudhary
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