I had someone recently at a REEL experience look at my top 10 movies and say, “Wow, I thought you would have all these art house movies on your list, but you’re pretty much like one of us in what you like.”
Of course, he was probably pointing to Shawshank Redemption, It’s a Wonderful Life, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Sound of Music. These movies show up frequently on people’s top 10 movie list. Even movies like Life is Beautiful and Moneyball are not necessary outliers to the lists that we see.
But, of course, the movie that is probably more unknown, especially to a younger generation, is On Golden Pond…and it is my favorite.
With many of my other films, it would be easy to say how they intersect with my story. However, On Golden Pond is about an older couple who come year over year to this lake cabin in the summer. And this seems to have nothing to do with my life. But I love this film.
I love Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda’s characters’ relationship. The love and playfulness that they share. I love the humor of an aging Norman (Fonda’s character). I love that it is based on a play, since I spent much of my life in theater. It unpacks the relationship between a father and child and some of the unfortunate ways we can misinterpret one another. I love it being set at a lake and the boat scenes.
Reflecting on aging and mortality
But I would say what anchors me to the movie are two moments in the film. The first is a dialogue free moment of Norman examining pictures of himself in articles that proclaim his accomplishments over his life. The camera follows him to the mirror where we see his face transform from these still pictures of his youth to his aging face. He stares and then does a “humph” into the mirror.
That moments speaks so strongly to me of the ever-present forward motion of time and how fleeting it is. It speaks to all of our accomplishments being so seemingly unforgettable in the face of the gravity force of death that seems to be pulling us its way. And yet, in this film, as in many of my films, the character’s relationship to death helps him gain perspective on the beauty of life. I love the journey with Norman of dealing with your mortality and yet knowing you are still present in this life for a reason.
Finding the path
The other moment from the movies that relates to me is the moment that you’re most likely to find on YouTube, because it tends to be played the most from the movie. Norman has gotten lost in the woods, which is speaking to his fears of not being capable of doing the things he used to. He confesses to his wife, Ethel, what happen, and the scene that follows is a beautiful demonstration of what my wife has done for me over and over in my life. She comforts him by reminding him that he’s still the same ‘ol person she knows. Hepburn’s character tells him that she’ll take him to the place where he got lost and show him that he remembers the path. She has the famous line, “You’re my knight in shining armor and don’t you forget it…and you’re gonna get back up on that horse and I’m going to be right behind you, holding on tight…and away we’re gonna go, go, go…”
That is my wife. She loves me by knowing and understanding me, by helping me find the way when I can’t remember the path. She speaks a heroic nature into me that helps me get back up on the horse. This scene inspires my dream of growing old with one person, after decades of marriage; a person who truly understands your hope and fears.
And this is why On Golden Pond is my favorite film.
