'Parked' summary
The short, spoiler-free bit:
It was sold out for the fourth time and I don't know how many seats there were, but at least 300 which was more than I expected. The audience was lovely, pretty much 50/50 men and women, reacting to the movie in all the right places and there was an applause at the end and you could hear the people talking about the movie when we walked out.
Both my daughter and I loved it. It's beautifully shot, editing and photography are indeed brilliant, and all three main characters are easy to sympathize with. Yes, Colin is everything you could hope for, (a complete dork one moment and gorgeous the next, contageously cheerful, deeply moving and heartbreaking) but really, Colm completely deserves his nomination for best male actor for the Irish Film and Television Awards 2011. Colin's time will come too I'm sure.
Now on to the long and rambly with spoilers:
It already got me in the mood to see the logos I've checked so often for updates scroll by, Ripple Pictures and Helsinki Filmi and such :D
The movie starts with the last scene of the trailer, with Fred watching as his spray-painted car is being picked up. I was so happy to hear the music from the trailer too, because I was hoping that was part of the original score. Music plays an important part in the movie and it's used beautifully. The names of Colm, Colin and Milka appear respectively.
Then we move to how it all starts, with Fred driving his car into the parking lot and parking there. We see what we can assume is his daily routine of getting up, listening to a bit of gentle music, going to a public toilet to wash and change (also from the trailer) and then we see him standing in front of a house, checking a tree for the words carved into the bark long ago 'Fred was here'. A woman initially reacts suspicious, but when she hears he used to live in this house she recalls the man she'd bought the house from had mentioned a son and she's more sympathetic. Another scene from the trailer where she asks if he lives around here and he says yeah, a small place nearby, dodging the fact that he lives in his car.
We see him try to apply for support, getting tangled in the red tape so to speak, and waved off with a 'come back later'. It looks like a dead end for him and life goes on without much hope for improvement.
Then one day a little yellow car turns up and parks a couple of spots further up. When it looks like the guy in that car has no intention of moving out again Fred carefully tries to check it out but gets scared off when loud music blares out of the speakers inside the car.
Fred sits inside his car fixing a clock (he's got a lot of instruments that suggest he's good and experienced at fixing things like that) and during an overview of the parking lot we hear the music of Fred and Cathal sort of mixing.
At night the guy and a mate hang around his car, smoking pot. When the mate suggest to check if there's something to get from the man in the other car Cathal doesn't want to do that. Cathal is lying all draped over the hood of his car while his mate is sitting in one of the seats and the scene sort of floats into a mood that suggests a bit of a mellow high.
The next day when Fred is sitting on the bench at the parking lot overviewing the sea, Cathal comes up to him. Fred is stand offish, trying to dodge questions, until Cathal makes clear he knows and understands Fred's situation 'I've no where else either, exept me car' (from the trailer). They shake hands and that's where their friendship starts. It feels like that, right from the beginning. Cathal asks Fred where he washes and when Fred tells him it's in the public toilet Cathal suggests going to the local spa centre every once in a while.
On a sidenote for those who wondered: When Cathal smokes it's clear Colin isn't faking it; he really inhales deeply, holds the smoke and blows it out again.
Next scene they're in the swimming pool. Cathal tries to convince Fred to try the diving board, and demonstrates (in a fun and rather graceless fashion) but Fred can't bring himself to dive. He does swim however. There are a couple of scenes where we see Cathal in just his swimming boxers and Colin is thin, but not too much so. I really enjoyed the view because I actually go for that kind of thing :D
After this we see Fred and Cathal hang out a lot, talking about this and that, Cathal about his blowing, Fred about how he used to like to drink gin and his doubt if that's so much better than weed. Cathal talks about being hurt that his dad blames him for the death of his mom. This is the moment from the trailer where Fred says he shouldn't give up just because someone blames you and Cathal retorts the question.
Fred wonders about the cars driving in and out of the parking lot as they watch at night from some stairs and Cathal says 'don't you remember being young', and snickering sneaks up to one of the parked cars where a couple if making out. Then he starts banging on the roof and turns around laughing at his joke to Fred who laughs with him. Then there's another scene from the trailer where Cathal says 'fock!' and Fred 'Jeeeesus' and they have to run because the guy that Cathal just startled has got out of his car, hitched up his pants and starts running after them. It's a fun bonding moment between Fred and Cathal.
At the swimming pool again Fred literally swims into Juliana and that's how they meet. There's some bashful and sweet moment between them and when the aquarobics start Fred goes to the side to ogle Jules. Cathal bugs him until he admits who he's got his eyes on, they talk about Jules and Cathal is gently teasing a flustered Fred. It's all kinds of cute.
As time goes, with his growing friendship with the ever cheerful Cathal, Fred starts to rearrange his car, clearing it up, even getting a little plant to cheer things up. Back at the dole office he's still not getting anywhere though so that's depressing. Not even when Cathal comes along with him for moral support and to throw in a good word for him. When they walk outside there's a car with two men waiting for Cathal. Cathal gets nervous and we see the scene where Fred sounds worried and Cathal denies anything's wrong and talks with one of the men. It's clear Cathal has debts which are getting over his head and the men have something to offer but are starting to imply measures if he doesn't own up soon.
One day Fred walks past a small church and drawn in by the music played there he walks in to listen more closely. It's a little choir singing, led by Jules on a piano and more people are listening. There's tea after and when Jules notices Fred sitting on a bench, with a cup of tea, reading a pamflet, she approaches him. A shy but sweet conversation starts and they end with a 'hope to see you again'.
Back in the carpark Cathal's drugmate from the start of the movie approaches Fred and starts bugging him with questions and asking for money and when Fred keeps dodging his questions and refusing to give money we see the mate get a knife ready although Fred is clueless. Just when things start to look worrysome Cathal turns up and distracts his mate and walks him away from Fred. Fred doesn't realize that Cathal has just protected him.
Then there's the scene from the trailer where Fred and Cathal are sitting in Fred's car, and Fred is repairing a watch and says 'you're on edge tonight'. That's when Cathal admits in a rather provocative way that he sometimes smokes heroine too, but when Fred reacts shocked he says he never injects and shows his arms as proof. The watch Fred is repairing is one that Cathal took from his father. He treasures the watch even though he stole it.
A man called Peter turns up. Daughter and I were under the impression he's a social worker of some sort. He sounded like he at least tried to be helpful in a practical way for Fred and Cathal and they were happy to see him.
One day Fred goes to the swimming pool alone and then follows the scene of him joining the aquarobics class, which works way better in context then as a separate scene. When he goes back to the parking lot, carrying two cups of coffee (another scene we've already seen) it turns out that Cathal as a surprise has repaired Fred's flat tire and they can go have a ride in Fred's car. They turn out to have different ideas about what exactly entails 'going for a ride'. At first Cathal is all wildly cheerful, standing on his seat, sticking his head out of the open roof and shouting around, telling Fred his dad hated it when he did that and then getting scolded for it by Fred too. So Cathal is sulking while Fred is cheerful about being on the road until Cathal says he'll show Fred something fun. They go to an out-of-the-way dirt road and with Fred standing on the side Cathal comes storming on in the car, making it slip and spin to get around the corner, clearly having loads of fun. He pursuades Fred to do the same, who reluctantly gives in but ends up spinning even worse and when the car comes to a stop a slightly stunned Fred is sitting behind the wheel, Cathal laughing loudly 'what the fuck was that?!' and then Fred starts grinning 'that was great' :D :D :D
They sit in the car, overlooking the citylights in the evening, all companionable. Cathal even gets Fred to take a hitch from his fag. Fred talks about the woman he almost married but who bailed out last minute. Then there's the moment from the trailer that Cathal talks about the moment a leaf breaks off a branch and how beautiful that is. Fred says he can't say he's seen it.
One day in the parking lot Fred is making a jigsaw puzzle and Cathal is jogging around the lot in an attempt to keep fit. Fred mocks the state he's in because after a few laps he's already sweating and panting and that's what drugs reduce you to. Cathal, who's in a good mood, boldly and cheerfully says he'll quit as of that very moment.
Then there's the moment from the trailer where they pass the house where Jules lives. They stand outside listening to the pianomusic that drew their attention and then when Jules spots them she invites them in, which they do. Cathal keeps trying to get the conversation in a direction that Fred can tell something about himself. He says he used to play the piano, that they had a piano at home and when Fred panics and says 'He doesn't really like to play the piano, do you?' Cathal looks at Fred pointedly and says 'are you asking?' He offers to lend a hand when Jules goes to make tea and when they return it turns out that Fred has spotted a broken clock on the mantlepiece. Cathal tries to get Fred to offer to repair the clock and to be honest about where he lives, but it doesn't amount to anything and when they've left again to go back to the parkinglot Fred sputters about how Jules can never be interested in a man like him Cathal is all wild gestures and exasperation and 'she just invited you and a druggie to tea in her home!'
At some point Cathal has figured out a way to beat the system and find a loophole in all the damned regulations that make it impossible for Fred to be helped and it looks like things will turn for better for Fred.
That evening the two drugdealers turn up at the parking lot and we get the scene from the trailer where Cathal gets beat up, Fred helps him and when he gets angry at Cathal for getting into trouble all the time Cathal swears he's giving up.
The next day, while they're walking to the church where Jules practices with the choir, Cathal is still bruised but all full of beans again and talking enthusiastically about Fred heroic deed, demonstrating with karatechops that never happened. In church they sit and wait a bit for Jules to arrive, Cathal with sunglasses on looking daft and he spots the piano. That's when he walks to it, sits down and starts playing an energetic kind of rockblues, singing along, making up a story about Fred and Cathal. That's when Jules walks in and Cathal stops. Cathal tells Jules to come along. He takes her for a walk, with Fred walking along but secretly protesting while Cathal tries to get Fred to admit where it is he lives. In the end Fred doesn't do it and Cathal gives up, stays behind in the parking lot while Fred and Jules walk along the beach. Then follows the scene with Fred skeeting rocks on the water and Jules saying he comes across as a man with a lot on his mind. In the end Fred offers to come by her and fix her clock if she'll make tea. She asks if it's a date and he laughs he's too old for a date.
At some point (I'm not sure anymore where exactly in the story, but somewhere around here) Peter comes to offer Fred to get a team from a local newpaper to the parking lot so they can do a story about the way he lives, how he falls outside the system if no one will help him. Fred is afraid Jules will find out but Cathal convinces him to go through with it and tell Jules the truth before.
On yet another sidenote, because I know I was curious about that: it's Colin playing the piano but it's short routine that with some practice will sound and look good if you do it with a bit of bravado, which he does, but his singing sounds actually like he could do it. I don't know if he could sing a whole song, but he can hold a tune and his voice is strong when he sounds a bit rough like he does here. I liked it :D
Fred goes through is usual routine of getting decent, paying a bit more attention to detail than usual. He clears his car, waters the little plant and goes to Jules' place. He fixes the clock and they talk about how the clock only needed a little cleaning up and a little push to get it going again. Clearly it's a metaphor. Jules plays the piano for Fred, when asked she says her husband has died but they used to travel a lot. Fred asks Jules to meet him at the carpark at eight o'clock because he's got something important to show and tell her.
In the carpark Cathal and Fred get busy cleaning his car. For the photoshoot by the newspaper and for Jules. Cathal is a bit wobbly and as often happens tells Fred he'll go to his own car to get a rest. Fred leaves but notices he forgot something and goes back. That's when he finds Cathal is injecting heroin into a vein in his foot. It's an aweful scene, with Cathal vulnerable and embarrassed, and Fred livid with anger because Cathal has been lying to him. Fred stomps off furious and Cathal goes to sit in his car because the heroin is already starting to kick in.
While Fred is away the drugdealers turn up again. This is a terrible scene. They totally trash the car, drag Cathal out of it and beat and kick him. One of 'm tells the other to search the car and turn up the music loud, and it's sickening to know why. Cathal gets beaten and kicked terribly and is left shaking and bleeding on the ground.
When Fred gets back he finds Cathal's car trashed, Cathal gone and his own car spraypainted with insults. That's when the newspaper team arrives. Peter gives it a swing by telling these are the dangers for people who live like Fred. Fred is stunned but lets the team take pictures of him with his car.
Cathal in the meantime has dragged himself to a house, breaks in there and starts drinking and eating straight from the fridge. When a man walks into the kitchen it turns out he broke into his dad's house. He asks his dad for money and when his dad refuses Cathal says 'ma would have', his dad says Cathal broke his mother's heart. Cathal says that it was cancer that killed her but his dad walks out of the room, leaving Cathal broken, trying to keep himself together. His dad's wallet is on the mantlepiece and Cathal takes what money is in there. Not enough for his debts, but as it turns out enough for drugs.
Fred is desperately trying to find Cathal, asking around, showing people a picture of Cathal, but no one can help him. When Jules arrives in the parking lot Fred is not there but from what she sees she draws her conclusions.
Cathal in the meantime arrives at the beach where some former mates of him are hanging around a pire. They reject him, push him away, while he's begging them for a shot. He's a complete mess. The guys leave him there because they want to go look at the fireworks somewhere nearby and one of 'm leaves a shot of heroin for Cathal. Cathal injects it. He slowly calms down, lying next to the fire and dies a lonely death.
When we see Fred again he's at what turns out to be a morgue. Cathal is lying in a coffin, looking terribly pale and very dead. Fred quitly stands there in deep sadness and reads a poem to Cathal, one they'd talked about after their fun day taking a ride in Fred's newly fixed car.
The newsarticle turns up in the papers and when Fred visits Jules he finally tells her the truth about everything and why he wasn't there when Jules had gone to the parkinglot. Jules is very compassionate, but still tells Fred that she has decided to go back to Helsinki where she's originally from. When Fred asks her if she'll come back she says it depends on how things will go in Helsinki. I figured she had her own secrets and her dead husband wasn't so dead after all.
Fred goes to visit Cathal's dad, George. He makes clear he's there not to be judgemental but to make sure George knows that Fred was a friend of Cathal and that as far as he's concerned Cathal was a good lad. George still feels there was nothing he could have done to help Cathal and he's bitter about that. Then Fred gives George the watch he'd repaired for Cathal and tells him how much it clearly meant to Cathal and that gives George something to think about, because as I see it he probably was convinced Cathal took it to trade it for drugs and it's given him a new insight into his son. Fred leaves behind a touched George.
Then we're back at the moment Fred is sitting at a bench, watching his spraypainted car being picked up. We watch him in his new modest little house that he'd finally managed to get thanks to Cathal's ideas and persuations. He's watering his (bigger) plant that's standing in the windowsil between two clocks. Cathal's picture is on the mantlepiece. While Fred is watching tv he hears someone at the door. Jules just pushed an envelop under the door before she leaves in a taxi. In the envelop are some sheets with music. Music Jules composed for Fred.
The last scene is of Fred in the swimmingpool, standing on the divingboard. He hesitates only a moment, then straightens up and with determination and rather gracefully dives into the water.
Ok, it's very late and I'm knackered. I'll work out the typos and add a little more about my personal thoughts on the movie tomorrow. If anyone has specific questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Good night!
It was sold out for the fourth time and I don't know how many seats there were, but at least 300 which was more than I expected. The audience was lovely, pretty much 50/50 men and women, reacting to the movie in all the right places and there was an applause at the end and you could hear the people talking about the movie when we walked out.
Both my daughter and I loved it. It's beautifully shot, editing and photography are indeed brilliant, and all three main characters are easy to sympathize with. Yes, Colin is everything you could hope for, (a complete dork one moment and gorgeous the next, contageously cheerful, deeply moving and heartbreaking) but really, Colm completely deserves his nomination for best male actor for the Irish Film and Television Awards 2011. Colin's time will come too I'm sure.
Now on to the long and rambly with spoilers:
It already got me in the mood to see the logos I've checked so often for updates scroll by, Ripple Pictures and Helsinki Filmi and such :D
The movie starts with the last scene of the trailer, with Fred watching as his spray-painted car is being picked up. I was so happy to hear the music from the trailer too, because I was hoping that was part of the original score. Music plays an important part in the movie and it's used beautifully. The names of Colm, Colin and Milka appear respectively.
Then we move to how it all starts, with Fred driving his car into the parking lot and parking there. We see what we can assume is his daily routine of getting up, listening to a bit of gentle music, going to a public toilet to wash and change (also from the trailer) and then we see him standing in front of a house, checking a tree for the words carved into the bark long ago 'Fred was here'. A woman initially reacts suspicious, but when she hears he used to live in this house she recalls the man she'd bought the house from had mentioned a son and she's more sympathetic. Another scene from the trailer where she asks if he lives around here and he says yeah, a small place nearby, dodging the fact that he lives in his car.
We see him try to apply for support, getting tangled in the red tape so to speak, and waved off with a 'come back later'. It looks like a dead end for him and life goes on without much hope for improvement.
Then one day a little yellow car turns up and parks a couple of spots further up. When it looks like the guy in that car has no intention of moving out again Fred carefully tries to check it out but gets scared off when loud music blares out of the speakers inside the car.
Fred sits inside his car fixing a clock (he's got a lot of instruments that suggest he's good and experienced at fixing things like that) and during an overview of the parking lot we hear the music of Fred and Cathal sort of mixing.
At night the guy and a mate hang around his car, smoking pot. When the mate suggest to check if there's something to get from the man in the other car Cathal doesn't want to do that. Cathal is lying all draped over the hood of his car while his mate is sitting in one of the seats and the scene sort of floats into a mood that suggests a bit of a mellow high.
The next day when Fred is sitting on the bench at the parking lot overviewing the sea, Cathal comes up to him. Fred is stand offish, trying to dodge questions, until Cathal makes clear he knows and understands Fred's situation 'I've no where else either, exept me car' (from the trailer). They shake hands and that's where their friendship starts. It feels like that, right from the beginning. Cathal asks Fred where he washes and when Fred tells him it's in the public toilet Cathal suggests going to the local spa centre every once in a while.
On a sidenote for those who wondered: When Cathal smokes it's clear Colin isn't faking it; he really inhales deeply, holds the smoke and blows it out again.
Next scene they're in the swimming pool. Cathal tries to convince Fred to try the diving board, and demonstrates (in a fun and rather graceless fashion) but Fred can't bring himself to dive. He does swim however. There are a couple of scenes where we see Cathal in just his swimming boxers and Colin is thin, but not too much so. I really enjoyed the view because I actually go for that kind of thing :D
After this we see Fred and Cathal hang out a lot, talking about this and that, Cathal about his blowing, Fred about how he used to like to drink gin and his doubt if that's so much better than weed. Cathal talks about being hurt that his dad blames him for the death of his mom. This is the moment from the trailer where Fred says he shouldn't give up just because someone blames you and Cathal retorts the question.
Fred wonders about the cars driving in and out of the parking lot as they watch at night from some stairs and Cathal says 'don't you remember being young', and snickering sneaks up to one of the parked cars where a couple if making out. Then he starts banging on the roof and turns around laughing at his joke to Fred who laughs with him. Then there's another scene from the trailer where Cathal says 'fock!' and Fred 'Jeeeesus' and they have to run because the guy that Cathal just startled has got out of his car, hitched up his pants and starts running after them. It's a fun bonding moment between Fred and Cathal.
At the swimming pool again Fred literally swims into Juliana and that's how they meet. There's some bashful and sweet moment between them and when the aquarobics start Fred goes to the side to ogle Jules. Cathal bugs him until he admits who he's got his eyes on, they talk about Jules and Cathal is gently teasing a flustered Fred. It's all kinds of cute.
As time goes, with his growing friendship with the ever cheerful Cathal, Fred starts to rearrange his car, clearing it up, even getting a little plant to cheer things up. Back at the dole office he's still not getting anywhere though so that's depressing. Not even when Cathal comes along with him for moral support and to throw in a good word for him. When they walk outside there's a car with two men waiting for Cathal. Cathal gets nervous and we see the scene where Fred sounds worried and Cathal denies anything's wrong and talks with one of the men. It's clear Cathal has debts which are getting over his head and the men have something to offer but are starting to imply measures if he doesn't own up soon.
One day Fred walks past a small church and drawn in by the music played there he walks in to listen more closely. It's a little choir singing, led by Jules on a piano and more people are listening. There's tea after and when Jules notices Fred sitting on a bench, with a cup of tea, reading a pamflet, she approaches him. A shy but sweet conversation starts and they end with a 'hope to see you again'.
Back in the carpark Cathal's drugmate from the start of the movie approaches Fred and starts bugging him with questions and asking for money and when Fred keeps dodging his questions and refusing to give money we see the mate get a knife ready although Fred is clueless. Just when things start to look worrysome Cathal turns up and distracts his mate and walks him away from Fred. Fred doesn't realize that Cathal has just protected him.
Then there's the scene from the trailer where Fred and Cathal are sitting in Fred's car, and Fred is repairing a watch and says 'you're on edge tonight'. That's when Cathal admits in a rather provocative way that he sometimes smokes heroine too, but when Fred reacts shocked he says he never injects and shows his arms as proof. The watch Fred is repairing is one that Cathal took from his father. He treasures the watch even though he stole it.
A man called Peter turns up. Daughter and I were under the impression he's a social worker of some sort. He sounded like he at least tried to be helpful in a practical way for Fred and Cathal and they were happy to see him.
One day Fred goes to the swimming pool alone and then follows the scene of him joining the aquarobics class, which works way better in context then as a separate scene. When he goes back to the parking lot, carrying two cups of coffee (another scene we've already seen) it turns out that Cathal as a surprise has repaired Fred's flat tire and they can go have a ride in Fred's car. They turn out to have different ideas about what exactly entails 'going for a ride'. At first Cathal is all wildly cheerful, standing on his seat, sticking his head out of the open roof and shouting around, telling Fred his dad hated it when he did that and then getting scolded for it by Fred too. So Cathal is sulking while Fred is cheerful about being on the road until Cathal says he'll show Fred something fun. They go to an out-of-the-way dirt road and with Fred standing on the side Cathal comes storming on in the car, making it slip and spin to get around the corner, clearly having loads of fun. He pursuades Fred to do the same, who reluctantly gives in but ends up spinning even worse and when the car comes to a stop a slightly stunned Fred is sitting behind the wheel, Cathal laughing loudly 'what the fuck was that?!' and then Fred starts grinning 'that was great' :D :D :D
They sit in the car, overlooking the citylights in the evening, all companionable. Cathal even gets Fred to take a hitch from his fag. Fred talks about the woman he almost married but who bailed out last minute. Then there's the moment from the trailer that Cathal talks about the moment a leaf breaks off a branch and how beautiful that is. Fred says he can't say he's seen it.
One day in the parking lot Fred is making a jigsaw puzzle and Cathal is jogging around the lot in an attempt to keep fit. Fred mocks the state he's in because after a few laps he's already sweating and panting and that's what drugs reduce you to. Cathal, who's in a good mood, boldly and cheerfully says he'll quit as of that very moment.
Then there's the moment from the trailer where they pass the house where Jules lives. They stand outside listening to the pianomusic that drew their attention and then when Jules spots them she invites them in, which they do. Cathal keeps trying to get the conversation in a direction that Fred can tell something about himself. He says he used to play the piano, that they had a piano at home and when Fred panics and says 'He doesn't really like to play the piano, do you?' Cathal looks at Fred pointedly and says 'are you asking?' He offers to lend a hand when Jules goes to make tea and when they return it turns out that Fred has spotted a broken clock on the mantlepiece. Cathal tries to get Fred to offer to repair the clock and to be honest about where he lives, but it doesn't amount to anything and when they've left again to go back to the parkinglot Fred sputters about how Jules can never be interested in a man like him Cathal is all wild gestures and exasperation and 'she just invited you and a druggie to tea in her home!'
At some point Cathal has figured out a way to beat the system and find a loophole in all the damned regulations that make it impossible for Fred to be helped and it looks like things will turn for better for Fred.
That evening the two drugdealers turn up at the parking lot and we get the scene from the trailer where Cathal gets beat up, Fred helps him and when he gets angry at Cathal for getting into trouble all the time Cathal swears he's giving up.
The next day, while they're walking to the church where Jules practices with the choir, Cathal is still bruised but all full of beans again and talking enthusiastically about Fred heroic deed, demonstrating with karatechops that never happened. In church they sit and wait a bit for Jules to arrive, Cathal with sunglasses on looking daft and he spots the piano. That's when he walks to it, sits down and starts playing an energetic kind of rockblues, singing along, making up a story about Fred and Cathal. That's when Jules walks in and Cathal stops. Cathal tells Jules to come along. He takes her for a walk, with Fred walking along but secretly protesting while Cathal tries to get Fred to admit where it is he lives. In the end Fred doesn't do it and Cathal gives up, stays behind in the parking lot while Fred and Jules walk along the beach. Then follows the scene with Fred skeeting rocks on the water and Jules saying he comes across as a man with a lot on his mind. In the end Fred offers to come by her and fix her clock if she'll make tea. She asks if it's a date and he laughs he's too old for a date.
At some point (I'm not sure anymore where exactly in the story, but somewhere around here) Peter comes to offer Fred to get a team from a local newpaper to the parking lot so they can do a story about the way he lives, how he falls outside the system if no one will help him. Fred is afraid Jules will find out but Cathal convinces him to go through with it and tell Jules the truth before.
On yet another sidenote, because I know I was curious about that: it's Colin playing the piano but it's short routine that with some practice will sound and look good if you do it with a bit of bravado, which he does, but his singing sounds actually like he could do it. I don't know if he could sing a whole song, but he can hold a tune and his voice is strong when he sounds a bit rough like he does here. I liked it :D
Fred goes through is usual routine of getting decent, paying a bit more attention to detail than usual. He clears his car, waters the little plant and goes to Jules' place. He fixes the clock and they talk about how the clock only needed a little cleaning up and a little push to get it going again. Clearly it's a metaphor. Jules plays the piano for Fred, when asked she says her husband has died but they used to travel a lot. Fred asks Jules to meet him at the carpark at eight o'clock because he's got something important to show and tell her.
In the carpark Cathal and Fred get busy cleaning his car. For the photoshoot by the newspaper and for Jules. Cathal is a bit wobbly and as often happens tells Fred he'll go to his own car to get a rest. Fred leaves but notices he forgot something and goes back. That's when he finds Cathal is injecting heroin into a vein in his foot. It's an aweful scene, with Cathal vulnerable and embarrassed, and Fred livid with anger because Cathal has been lying to him. Fred stomps off furious and Cathal goes to sit in his car because the heroin is already starting to kick in.
While Fred is away the drugdealers turn up again. This is a terrible scene. They totally trash the car, drag Cathal out of it and beat and kick him. One of 'm tells the other to search the car and turn up the music loud, and it's sickening to know why. Cathal gets beaten and kicked terribly and is left shaking and bleeding on the ground.
When Fred gets back he finds Cathal's car trashed, Cathal gone and his own car spraypainted with insults. That's when the newspaper team arrives. Peter gives it a swing by telling these are the dangers for people who live like Fred. Fred is stunned but lets the team take pictures of him with his car.
Cathal in the meantime has dragged himself to a house, breaks in there and starts drinking and eating straight from the fridge. When a man walks into the kitchen it turns out he broke into his dad's house. He asks his dad for money and when his dad refuses Cathal says 'ma would have', his dad says Cathal broke his mother's heart. Cathal says that it was cancer that killed her but his dad walks out of the room, leaving Cathal broken, trying to keep himself together. His dad's wallet is on the mantlepiece and Cathal takes what money is in there. Not enough for his debts, but as it turns out enough for drugs.
Fred is desperately trying to find Cathal, asking around, showing people a picture of Cathal, but no one can help him. When Jules arrives in the parking lot Fred is not there but from what she sees she draws her conclusions.
Cathal in the meantime arrives at the beach where some former mates of him are hanging around a pire. They reject him, push him away, while he's begging them for a shot. He's a complete mess. The guys leave him there because they want to go look at the fireworks somewhere nearby and one of 'm leaves a shot of heroin for Cathal. Cathal injects it. He slowly calms down, lying next to the fire and dies a lonely death.
When we see Fred again he's at what turns out to be a morgue. Cathal is lying in a coffin, looking terribly pale and very dead. Fred quitly stands there in deep sadness and reads a poem to Cathal, one they'd talked about after their fun day taking a ride in Fred's newly fixed car.
The newsarticle turns up in the papers and when Fred visits Jules he finally tells her the truth about everything and why he wasn't there when Jules had gone to the parkinglot. Jules is very compassionate, but still tells Fred that she has decided to go back to Helsinki where she's originally from. When Fred asks her if she'll come back she says it depends on how things will go in Helsinki. I figured she had her own secrets and her dead husband wasn't so dead after all.
Fred goes to visit Cathal's dad, George. He makes clear he's there not to be judgemental but to make sure George knows that Fred was a friend of Cathal and that as far as he's concerned Cathal was a good lad. George still feels there was nothing he could have done to help Cathal and he's bitter about that. Then Fred gives George the watch he'd repaired for Cathal and tells him how much it clearly meant to Cathal and that gives George something to think about, because as I see it he probably was convinced Cathal took it to trade it for drugs and it's given him a new insight into his son. Fred leaves behind a touched George.
Then we're back at the moment Fred is sitting at a bench, watching his spraypainted car being picked up. We watch him in his new modest little house that he'd finally managed to get thanks to Cathal's ideas and persuations. He's watering his (bigger) plant that's standing in the windowsil between two clocks. Cathal's picture is on the mantlepiece. While Fred is watching tv he hears someone at the door. Jules just pushed an envelop under the door before she leaves in a taxi. In the envelop are some sheets with music. Music Jules composed for Fred.
The last scene is of Fred in the swimmingpool, standing on the divingboard. He hesitates only a moment, then straightens up and with determination and rather gracefully dives into the water.
Ok, it's very late and I'm knackered. I'll work out the typos and add a little more about my personal thoughts on the movie tomorrow. If anyone has specific questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Good night!