Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Essay
The 2011 box office film ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’ directed by the impeccable
Stephen Daldry demonstrates that humans’ experiences of grief are not always a limiting
factor. The film follows 11 year old Oskar Schell, a boy who is diagnosed with Autism. Oskar
lost his father, Thomas, in one of the most terrible tragedies in our worlds history, 9/11.
Before the death of his father, Oskar and Thomas would go on these reconnaissance
expeditions across New York City to find the 6 missing boroughs of NYC. These
reconnaissance expeditions were to help Oskar break out of 1his shell and help become more
comfortable with the outside world, but after the death of his father, Oskar went on a
different type of expedition, an expedition to find his fathers legacy. Across the film the
audiences meets several different characters whom have experienced different types of
personal loss and grief. Some of the characters whom come across during the film and
dealing with their own personal grief are: Abby Black, The Renter and Oskar.
When people think of grief, they generally tend to think of death of someone, but the grief
of Abby Black is that of something completely different. The first cameo appearance of Abby
Black comes about due to Oskar’s expedition to find the key that was found in a vase in his
father’s closet. When Black first makes an appearance, she is seen looking very gaunt and in a
state of being fragile. She is surrounded by boxes and possessions scattered throughout the
hallway of where Abby is sitting. It can be inferred by that scene that she is going through
something that can (come back to this sentence!). In a later scene where Abby takes
Oskar to see her ex-partner. It can be inferred that the apartment scene from earlier on with
the boxes and possessions, are those of either one of the two Blacks due to the split between
the two. Abby’s type of grief is shown through her emotions and the mise-en-scène.
Technically, Abby’s grief is not the typical type of grief but its an emotional type of grief.
However,...
