INFINITELY POLAR BEAR Trailer

This film has been screened at several film festivals. It may have passed by you without your notice. Let’s remedy that, shall we? Society often looks down on mental disorders. Yes, there are centers for help and hotlines available, yet it is still seen as a stigma by many and often a reason to blacklist people. People with disorders like depression or bipolar disorder are simply labeled as crazy. Potential employers won’t hire you and many people view you as less than human. Here, I present to you a trailer for a movie about manic-depressive disorder that I think is definitely worth your time, called Infinitely Polar Bear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20qD5XpisDY

Directed by Maya Forbes, this film stars Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana. As the story goes, a father with manic-depression wants to win back the heart of his wife. If you don’t know what manic depression is, please do the research or click here. His plan to accomplish this is to take care of their two daughters while the wife heads to New York to attend Columbia University. The daughters are full of life and energy, which seems overwhelming especially since it’s two against one. More than the issue of bipolar-disorder, this film is about a family coming together.

I think the best thing about this trailer (and I assume the film as well) is that Ruffalo’s character, Cameron, is human. He does things like illegally enter buildings or driving with a hole in the car floor. These are odd actions, but plausible within reality. Besides, Cameron has got nothing on Homer Simpson. Those random instances are far and few between, though. At the core, we get a man trying to be a decent dad to his kids. Many of you probably have your own interesting dad stories, and those stories probably contributed to who you are today.

Many of the scenes are, for lack of a better word, sweet. For any action that Cameron takes, he does it for the sake of his family, and with honest intentions. Additionally, the stylized scenes set in (by assumption) the late 60’s and onward capture moments in time like long forgotten memories. Please excuse me, that sounds very flowery. What I mean is that, through suspension of disbelief, you see small film segments of grainy film footage from the hippie era. That moment of time is lost and gone. But also take into account that period of history (an era of liberal thought…and drugs) and the lovey scenes between Cameron and his wife and you get a sense of lost innocence that we don’t tolerate as much nowadays. Then again, I only know what a public school education has taught me.

This kind of film is not about technique but about telling a relatable story. It relies on you feeling comfortable with the characters and situations. It seems to do it well and Mark Ruffalo has received high praise for his role in this film already. His character, while unique (in the film world as a lead), is charming and as fatherly as any other. The way the movie portrays the whole family, it actually feels like a family with issues that you would see in real life. So again, definitely worth watching if you haven’t already.

Infinitely Polar Bear has been screened most everywhere except for Greece which is expected for July 30th 2015.

Tell us your thoughts!

(top image source: Sony Pictures Classics)