Film Review: Far From The Tree Shows The Fruit of Unconditional Love
Directed by Rachel Dretzin, Far From The Tree is a documentary based Andrew Solomon’s book of the same name, and follows the same families he interviewed for his book. Solomon was born to a wealthy, prestigious family, but suffered a lot of pain at experiencing the rejection of his parents because he was gay. Yet, their rejection made him wonder; how do parents deal with children that differ from them?
From a physical handicap to, possibly, a moral one, Far From The Tree interviews a group of parents whose children differ from them. The first “child” you meet is Jason. Born with down-syndrome in a time when the doctor would ask his mother, “Do you want to get rid of it?”, after he was born, Jason defied many odds. To his family, he is quite smart or, at least, has impressed the world with his capacities; considering the 70’s had no problem calling down-syndrome children “mongoloids” or “retards”. Yet, he has his “differences” that persist through adulthood like, his obsession with Elsa from Frozen and sincere belief that he must go to Norway to meet her. This infatuation confounds his mother, who does not know how to protect him from his fantasies, but protection seems to be a problem for all these parents.
From Trevor, a murderer sentenced to life in prisons, to Jack, an autistic boy that can only communicate by typing his thoughts, both families are emotionally torn because they feel like they do not “know” their child. In Trevor’s case, his family ponders when their happy boy became the guy who would make someone bleed to death. Were all the laughs and “I love you’s” fake? Yet, in Jack’s case, it is the consistent presumption that Jack must mold to our world’s norms and typical methods of communication like, speech, that makes his parents feel like he is a stranger they must meet. Over time, both begin to understand that society frightens parents from embracing their children’s differences from us, but those differences are what makes us learn unconditional love. Such a sentiments pervades in the few lives this film captures, and in the wise words of Andre Solomon.
With philosophical interjections from Andrew Solomon, Far From The Tree will, definitely, pull heart strings, and is briskly paced to teach you what is unconditional love. Frankly, I cried because I do not like to see anyone feel like they are failing at doing their best, but it feels particularly harder to see parents struggle with this notion. Being a guardian for a life is a difficult, rewarding job, but Far From The Tree is dedicated to the parents who must confront a world who thinks their child’s difference is a disability or disease. When an “illness” becomes an identity or something that was thought to need a cure becomes celebrated by society is a transition that takes time. Yet, this film shows it is painful to see a world need time to accept and respect your child. Far From The Tree Comes Out July 20.
