Little Children

Todd Fields' latest drama Little Children is a great addition to the realistic suburbia genre. Fields' own previous film In the Bedroom can be included in this category, along with other films that stretch that idea to a comical level, such as The Burbs. Little Children follows the mundane and disappointing lives of Sarah Pierce and Brad Adamson, both stay-at-home parents in unsatisfying marriages. Sarah is married to a self-absorbed, distant corporate type who prefers to pleasure himself rather than having anything to do with his wife. Brad meanwhile battles with feelings of job inadequacy while his working wife dictates every aspect of his life, right down to whether or not he can own a cell phone. After meeting as a result of a bet (Sarah's fellow prudish playground mothers bet her she cannot get Brad's phone number), an instant connection is felt between Sarah and Brad, and so their affair begins. A subplot of this main affair is the addition to the suburban area of a man convicted of sexual abuse of children named Ronnie. Finally, the two stories have little to do with each other, crossing over through acquaintances of Brad and Sarah, and their own concern because of their children.
There are a couple of somewhat unusual methods used in the making of this film that add greatly to the telling of the story. One is that there is a narrator, and even more, he is not a character in the film. His words allow insight into some of the oddities of what the characters are thinking, while not being too obvious. It is like the best of two worlds: reading a book gives the audience fun little tidbits that cannot always be communicated on film, and this witty, simple, and not overpowering narrative track tells some of these interesting details. The second element is the lighting of the film. Much of it is set outside and while there are a couple of big scenes set in the rain, it is for the most part sunny. However, what struck me was that the whole film still felt extremely dark, lighting-wise. Obviously the subject matter added to this effect, but even in the sun, colors were not super bright, and the characters were never very illuminated or backlit. This lighting decision added to the overall simplicity of the film, communicating moreso how unhappy and bored the characters were, which was also shown with the sort of slow-moving scenes. The plot was not slow-moving per se, just the actual scenes and dialogue themselves.
What I think is an indication of how well this story is presented is the fact that I was actually very invested in all of the main characters. I liked Brad and Sarah, and I felt real pity for Ronnie. This is amazing because as individuals, they are certainly not model humans. Brad is immature in regards to his relationship with his wife and son and is frankly rather cowardly, making no effort to stand up for himself or really change his life. Sarah meanwhile doesn't really even seem to like her daughter and also makes no real effort to change her life or marriage. On top of these character flaws, Brad and Sarah both engage in adultery for quite a period of time with no real concern for how it would affect their childrens' lives. The character of Ronnie sort of speaks for itself: he is a disgusting, perverted, highly disturbing man who fantisizes about children. However, it is his recognition of his flaws and his actions, remorse, and loneliness at the end of the film that evoke feelings of pity. I also found this film to be much more realistic than some other dramatic "slice of life" movies. In many of these other stories, there is such an effort to not have a neat ending and to be truer to life that they overshoot how things really do end. The ending of Little Children was not overly dramatic. Everyone lost something and their lives all took different turns to what they had planned over the course of the film, however they all gained some sense of realization and redemption, or at least acceptance.
An odd and at times very disturbing film, there was still a definite sense of realism, which left me satisfied.