Review of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011) by Muffin M — 14 Aug 2012

Drama set in New York some time after the terrorist attacks of the 11th of September. Oskar Schell is the angered son of one of the victims. One day rummaging through his fatherâ(TM)s belongings he finds a little envelope addressed to âBlackâ? with a key inside. He makes a list of all the people called âBlackâ? in the New York area and visits them one by one in a desperate attempt to locate the lock that fits the key with the help of an older man that rents a room in his grandmotherâ(TM)s flat.

It is an original story with a certain elements of unlikeliness, however the great performance of the kid actor makes it all seem believable and achievable. There are features that need a bit of polishing like the story of the ârenterâ? that is somewhat left unexplained, the movie ends and we still do not know if he is Oskarâ(TM)s grandfather or why doesnâ(TM)t he talk.

Another good point of discussion is Oskarâ(TM)s autistic traits. He displays many classic features of Aspergerâ(TM)s syndrome, the constant talking, the lack of coordination, the noise sensitivity, the huge amount of fears, the single mindedness, the extreme focusing⦠The movie leaves this question open too, he says he has been tested for Aspergerâ(TM)s but he doesnâ(TM)t tell us what were the results. I think some of these elements could be explained by the trauma of the tragic death of the father (fear of heights, big buildings, public transportâ¦) however some of them were already present in the flashbacks previous to the attacks to the twin towers. It is my opinion that it is not that important what the answer really is, the movie tells us of a special individual with a very particular set of circumstances trying to overcome his difficulties (no matter how do you want to call them), an individual on a personal quest: the retention of the fading memory of his father.