Spider-Man: Across the Father-Verse

As time flows in this dimension, you will hear glowing reviews of the new Spiderman animated movie in the next few weeks. And they'll largely be correct. The animation is the best i have seen this side of Arcane. The voice acting is on point, especially from Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy, and a funky Daniel Kaluuya as the irrepressible Spider-Punk. The many threads of the multiverse are woven with enough competency to feel like a silken spiderweb that moves the plot along rather than a frustrating slog through Shelob's lair. While i do think the pace of the action is sometimes too chaotic, and you wish the colorful frames took a breath and enjoyed their own beauty once in a while, these are but minor quibbles in what is essentially a high grade entry into the world of animation. This one is definitely going into the animation hall of fame.

You will hear all these superlatives and more, and they will be well deserved. However there is a singular thread in this masterful web of storytelling that i wanted to pull on here. It is the soft loving focus on fatherhood, a beautiful background theme that runs throughout the most important parts of this movie, and is easy to miss in the smorgasbord of color and confusion. 

 At it's heart, Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse is a film about family. The many unfulfilled expectations from our most valued relationships. The disappointments and heart breaks. And yet the hope that all the negotiations are tied to something deeper....unrelenting love. The expansive love of a parent for their child, and the utter desperate silent need of a child for their parent's attention, guidance, nurture and understanding.

While Miles Morales struggles to balance his life as a student, and a vigilante, he may find the attention of his parents overbearing, but there's no mistaking the hugely important role they're playing in his life. He may take it for granted, but as a viewer, you immediately recognize the freefall he would be in without their grounding influence. An influence that is sorely lacking in Gwen Stacey's life, who's single father has so dedicated his life to work, that he doesn't see that his daughter is drifting further away from him. And drifting towards danger, and dangerous influence. Her fear of returning home to a father she hasn't reconciled with, keeps her on paths that are inherently unstable and unfulfilling, no matter how hard she tries to find a replacement family.

Once you see this pattern emerge, of fatherhood and it's singular importance, it's hard to not see it peppered all across the spiderverse. Peter Parker, who is now the father of a toddler endowed with abilities similar to his, has been entrusted by MJ to look after the precocious kid. Clearly he would be the better equipped of the two to handle a baby with superpowers, and better yet teach it to control them, but it's still a strange sight to see him carry the baby around through potentially life threatening missions. Until you notice how seriously he takes it. The baby is not a gimmick. It's part of the thread. He wonders if he'll do a good job with the baby. He takes the jabs about his mentoring ability to heart. He holds back, is way more conservative in his actions, avoiding unnecessary risks. It's all there. A father looking after his kid.

On the other end of the spectrum is the ever brooding and slightly menacing Miguel O Hara, who seems to have lost his kid in a tragic turn of events. You see in his eyes and hardened mirthless face, the depths of despair from the loss of a child, and the unyielding, bordering on psychopathic belief that such tragedies can be avoided in the future, if we just accept the predestined path of the SpiderMen and Women. 

And speaking of eyes, at the very end, in a brilliant bit of direction, you get to stare into the eyes of a youth that has lost their father. The dead, pitiless, vengeful eyes of a child that has been left without a father in a world that is not kind to such innocence. And the contrast......the contrast in those eyes will haunt you and leave you wanting a quick resolution.

Unfortunately this movie is not about quick resolutions. It's about the things that take the most time to mend. About relationships. And sometimes one has to cross the multiverse, to look into the eyes of an alternate reality, to truly heal what was broken. To get back what was stolen. 

In my view, hidden in plain sight, this movie is a silent ode to fatherhood.  

Bheed

BHEED. CROWDS. There's a poignant statement made right in the beginning of the movie on what differentiates a society from crowds of people. It is the threads that bind. Social norms. Expectations. Shared experiences. Common struggles and common celebrations. Take all that away, and all you're left with are swirling masses.

But as the movie progresses, a new question begins to emerge. These threads that bind, are they also ropes that tie our hands, hold us back, and sometimes turn into nooses? Is a hierarchical social structure all it's cracked up to be? Is classism in society inevitable? Is religious orthodoxy worth the danger of religious bias? Do social norms thwart love? Can these masses, tied together now by social media, be trusted to sort truth from false? Will the power structures put in place by civil society protect all of civil society in a crisis, or just the privileged few?

These are some of the burning questions that emerge in this very contained story called Bheed. It's a microcosm of Indian society, where these various threads of casteism, classism, power, media, religion, law enforcement, love and destiny weave themselves into a complicated yet rich tapestry that demands viewing.

The backdrop of the movie is set in rural Covid India, where tens of thousands of poor city workers are migrating back to their villages to seek safety and succor, only to find that the entire country and it's infrastructure has been locked down and the key thrown away. Left to fend for themselves, in the midst of a strange national affliction, their fear and helpless is only exacerbated by law enforcement that is trying to follow orders that feel counter to humanitarian impulses. It's a time of utter confusion, as many will remember from that time, and is well captured. The black and white palette lends itself nicely to the stark tone of the movie, and is well supported by looming cinematography and a background score that increases the sense of dread and panic as the situation for all concerned parties continues to deteriorate.

The narration comes at you from many different perspectives. There's the internal dialogue in journalism, captured well between three voices. Then there's the various faces of law enforcement, harsh and unyielding, sometimes corrupt but also reflective and questioning, sometimes unsure of itself. The confusion and inherent distrust of the migrant workers is captured beautifully as well, with veteran actors like Pankaj Kapoor and Veerendra Saxena making you wonder why we haven't seen these thespians more often. They're sorely missed. 

The only minor quibble i have with the movie is that the lead actor, Rajkumar Rao, sometimes struggles to handle the requirements of the role. Every actor in this movie carries two responsibilities. To stay true to the character they inhabit, and also serve as a narrative device for larger themes. Watch Pankaj Kapoor effortlessly move from helplessness and anger over his family's hunger, to the larger thematic failure of his life's journey, and back to current helplessness within a single scene. It's a masterclass in acting. Rao's transitions however, from an ambitious cop dealing with an unusual crisis and opportunity, to his internalized hopelessness due to his social station, can sometimes be jarring. It's a pity, given how he's usually on top of his game.

There's nothing new in Bheed. After the credits start rolling, you will feel you've been looking at an old black and white photograph from a long time ago. It feels familiar, yet distant. Disconcerting, but not surprising. In an age where we have convinced ourselves that the story of India is a brightly colored kaleidoscope centered around bustling metropolitan cities, this photograph is a grim reminder of the past that still lives on for the vast majority as a present to contend with. It bears taking another look.