"Life itself" is the most depressing film of 2018, but director Dan Fogelman says it's a bit of a point

You may have already guessed that, because it comes from the NBC's weird trio showrunner That's us, but the whole drama covering the generation Life itself It's not a sweet and quiet trip to the cinema. The film, released on September 21, is full of trauma and tragedy, some of them falling into the spectator's lap in remarkably happy moments, some of which insinuate like an air stream. cold. Yes Life itself Sometimes feels implacably dark for you, it's intentional on the part of screenwriter / director Dan Fogelman.

"If you are going to do something that tries and puts people on their knees and shows that the human experience is as dark and tragic as possible, [but] You can also find beautiful beauty and you can find hope, "says the filmmaker, sipping a coffee in a meeting room at the Toronto International Film Festival." I do not think we can draw the consequences of its existence. And you want to shake the audience and say, "OK, I'm going to make you attend something you do not like it to happen to the characters you love."

And indeed, the troupe is filled with actors that you probably love very much, from Oscar Isaac and Olivia Wilde as an anticipation couple to Annette Bening as a calm and caring therapist of Antonio Banderas, owner of a farm in Andalusia, Spain. (Yes, all these characters are connected.No spoilers on how.) If someone is on the screen for more than a few minutes Life itselfyou can count on something that is not so beautiful, ranging from inconvenience to disaster. Fogelman still bet on you, and he has good reason to think about how fans of his series think that Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia) is perpetually doomed.

And like that of the series, the tone of the film is intense, which was also essential to the vision of Fogelman. "Sometimes the film is really comical and really funny and sometimes there is really a horrible sadness and tragedy and a silence in a movie theater," he says. "And it's a very difficult race, and that's how I see life."

The director remembers losing one of his close friends over the past year and experiencing a range of emotions in the wake of the event. "Her funeral was one of the four days of my life I will never forget," says Fogelman. "At the same time, it was also cheerful and festive, and I experienced some of the biggest laughs of my life."

In a critical evaluation of the film, however, sadness and tragedy seem to win the battle. And many critics say that the strings, so to speak, are a little too visible. "In Life itself the killing of parents is downright ridiculous, "writes A. Scott in his book. New York Times review. "You would not call it inattentive, since all the mourning seems to have been arranged with meticulous care." In the Chicago Tribune, Michael Phillips called the movie "an emotional aggression".

Moreover, in the film, the positive consequences of the traumas are quite literal and, in most cases, quite coincidental. It can be argued that most survivors do not experience trauma this way. It is not necessarily easy to designate a specific thing that you have gained by suffering a loss, regardless of recovery. When I ask Fogelman what he hopes the film tells people who have trouble finding positivity in their situation, he says, "I think there's magic in that kind of reason to go from the front … Even if you have not found it yet, if you go further, you can regain love, hope, and the l & # 39; 39; optimism. "

Whether it's true for everyone or not, traditional movie buffs may be more inclined to Life itself feeds on emotions that critics have been. And indeed, the sentimental narrative of Fogelman has undoubtedly produced a television series with a large and passionate fan base. He recognizes that That's us tries to find a balance between prestige and populist, adding that "things that move people, who are populist, tend to be considered of poor quality".

"I think this thing makes you feel more and more popular in the last 10 years as the world has become a little darker," he says. "I do not know exactly when our switch went off and we got a little more cynical, I think the internet has a lot to do, especially with respect to our art."

Some critics have accused Life itself of cynicism, however, because of the somewhat systematic way that it sends characters. And others have claimed that it was cruel for his women. "Guys become epic, wildly mad or desperately in love," writes Angie Han for Mashable. "They are masters of their own destiny.When one meets the love of one's life, it is described as the most important day of his life – who knows or cares that the most important day of her life could be? "

So, has Fogelman ever been preoccupied with the optics of what the female characters in history endure? (For the record, this includes illness, sudden sudden death, and off-screen child sexual abuse.) "No, I mean, only because I see such light in these characters," he said. "You know, the things that happen to them in the movie happen in life, trauma victims often cause … often trauma and have a hard time coming back."

Although his cyclical tragedy Life itself difficult for some viewers to love, this is essentially the very reason for its existence. In this adventure, Fogelman says he has intentionally attempted to "stretch the comfort zone of an audience". [to see] how much darkness, how lightly they can tolerate. "You will have to watch the movie yourself to see where you are falling.