John Hurt: An Oscar contender for 'Sailcloth'

Just 17 minutes long, the film Sailcloth made waves throughout the film festivals this past year and is now getting Oscar buzz for legendary British actor John Hurt. The autobiographical film depicts a widower who decides to one day gather his possessions, leave his nursing home, and avoid detection that he is absent as he ventures off to sea for the last time. Written, directed, and produced by Elfar Adalstein, the film has moved John Hurt into the next round in the Oscar short film category. The non-dialogue short film is one of 10 eligible productions that have made the shortlist for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The final nominations will be announced on January 25, 2012

Sailcloth has received numerous praise from film critics for its depth and sensitivity. The film was awarded the ‘Grand Jury Prize’ in the best short film category at the Rhode Island International Film Festival and ‘International Cinematic Achievement Award’ at the Thessaloniki International Short Film Festival in Greece.

Hurt's character sneaks out of the nursing home and meets a friend at the nearby pier. He then embarks on a journey with his beloved companion. This is his final journey as he set sail off into the sunset to end his life with the one he loves. The film was based on the director’s own grandparent who had raised him and spent the final seven years of his life in a nursing home where he died. It is this autobiographical tale that has endeared itself in the heart of the juries at the film festivals as well as audiences who were made emotional at the telling of one man's twilight decision to end his days.

Inspired by the director’s own childhood in an Icelandic fishing village the setting backdrop for the short film is a tale of suicide and that the filament of a dying wish. The widower chooses to die with dignity and of the protagonist embarks on a final journey on the sea. Viewers are drawn into a story of how a man understands how conscious a decision it is to die on his own terms. While the widower could have stayed in the sterile comfort of his nursing home he does not want to live any longer as one of the elderly residents who are no longer seen as human and whose memories are regarded as irrelevant. To those that care for elderly people they can no longer see that behind the weathered skin or the eyes that can no longer see and the body that is unable to walk or perform basic tasks, there still remains a personality and a legacy to not ignore. This film is a lesson that even the most ancient human was once a child or youth able-bodied and experienced in the pleasures and joys of life. Everyone who has lived to an old age is still capable of remembering love , sadness, tragedy or ecstasy and every other emotion of those who are young today.

Sailcloth is not just a film about an old man who goes off to die but a man who despite his many years is still capable of the reckless abandon of youth. Sometimes we forget that in our elderly is the legacy of a generation who deserves inclusion in a society that falsely believes that only the young have a life force. Our old people and their emotions and memories are experiences just as valid as the ones enjoyed by 25-year-olds.

What is most compelling is the performance of John hurt himself. He does not speak at all throughout the film. In fact it is the absence of the famous voice that the actor is known for that actually deepens the portrayal. Hurt is known for his vocal resident in caricature and so by not speaking he actually imparts upon the audience a sense of the subtleties of expression to which this story is about. By not uttering any dialogue he must act with body movement. In his eyes and in his actions he must move this story along and allow it to progress from scene to scene through just the visceral feelings expressed on his face and in his gestures. The gestures move the story forward and are a testament to the acting prowess of Hurt. Despite his silence it does not detract from the story because it is in the absence of words that the viewer is compelled to experience the feelings that the character displays on screen.

The film is not just about an elderly widower who chooses to commit suicide in a desperate attempt to reunite with his deceased wife. It is an appeal to the emotions that the filmmaker uses in showing the character in his younger years with the happy memories of his wife. So often we think of suicidal gestures as a decision to end pain. Rather the decision is also one of desire to return to a state when there is no need for the agility and energy and all the blessings of youth. It is a poignant story that the intense sadness and grief that makes life so painful is cured by a reunion with what we have lost. The suicide is the choice for love and it speaks to the fact that most of us have someone we love so much that we live for them. Once that person is gone we either die of a broken heart in what appears to be mysterious circumstances or natural death but this film shows us that without love there is no life. The saddest moments are when the widower experiences altered consciousness between the present and the past and it is so obvious that in his case, death will bring happiness and completion.

Perhaps it is the short duration of the film that speaks volumes and hours and condenses a tale that tells the audience the great mysteries of the heart without relying on large amounts of flashbacks. Old people, whether they have dementia or are semi-conscious, or simply no longer the people they used to be are still people. They are still full of emotions and capable of passionate love. Just because someone is past the age where they no longer appear vital it does not mean that they are not capable of the depths and intensity of the human experience.

We should not strip older people of their right to be human. We live in a youth oriented culture and it makes us deny the fact that only because of those generations that lived before us we are here. Had they not fallen in love and had children so many of us would not be alive. Yet we treat our elderly as caged animals in a farm rather than the ones responsible for our very existence and humanity. The tragedy of this widower is that his desire to be with the person to whom he shared the other side of his soul and married is not with him. For every pair of young lovers on the street there is a pair of old people who once were in their shoes. This film is a reminder to not walk by those elderly folks on the street or in a nursing home and fail to notice them because their skin is no longer supple or that their posture is bent and that their hair is graying. These outward signs are merely a reflection of how long they lived and acquired a life. This film tells us that we owe our elderly citizens inclusion into society. We celebrate the birth of a child and what this performance shows us is that we should also celebrate the end of life.

John Hurt gives a performance that is a testament to the fact that he is one of the greatest actors still alive. The ability to act without script or dialogue, to not have the comfort of words, demonstrates an actor who can truly act with just body language and physicality. John Hurt embodies the character and makes it so viscerally real that the audience has almost no option but to move in the scene with the character and join them in their journey and feel what they feel. Should he earn an Oscar nomination and possibly the Oscar himself it will be in achievement not only for John Hurt in his role, but as a reminder to many that the greatest actors have a gift to which the passage of time and a the loss of youthful experience does not diminish.