Mystery of silence

Navnee Likhi

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“What it would be like to pick and choose the objects and stories that would go in your own cabinet? We are all infinite cabinets of wonder.”  

  — Brian Selznick

American director Todd Hayne’s mystery drama Wonderstruck is an exquisitely crafted adaptation of a novel of the same name by Brian Selznick. The adventures of two deaf children has two narratives running on parallel tracks but in dramatically different ways. The narrative centres on two intertwining stories: Ben’s story is set in 1977 and that of Rose in 1927. Ben longs to know about his father whom he has never seen whereas Rose, a fan of silent films, dreams of an actress whose clippings she keeps in her scrapbook. The mystery — how these two deaf children are connected and the manner in which they eventually meet as adults — makes it an engaging watch. The movie is a visual swooner. It brings the world of silence to life through the eyes of two children.

The story unfolds in rural Minnesota in 1977 where 12-year-old Ben mourns the loss of his mother Elaine, who has died in a car accident. He wishes he is with his mother in her library, where she worked and everything is well organised and numbered. That way he will be able to find what he is looking for — information about his father.

Intercut with Ben’s story is that of 12-year-old Rose, who lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, with her father. She faces constant reprimand from her overprotective father. She is deaf since birth. Her refusal to follow her father’s wishes to do lip-reading is evident in the torn pages of textbook for the deaf that she uses to make skyscrapers.

Ben lives with his aunt and uncle a few miles across the Gunflint lake from the house he grew up in. He often returns to his own house, which has memories of his mother Elaine. He never knew his father but wants to find out who he is. He searches through his mother’s belonging and comes across a bookmark inscribed with words ‘Wonderstruck’ in his mother’s book that ends with endearing words, “With love Danny”. Presuming that Danny is his father, Ben proceeds to call the phone number of the bookstore listed below on the bookmark. As he is calling, a bolt of lightning hits the house, travels through the phone line and causes him to lose his hearing. He wakes up in a hospital, unaware of where he was. After a short while, he decides to run away to New York City. As he arrives in the city, he hides in the American Museum of Natural History. At the museum, he meets Jamie, whose father works at the museum. Jamie takes him on tour of the back areas of the museum and helps him to hide inside a storage room. At night, Ben has dreams about wolves and wakes up frightened. He is still determined to track down his father. So he leaves to locate the bookstore. As he reaches there, he encounters Rose (Juliann Moore as adult Rose).

Meanwhile, in the other story, Rose (12) is kept at home with visits from a tutor because she is deaf and lonely. She happens to read in a newspaper about Lillian Mayhew (also played by Julian Moore) performing in New York. This ignites Rose’s imagination the same way as Ben’s about the bookmark and runs away to New York City to see her idol actress Lillian Mayhew. Rose travels to the theatre where Lillian is performing. She sneaks in and is found by the actress herself, who actually is her mother. Lillian is furious, despite Rose telling her that she missed her. Lillian threatens to send her to her father. Rose runs away again. This time, she goes to the American Museum of Natural History. There she is found by her brother Walter. He takes her to his apartment and promises to speak to their parents. Thus, New York becomes a magical destination for Rose and Ben where they meet and have eye-opening experiences in the museum. 

Both the stories involve these characters to take trips to the Big Apple in the hope of finding something or someone that brings meaning to their lives.The year 1927 is shown as dreamy, purposely stylised in black and white. It seems as if Rose lives in a silent movie without subtitles. 1977 gives the feel of faded colour snapshots and when action moves to New York City, it hums with humid gritty atmosphere. Cinematographer Ed Lachman creates hyper real environments for these young protagonists. The story brings to life the magic of pictures amid the silence. It’s an uncommon film about children, their communication, connection and memory.

Music composer Burnwell has crafted minimalist instrumental music that captures the adventure and excitement felt by the two children venturing into the Big Apple. As the story progresses, Rose’s story skips forward 50 years where she is shown as an older woman entering a bookstore. It is there that  she meets Ben. She reveals to him that she is his grandmother and Danny was her son and his father. Rose then leads him to Queen’s Museum of Art, where she tells her story to him and also how his father died from a heart attack.

Along with the absentee parents, and silence in a world of words, various incidents and motifs are echoed throughout in each time frame. The film is visually intoxicating. The young actors hold on to their roles with unselfconscious naturalism. Julianne Moore, in the role of Lillian Mayhew and later as adult Rose, lends her ineffable class and sensitivity to the character in a limited screen presence.