Thoughts on a Film: About Time (2013)
‘About Time’ is a simple, genuine, and innocent film that will make you value your life and provide you with the key to happiness. It is a story about a person who narrates us through his life and learnings as a time traveler.
In his early 20s, Tim Lake (played by Domhnall Gleeson) realizes that he has the ability to travel in time. Not anywhere in time, but only back in the past. The story then revolves around how he uses this ability to try to find true love and his luck leads him to Mary (played by Rachel McAdams). However, by the end of the movie, you will realize that ‘About Time’ is not a love story but rather a life story. It teaches invaluable lessons about love, family, death, and happiness.
If you are one of those people who is into romantic films but loves Sci-Fi films, I think you should try watching ‘About Time’. I myself am not a fan of romantic films, but I loved the concept of ‘About Time’. So before reading the further section, do make sure you have watched the film, because it will contain spoilers!
Spoilers Ahead!
Simplicity in Time Travel
We are all quite familiar with movies that play around with the concept of time (Tenet, Looper, Avengers: Endgame, etc). However, almost all of these films introduce the ability to travel through time to fix a catastrophic event. There’s always a big problem at stake. And such films invariably portray a rivalry between heroes and villains.
However, ‘About Time’ doesn’t deal with any such problems. The story uses the power of traveling back in time at a personal level. There are no heroes or villains in this story. It is just the story of a simple young man who uses the time-traveling ability to tweak his own life in small ways.
I believe that the beauty of this film lies in its sincerity. Think about this for a minute, if you were given the ability to travel back to your own experiences, wouldn’t you behave exactly as Tim does? Start by making small changes in your life and fixing your errors?
The Relatable Characters
‘About Time’ uses its lead characters to connect with the audience in a brilliant way, especially its lead character- Tim Lake. We unknowingly start relating with Tim. His slight awkwardness, relations with his family (especially with his father and his sister), helpful behavior, and his motives makes us easily put ourselves in his shoes. He is an ordinary human capable of making errors and mistakes. Our empathy towards him makes all his actions are quite justifiable. Even after discovering his time-traveling abilities, he just tries to change his life in small ways and doesn’t go about seeking attention or fame.
The relation between Tim with his dad is especially heart-warming. His ‘cool’ dad teaches him many important lessons in life, and it feels like he is talking to us through Tim. One of my favorite moments in the movie is when Tim’s father is giving him advice about how to use his time-traveling abilities. He explains that such an ability should not be wasted for money or fame but should be used for finding love and happiness. Tim’s father used his ability to enjoy literature and probably has read more books than any human. Another one of my favorite moments is when Tim’s dad gives a short speech at his wedding- “I’d only give one piece of advice to anyone marrying. We’re all quite similar in the end. We all get old and tell the same tales too many times. But try and marry someone kind. And this is a kind man with a good heart.”
The final chapter of the movie brings tears to our eyes as Tim has to finally let his father go. The time-traveling ability could be one of the godliest powers present. But, even with this ability, Tim cannot go back to enjoy the company of his father.
This made me wonder that even if we had everything in life, we would eventually have to let things go. Deaths are inevitable and the ability to let go and move on (but not forget about the person) is something we all need to learn.
“I just try to live everyday as if I have deliberately come back to this one day, to enjoy it… As if it was the full, final day of my extraordinary, ordinary life.”
The final few moments of the film are quite amazing and so is the above dialogue. I think the biggest moral drawn from ‘About Time’ is that we should enjoy our life thoroughly. Find happiness in small things, be kind, grateful, and empathetic. Live our life as if we have traveled back in time to this particular day, to relish it for its beauty.
Live our life as if we have traveled back in time to this particular day, to relish it for its beauty.
