Clive Langham spends one of many tormented nights in bed suffering the terminal stages of bowel cancer. He is a successful writer, or so we are led to believe by him. Whether this proves to be delusion or truth, like so many of the other scenes within this film, we will later discover. In the terminal throes of his condition, with his pain controlled by morphine, he tries to recall scenes from his life, his family and loves. A combination of arrogance of personality, the side effects of the morphine, and the constant sleeplessness caused by agonising twinges of pain, creates a confused picture encompassing episodes of his life filled with distortion, with family members seemingly out of place, much like a bad dream remembered. His bitterness of personality, backstabbing nature, and flashbacks heavily laced with his morphine medication, as well as his preference for one of his sons, creates for the viewer a finely woven mesh of his life and fears. In one scene he is terrified of that time after death that he may face a post mortem examination. We witness a brief glimpse of his fears with a true but grotesque scene of a real post mortem. He feels the victim of his conniving family; however it is likely that they are the victim of his lifelong controlling personality. When dawn breaks, the normal world is discovered and the day is set up for the imminent appearance of his family at lunch. The final scene is beautifully set, with a fine picnic lunch set outside, enjoyed by all participants. The viewer discovers the reality of family relationships with the caring nature of his supposedly errant son shown in stark contrast to his own recollections and distortions. Will he continue to wilfully misinterpret the situation? How much of his viewpoint is composed of his own personality, the condition from which he suffers, or the side effects of medication? We are left wondering. The day gradually draws to a close and Langham basks in safe oasis of his family, their love and support, before facing again, the demons of the night.
Review of Providence
