written by Jeimy Rodriguez-Solano
edited by CHIQIO
Key words: artworkism, film, artistic
I just recently watched the film called Bones and All which was directed by Luca Guadagnino. The film centers around two protagonists, Maren and Lee who are played by Taylor Russel and Timothee Chalamet. The film is a romance horror story that explores the lives of two
young cannibals, who are driven by this uncontrollable need that they can’t control. They can’t help the way they feel, and this drives the main character to scrutinize herself because she doesn’t want to do this but she has to, to survive.
The film begins with showing Maren’s story as a child and how she recently got abandoned by her father and is now in search of her mother. On the way, she meets Lee and he decides to help Maren drive across the American Midwest to find her mother. Throughout their journey, they develop a deep connection that extends beyond the mere fact of cannibalism that they share. Both are searching for a place of belonging, and they find it with each other.
This film takes us through Maren’s journey of self-discovery, while she battles with the darkness that is within her. Sully is the antagonist that represents what Maren is afraid of becoming, he is the darkness within her. At the end of the film, Sully ends up destroying the relationship between Maren and Lee, forcing Maren to confront the darkness within her. At the end of the film, Lee ends up sacrificing himself, and this represents how Maren accepted this darkness within her. It was now a part of her, but her perspective on it changed from something she feared to something she embraced. This ultimate act of love and acceptance that is shown through Lee becoming one with Maren represents how one person can’t accept the love of another until they fully accept every part of themselves.
Luca Guadagnino says “This film is a love story and not a cannibal story.”In my interpretation, the act of cannibalism metaphorically represents the act of an urge to have an all consuming love or connection, a love that consumes you. It can also be interpreted as a metaphor for the fear of darkness within oneself. Or as a metaphor for generational trauma and how you choose to live with it. This film represents how humans crave love, and when two people mutually receive it, in one way or another, it usually ends with someone sacrificing their everything for the one they love. When they had nothing else to give, they gave their bodies. They weren’t driven by lust, but by the simple desire to love one another by consumption, bones and all.
The act of loving someone comes with fear, regret, and sacrifice. One of the main ideas in the film was this search for acceptance, finding a place or a person that made them finally feel understood. Both Maren and Lee felt out of place no matter where they were. They felt isolated and unaccepted by the people around them. With each other, they found this solace that they’ve been looking for. Maren found this comfort with accepting who she is by discovering about her mother and about the roots of where her urges came from. Lee was able to resolve his deep yearning for acceptance and connection. This film wasn’t simply a story about two people that share similar experiences but two people that found themselves in each other, a type of connection that stood beyond their physical bodies. It was about how love is intertwined with the human experience and about how true love is the act of being able to give yourself wholly to someone.
In conclusion, the cinematic and artistic element that this film possesses allows it to be such a visually complex and layered watch. This film perfectly combines self identity/love/acceptance and survival, romance and horror, and a search for belonging and connection. Overall, Luca Guadagnino’s direction allowed for this film to become such a beautiful representation of an over consuming love.
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