Changeling

When I went to watch Changeling, apart from the good reviews, I was intrigued by the name itself – what does it mean? After the movie, I wasn’t any wiser - the word isnt used anywhere in the movie. Wikipedia it was then – and according to Wikipedia, a Changeling is fairytale creature – child of elves, trolls etc – who is left behind in place of a human child. The changeling will assume the identity of the human kid and feed off the mother …..

I couldn’t have chosen a more appropriate name for the movie. Changeling follows the travails of a single mother Christine Collins (played by Angelina Jolie) whose only son Walter is kidnapped – and miraculously traced by the police after 5 months. Only, the boy who returns is not her son. Set in the 1920’s in Los Angeles, a time when the police force is much-maligned, and the return of Walter Collins has provided some desperately needed good publicity, the LAPD refuses to admit it made a mistake. Curiously the boy too insists that he is Walter Collins ….

Christine cant accept the fact that the police have stopped looking for Walter. But the LAPD will have none of it – they claim she is delusional and refusing to indentify her own kid. Faced by an apathetic police, she finds help in the form of Rev Briegleb (John Malkovich), a crusader priest who wants to weed out corruption in the LAPD. Together they set out to prove that the boy is not Walter (this is the 1920’s – photographs, dental records etc weren’t common).

But if you have figured that Changeling is a movie about one man/woman fighting against the entire system, you are mistaken. Midway into the story, a twist is introduced – which transforms the movie completely. And according to me, it is this that elevates Changeling into a very good movie. The director integrates all the plots fluidly and the story remains engrossing till the end.

Angelina Jolie plays Christine Collins very well – emoting with her eyes about the anguish of a mother - and the uncertainty when faced with extraordinary situations. But I felt she physically looked a little too shrunken in the movie – dark circles under her eyes and bones visibile everywhere - the kind you are after a serious illness. John Malkovich plays the no-nonsense serious guy effortlessly – and in the story, actually he is the one doing all the hard work – Christine being just a face.
The period look of the movie is one of its highlights – there are actually old trams running around the streets – don’t know how they manage that. And the only jarring part of the movie are the corrupt police activities – they appear to be out of a bad 1970’s hindi movie :)

Given that the incidents depicted in the movie actually happened in real life in 1928, the tale becomes even more interesting. To sum up - Angelina Jolie shows her acting chops and Clint Eastwood delivers another solid show – definitely do watch. I