Moving Forward in Look Both Ways

The Australian film Look Both Ways by Sarah Watt explores the idea of choosing to move forward in life. The film demonstrates that life is an unplanned event that can bring many unexpected turns, and when we realise just how little control we have over life’s turns it can become very difficult to move forward. Through the main characters (Nick, Meryl, Andy, Joan, and Julie) Watt shows that when people experience issues that are way beyond their control they can cope and deal with the pain in different ways. A lot of the times as humans we isolate ourselves and hide our emotions, keeping our thoughts to ourselves as a way of coping. Watt also suggests that changing the way a person perceives life, can improve them and enable them to overcome the problems occurring in their lives thus allowing them to move forward. In the end we see that the characters realise that although life may cause them to look backwards at their past and present problems, they must look forward in order to bring change and joy in their lives.
Sometimes in life things just happen and we have no control over them but we must learn to move forward with life in spite of all the events that we face. When Nick receives his diagnosis for cancer, it frightens him greatly and he begins seeing death everywhere. He becomes adamant that his life could be lost to the same disease that took his father’s life. Nick doesn’t know how to deal with the news, so when he asks the doctor about his chances of survival the doctor doesn’t give him any eye contact nor show any concern and sympathy therefore suggesting that from this point on his life will begin to feel isolated and disconnected from everyone around him. Still trying to come to terms with his disease Nick is shown...

... middle of paper ...

...rangled by Rob, getting eaten by a whale and being crushed by a train. When Meryl painted the sea painting Watt was trying to portray that life is like the sea, we cannot control it because often it can bring a powerful force and when the water is too strong it can sweep us away and drown us that we no longer look forward in life.
Look both ways presented the idea that even at times that life brings tragedies that we have no control over we must not allow those events to control our lives. Rather we need to move on from our isolated, depressive world that we have been placed in by those events. Watt showed that it is important to open up to the people around us who care about our wellbeing and let them know about our true emotions. Through this we learn to help each other to overcome unexpected tragedies and to move on with life without any guilt, anger or grief.