The Adjustment Bureau is the first movie for me that has truly inspired lengthy periods of deep thought and a desire to write essays on subjects the movie confronts. The other movie that consistently inspires this sort of response is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.The movie presents a framework built on the fate vs free will argument. Do we have free will and should we have free will. The mechanics for this are presented in the form of the the Adjustment Bureau, which is basically the bureaucracy of Heaven in the form of an accounting firm located in a skyscraper in New York City. The agents of the Bureau work to keep humans on the plan written by The Chairman. There are rules governing the things these agents can do and when and how they can do them, which I really appreciated. Even angels need rules to limit their ability to meddle in the lives of humans. Draped over this fate vs free will framework, though, is a series of much more personal issues that I relate to in profound ways.
What the movie gives us is a pair of soul mates (though they never use that language) drawn together again and again over many years who, after their initial meeting, never really stop thinking about each other. Even when other relationships develop, they find themselves unsatisfied, because once you experience being with that one person you share perfect chemistry with, nothing else will ever satisfy.
Which leads to the next point defining why this person is a soul mate (beyond the aforementioned chemistry), which is, being with this person is the only time that you do not feel alone. People talk about having friends and family and "you're never really alone... blah blah..." but that's not true. Friends and family and lovers are there, they are in your life, they walk nearby but they're never on the same path with you. They aren't sharing space with you. That soul mate, though, is the only person who exists in the same moment as you. The only person to share a space in the universe with you. Even if only momentary, they are standing on the same tile in the garden path with you in a way that no one else can. It's not really until you experience that moment that you realize both how alone you have been all your life, and how not alone you are in that moment. It's actually kind of scary, because you immediately start to wonder what happens when you lose it? This is what David and Elise go to war for. Once you've felt that shared moment, why go back to being alone?
Finally, there's a point that only gets raised once in the movie, but it hangs over top the fate vs free will framework. It's about the plan that everyone is following. It's important for things to happen correctly because some lives impact many many others, but who asks whether following the plan makes the people happy? Apparently the agents of the Bureau never ask, but David does. As the plan for Elise is being explained to David, the question blaring in my head is "but is she happy?" Is it better to go on to greatness, to give the world great art that maybe inspires others or advances a medium, or to be happy in life? Is being happy only possible with free will?
Unfortunately, this is only a movie, but all of these questions are issues I have considered in the past and now consider with a new framework to build my thoughts around.
So if it wasn't clear already, I would highly recommend this film.
