ELLA & JOHN • THE LEISURE SEEKER
PRODUCTION: USA 2018
DIRECTOR: Paolo Virzì
STARRING: Donald Sutherland (John Spencer), Helen Mirren (Ella), Christian McKay (Will Spencer), Janel Moloney (Jane Spencer)
SYNOPSIS
John Spencer is a retired English teacher who can recite entire passages from Hemingway and Melville. But unfortunately, dementia is getting the best of him, often making him unable to remember where he is or even his wife’s name.
Ella is John’s wife and they have been married for nearly 50 years. While he is absent-minded and meticulous, she is chatty and extrovert. Both like talking with strangers about their personal lives.
Ella is suffering from some sort of illness and we often see her taking pills, drinking whisky and having nausea. However, she insists that she and John travel from their home in Wellesley, Massachusetts, down the coast to Key West in Florida with the Leisure Seeker, as they call their old camper van, to visit Hemingway’s historic home. Meanwhile, their children sit at home, waiting and worrying.
As is often the case with road-trip movies, long-held frustrations and resentment come to the surface and the Leisure Seeker adds an element of confusion and memory-loss as a convenient narrative device, forcing secrets to emerge in improbable ways.
Some moments are both funny and dramatic. For example, when John points a shotgun at Ella accusing her of still being in love with an old boyfriend of 50 years ago, or when he leaves her at a gas station while she is talking on the phone and she has to catch him on the back of a motorbike.
BEFORE VIEWING
8 Read the synopsis and answer the questions.
1. Who are the protagonists?
2. What illnesses do they suffer from?
3. What is the Leisure Seeker?
4. Where are the two protagonists going? Why?
5. Where do they come from?
6. What kind of feelings come out during the journey?
7. Describe two episodes from which we can understand that John suffers from dementia.
WHILE VIEWING
9 Watch an extract from the film and answer the questions.
1. Where is Ella from?
2. What direction did John and Ella have to take to visit her family? Northward, southward, eastward or westward?
3. What type of tourist is Ella?
4. What type of tourist is John according to Ella?
5. What does John think about travelling according to Ella?
6. What does Ella like about travelling?
7. What wonderful mountains have they visited?
8. Where is the man at the gas station from?
10 Watch the video again and answer the questions.
1. Does Ella’s description provided in the synopsis correspond to what you saw in the video? Justify your answer.
2. What do you think pecan logs are?
3. Why do you think Ella talks for her husband?
4. Ella says that John is a real Yankee. What does that mean? Where is he from? Look at the synopsis, too.
AFTER VIEWING
11 Discuss the following topics.
1. Do you think Ella and John were right to travel alone at their age and in their conditions?
2. Do you know elderly people that still travel alone?
3. Have you ever travelled in a camper van? If so, can you describe your experience? If not, would you like to try?
