Tonight I watched the movie “Thumping Heart” over dinner, and I have to say, it is a really beautiful and inspiring youth training manual for teens. Thumping is directed by Rob Reiner and stars Madeleine Carroll and Karan McAuliffe. The film is based on the original novel of the same name by Wendelin van der Laanen and depicts the interesting war between boys and girls in adolescence.
Julie Baker (Madeleine Carroll) religiously believes three things: that trees are holy (especially her favorite sycamore tree), that the chickens she raises in her backyard lay the most hygienic eggs, and that one day she will kiss Bryce Loski (Karan McAuliffe). The moment she saw Bryce’s blue eyes in the second grade, Julie’s heart was hit by him. Unfortunately, Bryce has never had feelings for her. Also, he thinks Julie is a little weird, how could anyone see chicken farming and sitting under a tree as fun.
Unexpectedly, by eighth grade, Bryce began to find Julie’s unusual interest and pride in her family to be attractive. Julie, on the other hand, began to think that Bryce’s pretty blue eyes might actually be as empty as his own; after all, how could anyone not take someone else’s feelings about trees and chickens seriously?
Watching “Thumping” is like watching the American version of “The Girl We Chased All Those Years Ago”. It all started when Bryce moved to become Julie’s neighbor near a sycamore tree.
One day Bryce’s dad moved with his family of four from another location to a nearby sycamore tree, and as they were working together to move and pack up their new home, a long-haired little girl appeared in front of them, who had lived nearby since introducing herself as Julie. She also volunteered to help with something.
Both Bryce and his dad were too busy doing their own things to pay any attention to the girl named Julie. Bryce’s dad even bluntly turned down Julie’s offer by saying, “These things are very expensive, I don’t need your help”. Bryce’s dad had to ask his son Bryce to drop everything and distract Julie.
By mistake, Bryce inexplicably held Julie’s hand until he realized that he had panicked and shrugged it off. This act made Julie think she was in love with Bryce, and she became even more enthusiastic around him from then on. From that moment on, the two of them were destined to be together.
The young and naive Bryce thought that Julie was too aggressive, a big-headed, stupid girl who didn’t understand people’s feelings. He wanted to avoid Julie’s enthusiasm, so that the other boys would not tease him about his girlfriend, who was always following him around.
Bryce and Julie are like cat and mouse, two children playing a little game of hide and seek. As Bryce and Julie grew up, their outlook on each other’s lives and values continued to change. Julie was no longer just attracted to Bryce’s big, flashing eyes; she saw something deeper behind them. She began to care about something more meaningful, and she began to think about relationships that were more than the whole or just the opposite.
Bryce, who had always been childish and unable to understand Julie, as he interacted with other girls, gradually discovered the unique charm hidden in Julie that he had never discovered, and he was annoyed to find himself caring more and more about Julie, as if he had somehow fallen in love with her. At this time, Julie had begun to turn away from Bryce because of some of the silly and innocent things he had said and done.
Bryce was sad and wanted to talk to Julie, but Julie didn’t want to face Bryce because her mind was also full of confusion. The two teenagers eventually shake hands and become close friends who can really start to talk about everything and be honest with each other because of their sincere actions and kindness and understanding.
The movie ends abruptly here, but we know that the souls of the two teenagers have collided, and they begin to understand each other’s subtext, as well as the look in each other’s eyes. They finally tuned in to the same channel and got in sync, which was a wonderful and rare experience.
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