Climbing JacobLadder.pdf

8/17/2019 Climbing JacobLadder.pdf

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Climbing Jacob's Ladder

A Commentary on the Film By Bruce Joel Rubin

Opening Credits

The profoundly moving work of screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin is bound together by a

common theme about death, or, perhaps, on a more fundamental level, the theme ofletting go. His first screenplay, The George Dunlap Tape, which became the motion

picture Brainstorm, was about a machine that allowed scientists to record the deathexperience. Ironically, this was also Natalie Wood’s last film before her own untimely

death. Rubin also wrote the script for My Life, about a man diagnosed with cancer whilehis wife is pregnant with their first child. The man, played by Michael Keaton in the film,

begins videotaping messages to his future child and discovers himself in the process.Instead of focusing on a single person, Deep Impact takes the theme to a new level by

portraying how people as a whole might behave if they knew the world, threatened by a

giant asteroid, is coming to an end. By far, Rubin’s most recognizable work is thesurprise hit from 1990, Ghost . The familiar film, which garnished an Academy Award for"Best Original Screenplay" is about a young man gunned down during a mugging who

can’t seem to leave his life behind.

In my judgment, however, Rubin’s most profound work is his disturbing psychologicalthriller, Jacob’s Ladder . The story is loosely based on the Biblical account of Jacob’s

dream about a stairway to heaven; " And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on theearth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angles of God ascending and

descending on it."[Gen. 28:12] It can be said the entire story has a dream like quality, inwhich its main character, Jacob Singer, finds demonic images from his darkest nightmare

spilling into his reality. It should not surprise us then, when Rubin tells us how the story began:

It began as a dream: A subway late at night; I am traveling through the bowels of New

York City. There are very few people on the train. A terrible loneliness grips me. Thetrain pulls into the station and I get off. The platform is deserted. I walk to the nearest

exit and discover the gate is locked. A feeling of terrible despair begins to pulse throughme as I hike to the other end of the platform. To my horror, that exit is chained, too. I amtotally trapped and overwhelmed by a sense of doom. I know with perfect certainty that I

will never see daylight again. My only hope is to jump onto the tracks and enter thetunnel, the darkness. The only direction from there is down. I know the next stop on my

journey is hell.

At that instant I woke up, in a sweat, panting. The singular thought in my head at thatmoment was "What a great idea for the opening of a movie." And so Jacob’s Ladder

was born.[Jacob’s Ladder, p.150]

But the dream doesn’t end here. For Rubin, the experience of writing Jacob’s Ladder wasitself like a dream. To begin with, Rubin, a student of eastern thought, and a meditation


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practitioner, likes to think most of his creativity is driven by something deep insidehimself, that place where dreams are born, " I work mostly from intuition and my best

work occurs when I trust it to lead me."[Ibid.]

Jacob’s Ladder began as an act of faith. I really had no idea where it would go or evenwhat it was going to be about. I only knew that something was stirring deep inside methat wanted to get out and that this script would be the vehicle for it’s release… The

story treatment for Jacob came out of my head almost as if I were dreaming it again. Ithad the richness of a dream, the surreal power of nocturnal imagery. I hardly knew

where it was coming from, but sensed I was tapping into something very deep insideme.[Ibid.]

The Plot Thickens

So, fittingly, Jacob’s Ladder begins with a dream, a horrible dream about Jacob’sSinger’s experience in Vietnam. At first he and his platoon buddies are joking and getting

high while resting on a Vietnamese hillside. Something begins to go wrong. George fallsto the ground and begins convulsing. Jerry grabs his own head and begins screaming and

flailing about, bumping into Frank who, afterward, can’t seem to catch his breath. Jacob begins shouting frantically for a medic when the entire camp suddenly comes under

attack. Jacob runs into the jungle only to be ambushed by a soldier who thrusts a bayonetthrough his stomach. Jacob blacks out, but momentarily awakens on a subway train

wearing a postman’s uniform. It seems obvious though, his dream of Vietnam wassomething that had really happened.

You might say, Jacob Singer awakes to Bruce Joel Rubin’s nightmare in the subway. The

only difference, when Jacob attempts to escape the subway by passing through the tunnelhe is nearly run over by a train. He leaps out of the way just in time, but as the train

passes it appears there are demonic figures staring at him from inside the windows. Thisis the beginning of what appears to be some kind of psychological breakdown for Jacob.

He finally makes it home to his girlfriend, Jezzie, short for Jezebel. This is a Bible story

after all. We soon learn the story is replete with Biblical names. In addition to Jacob andJezzie is his ex-wife, Sarah, and their two sons, Jed, short of Jedidiah and Eli. We learn

later of a third son, Gabriel, killed by a car while crossing the street with his bike. Jacob’slife is filled with pain, both the pain of his past, and the physical pain of the present. This

pain leads him to one of the story’s most endearing characters, Louis, a chiropractor played flawlessly by Danny Aiello.

INT. CHIROPRACTIC OFFICE - DAY

CUT ON A SCREAM to JACOB in a CHIROPRACTIC OFFICE. He is lying on a long


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leather padded device that looks like an instrument of torture. LOUIS, the Chiropractor,is a giant of a man, 280 pounds. He is adjusting JACOB’S back.

LOUIS

Come on, Jake. That didn’t hurt.

JACOBHow do you know?

LOUIS

I know you. How come you’re so tense today?

During their conversation we learn a lot about Jacob. That he’s working for the U.S. Mailinstead of as a University Professor because he can’t get over Vietnam. Although he and

Sarah still love each other, their marriage broke up because he can’t get over Vietnam.

JACOBWhat can I tell you, Louis? After Nam I didn’t want to think anymore. I decided my

brain was too small an organ to comprehend this chaos.

LOUIS(looking at JACOB with affection) If it was any other brain but yours, I might agree.

Relax, this is going to be strong.

JACOBI can’t relax.

LOUIS

Wiggle your toes.

JACOB wiggles his toes. At that instant, LOUIS twists JACOB’s neck rapidly. There isa loud cracking sound.

EXT. VIETNAM - NIGHT

THERE IS A FLASH OF LIGHT. A MAN rushes at the camera yelling.

MAN

I found one. He’s alive.

He shines a flashlight into the lens creating rings and halos.

CHIROPRACTIC OFFICE - DAY


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Suddenly LOUIS reappears, a halo effect still visible behind his head.

JACOBGod, almighty. What did you do to me?

LOUISI had to get in there. A deep adjustment. Rest a moment and let it set a bit.

JACOBI had this weird flash just then.

LOUIS

What?

JACOBI don’t know. I’ve been having them recently. (he thinks a moment, then changes the

subject) You know, you look like an angel, Louis, an overgrown cherub. Anyone evertell you that?

LOUIS

Yeah. You. Every time I see you. No more Errol Flynn, okay? Your back won’t take it.You tell your girl friend to calm down if she knows what’s good for you.

JACOB

Louis, you’re a life saver.

LOUISI know.

From this visitation, we begin to understand why Jacob is seeing demons. We rationalize

that he’s having some sort of bizarre flashback to Vietnam, the source of all his problems.But then, while walking home from Louis’ office, trying to sing like Al Jolson…

JACOB

When there are gray skies, I don’t mind the gray skies,as long as there’s you…

Suddenly Singer’s song is interrupted as a car spins around the corner and attempt to run

him down. Once again, Jacob manages to avoid being run over. And, again, as the car passes he sees those demons staring at him from inside. That was no dream. Something

real is happening to Jacob. He decides to go to Bellevue Hospital, to the "Mental HealthClinic" to speak with his counselor, Dr. Carlson. Instead he discovers Dr. Carlson

recently died in an accident, in a car explosion of all things.

Later that night, Jacob and Jezzie are at a party together. A palm reader is present,attempting to flirt with Jacob. She takes his hand and begins looking at his lines,


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mentioning that his life line is peculiar. "It’s short huh?" Jacob asks.

"Short?" The palm readers responds, "According to this you’re already dead."

Jacob ends up passing out at the party after seeing another round of demons,

accompanied by another Vietnam flashback. Jezzie takes him home to discover he’srunning a temperature of 106. She forces him into the bathtub, runs the cold water, and begins showering him with ice. Jacob passes out again. But this time, when he awakens,

he’s in bed with Sarah.

After complaining about being cold and closing the window, he speaks to Sarah.

JACOBWhat a dream I was having. I was living with another woman… You know who it

was… Jezebel, from the post office. You remember, you met her at the Christmas party.I was living with her. God, it was a nightmare. There were all these demons and I was

on fire. Only I was burning from ice.

A little boy enters their bedroom. It’s Gabe. Jacob carries him back to bed. All three ofthe boys share a bedroom. They all express their love to him. Jacob then returns to his

bedroom and tells Sarah he loves her too. This is what we’ve been hoping for, some peace for Jacob, and an explanation that makes sense of the bizarre nightmare he’s been

living in. But Jacob goes back to sleep. After another flashback, he awakens in the cold bathtub. All the ice is melted now. A doctor is present, "You’re a lucky man, my friend.

You must have friends in high places, that’s all I can say."

After this Jacob becomes a recluse, shutting himself inside their apartment, despiteJezzie’s complaints. He’s studying books about demons when he gets an unexpected call

from one of his Vietnam buddies. They meet in a bar where his friend, Paul, obviouslyshaken, begins telling Jacob that someone is after him, and that he’s been seeing demons.

Jacob is almost relieved, as is Paul, when they finds out they’re not alone. They agreetogether to try to figure out what’s going on. Afterward, as Paul turns the ignition switch

in his car, the whole thing blows up. Jacob is stunned. At Paul’s funeral, several othersurvivors from Jacob’s platoon are present. After talking they all realize they’re going

through the same thing. At last we have the logical explanation we’ve been hoping for.It’s not demons, it’s the military. The military is obviously responsible.

The group of men hire a lawyer to help them force the military to tell them what

happened. Jacob is horrified to learn later that the lawyer dropped the case after all his buddies backed out. After failing to convince the lawyer to take the case anyway, Jacob is

abducted, forced into the black vehicle that tried earlier to run him down. The men inside,one of them pointing a gun, tell Jacob his last name, "Singer," is fitting, because he talks

too much. It’s obvious, they’re not planning on just frightening him, they intend to killhim. Jacob puts up a fight and is eventually thrown from the vehicle. Although he seems

to have avoided death, his back has been thrown out again. He’s in excruciating pain andcompletely incapacitated. A holiday bell ringer, dressed in a Santa Claus suit approaches


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and steals his wallet.

Jacob is eventually taken to the hospital without any identification. He pleads forsomeone to call his chiropractor, but is ignored. As they take him down to x-ray, the

hospital is slowly transformed into a living hell. Jacob’s nightmare has come true again.

The doctors treating him appear to be demons. His pain and their torture cause him to black out again. Upon awakening, he finds himself placed in traction. All seems hopelessuntil he hears the familiar voice of his friend Louis frantically calling his name. Jacob

responds and in a rage Louis flies into the room to rescue his friend. The hospital staffattempts to stop him but Louis, a bear of a man, threatens to wrap a nearby bar around the

first person who tries. He places Jacob in a wheel chair and whisks him out of thehospital.

Once safe inside Louis’ chiropractic office, while Louis is working to heal Jacob, the two

men share the most profound conversation in the whole story.

JACOBI was in Hell. I’ve been there. It’s horrible. I don’t want

to die, Louis.

Louis continues to work on him. "You ever read Meister Eckart?" he asks.

LOUISEckart saw Hell, too.

LOUIS positions JACOB’s other arm, bends his legs, and then pushes down on his thigh.

His spine moves with a cracking sound. JACOB groans.

LOUIS

(continuing) You know what he said? The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of youthat won’t let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn ‘em all away.

But they’re not punishing you, he said. They’re freeing your soul. Okay, other side.

He helps JACOB and repositions him. Again he pushes and the spine cracks.

LOUIS(continuing) Wonderful. So the way he sees it, if you’re frightened of dying and holding

on, you’ll see devils tearing your life away. But if you’ve made your peace then thedevils are really angels freeing you from the earth. It’s just a matter of how you look at

it, that’s all. So don’t worry, okay? Relax. Wiggle your toes.

After the session, Jacob is able to walk out of Louis’ office on his own. Soon after, hemeets Michael Newman, who explains that Jacob and his platoon had been the victims of

a drug experiment in Vietnam. He called it "the ladder… a fast trip down the ladder. The primal fear, the base anger." What Jacob comes to realize from this encounter is that his


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entire platoon, under the influence of this powerful hallucinogenic, attacked themselves.They were killing each other. After confronting this dark secret inside himself, Jacob

returns to the apartment building he once lived in with Sarah. He enters the apartment and begins looking through an old shoe box, containing his memories, and the pain he’s been

clinging to—things like his dog-tags, and a picture of little Gabe. That’s when Jacob

hears music, the melody of the Al Jolson song he’d been singing earlier. He approachesthe sound and is surprised to see Gabe at the foot of the stairwell, playing with a music box. He takes Jacob by the hand. Together the two of them ascend the stairwell and

disappear into an overwhelming light.

INT. VIETNAM FIELD HOSPITAL - DAY

Two Surgeons are working on a man.

DOCTORThat’s it. He’s gone.

We see JACOB with a sort of smile on his face.

DOCTOR #2

He looks kind of peaceful.

DOCTORYeah. He put up one hell of a fight though.

EPILOG

In this final scene, we realize the entire story has been the dream of a dying manstruggling to cling to life. Jacob Singer never left Vietnam. Like all good tales, the

meaning here is clear, the story speaks for itself. But I can’t help wondering if we’re notall like Jacob Singer, dreaming our lives, clinging to an existence that’s not real. Isn’t this

the essence of the Buddha’s teaching, that life is suffering and the only way to stopsuffering is to stop clinging to our illusions? On his death bed, at age 80, the Buddha is

reported to have said, "O disciple, everything created must perish. One must separatefrom everything one has loved."

Another lesson of Jacob’s Ladder is that we must become willing to face our pain. It

wasn’t until Jacob could admit what happened to him in Vietnam that we was able toascend the stairway to heaven. In the subway, he instinctively knew his only way out was

through the dark subway tunnel, but the demons inside frightened him away. This isobviously an allusion to the light at the end of the tunnel those who have had near death

experiences often report seeing. But to get to the light you have to go through Hell,through the darkness, through the uncertainty. At the beginning of the story, Jacob isn’t


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yet willing to do that. He’s still clinging to his life. " If you’re frightened of dying andholding on, you’ll see devils tearing your life away. But if you’ve made your peace then

the devils are really angels freeing you from the earth."

It’s also worth noting, the original script called for a different ending in which Jacob does battle with a giant demonic beast. It was the genius of the film’s director, Adrian Lyne, tohave Jacob walk quietly up that stairway holding Gabriel’s hand. Adrian Lyne is the

director of whom Woody Harrelson once said, " He’s proof that neurosis works in filmmaking ." In fact, it was Lyne’s idea entirely to introduce Gabe’s character into the

story, despite criticism that it pushed the story so far into depression that it could neverrecover. But Lyne recognizes the truth that our demons are often the things we love. True

we battle demons every time we face our fears, but the greatest fear, the most powerfuldemon, is letting go of the things we love about life. This is the lesson Jacob had to learn

before he could find peace. I think it’s the lesson we must all inevitably learn.

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Climbing JacobLadder.pdf