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Dragonfly (film)
Encyclopedia
Dragonfly is a 2002 drama film
directed by Tom Shadyac
and starring Kevin Costner
. The story is about a grieving doctor
being contacted by his late wife through his patients' near-death experience.
. While she specialises in pediatric oncology, he is the head of the emergency room. Occasionally, Emily takes trips to Venezuela
to help the native people who are unable to afford healthcare. At nearly seven months pregnant, she was needed by the people in Venezuela. Joe disapproves of her going and insists she stay home in case she delivers the baby.
In spite of how her husband feels, she heads to the Amazon
area without him. The weather takes a turn for the worse where she is located and the entire village is evacuated. In the midst of evacuation, the bus in which Dr. Emily and the people were on is hit by a landslide, rolls off the road and plunges into the river below.
Joe tries his best to function as normal, but he does not take time to grieve his wife's death. He returns to work as if nothing has happened. One night he is awakened by his wife's dragonfly paper weight that falls to the ground and rolls across the room. His wife always had a passion for dragonflies. She has a birthmark
on her shoulder which resembles a dragonfly. Before his wife died, they had promised one another to look after the other's patients if something were to happen to either one of them. A few nights later, he falls asleep on the pediatric oncology floor. While there, one of his wife's patients is brought in by the medical staff, unconscious. The staff tries to revive him, but are having little success. He hears the child calling his name over and over, "Joe, Joe, can't you hear me? Joe." Naturally, he follows the staff to confirm if what he is hearing is real. All the monitors on the child show no heartbeat. Finally, the child responds to their treatment, and his heart begins beating.
The following afternoon, he returns to the child and questions him. The child asks him if he is "Emily's Joe" and tells him she sent him back to tell Joe something. All over the room are drawings of a curvy cross. He asks the boy if he knows what it is, but the boy replies that he doesn't know. The boy said that he had a near death experience
, and when he was clinically dead, saw all that was going on inside the hospital room. Then, the boy said, he saw a light, and there was a woman standing there. She showed him an image of Joe, and told him he had to go back. The boy then suddenly points at the picture of the wavy cross symbol he drew, saying, "This is what I saw at the end of the rainbow." Later, while passing by another child's room, Joe sees the same drawing and the boy immediately knows who Joe is and tells him that he must "go to the rainbow" then points to the symbol on the wall. when Joe asks the boy if he knows what it means, he too does not. Still no one understands or can explain what it means. When he arrives at home, his parrot (who will only talk to Emily) mysteriously goes into a rage. The parrot knocks out the light and breaks a pot. Joe spots something outside and when he goes to the window, he sees a dragonfly
flying. There is no light around, yet it still flies. He also briefly sees Emily. Later, when he comes back to look at the mess in the kitchen, he sees the same wavy cross symbol drawn in the spilled soil on the floor.
Days pass by, and Joe still does not know what is taking over his life. His neighbour and long time friend, Miriam Belmont, tries to bring him back into reality, to no avail. The breaking point in his life occurs at the hospital. He is alone with a clinically dead patient (whose body is being kept alive until his organs can be donated for an organ transplant
), when he believes his wife speaks through the patient. Joe tries to stop the surgical procedure, and security is called in to arrest him. Miriam bails him out of jail on special conditions. He decides to sell his home and go on vacation. While packing away his wife's belongings, the lightbulb in the room burns out. When he returns with a new bulb, all the belongings he had packed away are suddenly back in their original places. He believes he is losing his grip on life, and in desperation he runs out the front door and pleads for help. He enters his kitchen where one of his wife's maps has blown open. On the map he sees the mysterious curvy cross symbol. He calls a friend who tells him the wiggly cross is the map symbol for a waterfall. He then sees a photo of his wife posing in front of a waterfall with a rainbow behind her created by the sun's rays hitting the mist, he then realizes what the boys meant about a rainbow. He decides he has to go there.
He takes a trip to the South American village where his wife spent her last days. Somehow, he believes if he could find out where the accident took place, he might get closure. Joe's pilot, Victor, takes him to the makeshift cemetery and he looks at the victims' graves. Joe asks his native guides if they know where his wife is buried, they start arguing with each other that he should be brought to the village. Joe's attention then shifts to the village and he runs off to it. He then comes to a cliff and sees the bus, which had never been removed from the river and remains near the scene of the accident. Joe then jumps into the river and enters the semi-flooded bus, but this seems to cause the bus to shift and it moves further downriver, flooding as it goes until it's completely submerged. Joe is trapped inside when one of his legs gets jammed under the seat. At first he fights to escape, but calms down when a bright glow fills the bus and his wife appears to him. She reaches her hand out and they connect. The events of her final hours flash before him. He sees that she survived the initial accident and was pulled to safety by nearby Yanomami villagers. He is then suddenly rescued out of the bus by Victor.
Determined to reach the village, Joe runs to it, alarming Victor who says they need permission first. Reaching it, he's surrounded by angry native men holding weapons. He holds up a photo of his wife. A native woman walks up to him and begins speaking to him, saying that they couldn't save her body but they saved her soul. Perplexed, he follows her into one of the huts, and inside is a female infant
in a basket. The child his wife was carrying had survived the accident. Immediately tears begin to flow from his eyes. The woman shows him a birthmark on the child, it is in the shape of a dragonfly on the inside of her ankle. As he embraces his daughter, he drops to his knees and begins to sob, realizing what his wife was trying to tell him.
The film ends with Joe back in the United States
, playing with his daughter who is now a toddler, having the same wavy blonde hair and who is the very image of his wife.
reported that 7% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 120 reviews.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Tom Shadyac
Tom Shadyac
Thomas Peter "Tom" Shadyac is an American comedian, director, screenwriter, and producer. Shadyac, who was the youngest joke-writer ever for comedian Bob Hope, is widely known for writing and directing the films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, and the...
and starring Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J...
. The story is about a grieving doctor
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
being contacted by his late wife through his patients' near-death experience.
Plot
Dr. Joe Darrow and wife Dr. Emily Darrow work at a well known hospital in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. While she specialises in pediatric oncology, he is the head of the emergency room. Occasionally, Emily takes trips to Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
to help the native people who are unable to afford healthcare. At nearly seven months pregnant, she was needed by the people in Venezuela. Joe disapproves of her going and insists she stay home in case she delivers the baby.
In spite of how her husband feels, she heads to the Amazon
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
area without him. The weather takes a turn for the worse where she is located and the entire village is evacuated. In the midst of evacuation, the bus in which Dr. Emily and the people were on is hit by a landslide, rolls off the road and plunges into the river below.
Joe tries his best to function as normal, but he does not take time to grieve his wife's death. He returns to work as if nothing has happened. One night he is awakened by his wife's dragonfly paper weight that falls to the ground and rolls across the room. His wife always had a passion for dragonflies. She has a birthmark
Birthmark
A birthmark is a benign irregularity on the skin which is present at birth or appears shortly after birth, usually in the first month. They can occur anywhere on the skin. Birthmarks are caused by overgrowth of blood vessels, melanocytes, smooth muscle, fat, fibroblasts, or...
on her shoulder which resembles a dragonfly. Before his wife died, they had promised one another to look after the other's patients if something were to happen to either one of them. A few nights later, he falls asleep on the pediatric oncology floor. While there, one of his wife's patients is brought in by the medical staff, unconscious. The staff tries to revive him, but are having little success. He hears the child calling his name over and over, "Joe, Joe, can't you hear me? Joe." Naturally, he follows the staff to confirm if what he is hearing is real. All the monitors on the child show no heartbeat. Finally, the child responds to their treatment, and his heart begins beating.
The following afternoon, he returns to the child and questions him. The child asks him if he is "Emily's Joe" and tells him she sent him back to tell Joe something. All over the room are drawings of a curvy cross. He asks the boy if he knows what it is, but the boy replies that he doesn't know. The boy said that he had a near death experience
Near death experience
A near-death experience refers to a broad range of personal experiences associated with impending death, encompassing multiple possible sensations including detachment from the body; feelings of levitation; extreme fear; total serenity, security, or warmth; the experience of absolute dissolution;...
, and when he was clinically dead, saw all that was going on inside the hospital room. Then, the boy said, he saw a light, and there was a woman standing there. She showed him an image of Joe, and told him he had to go back. The boy then suddenly points at the picture of the wavy cross symbol he drew, saying, "This is what I saw at the end of the rainbow." Later, while passing by another child's room, Joe sees the same drawing and the boy immediately knows who Joe is and tells him that he must "go to the rainbow" then points to the symbol on the wall. when Joe asks the boy if he knows what it means, he too does not. Still no one understands or can explain what it means. When he arrives at home, his parrot (who will only talk to Emily) mysteriously goes into a rage. The parrot knocks out the light and breaks a pot. Joe spots something outside and when he goes to the window, he sees a dragonfly
Dragonfly
A dragonfly is a winged insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera . It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body...
flying. There is no light around, yet it still flies. He also briefly sees Emily. Later, when he comes back to look at the mess in the kitchen, he sees the same wavy cross symbol drawn in the spilled soil on the floor.
Days pass by, and Joe still does not know what is taking over his life. His neighbour and long time friend, Miriam Belmont, tries to bring him back into reality, to no avail. The breaking point in his life occurs at the hospital. He is alone with a clinically dead patient (whose body is being kept alive until his organs can be donated for an organ transplant
Organ transplant
Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be...
), when he believes his wife speaks through the patient. Joe tries to stop the surgical procedure, and security is called in to arrest him. Miriam bails him out of jail on special conditions. He decides to sell his home and go on vacation. While packing away his wife's belongings, the lightbulb in the room burns out. When he returns with a new bulb, all the belongings he had packed away are suddenly back in their original places. He believes he is losing his grip on life, and in desperation he runs out the front door and pleads for help. He enters his kitchen where one of his wife's maps has blown open. On the map he sees the mysterious curvy cross symbol. He calls a friend who tells him the wiggly cross is the map symbol for a waterfall. He then sees a photo of his wife posing in front of a waterfall with a rainbow behind her created by the sun's rays hitting the mist, he then realizes what the boys meant about a rainbow. He decides he has to go there.
He takes a trip to the South American village where his wife spent her last days. Somehow, he believes if he could find out where the accident took place, he might get closure. Joe's pilot, Victor, takes him to the makeshift cemetery and he looks at the victims' graves. Joe asks his native guides if they know where his wife is buried, they start arguing with each other that he should be brought to the village. Joe's attention then shifts to the village and he runs off to it. He then comes to a cliff and sees the bus, which had never been removed from the river and remains near the scene of the accident. Joe then jumps into the river and enters the semi-flooded bus, but this seems to cause the bus to shift and it moves further downriver, flooding as it goes until it's completely submerged. Joe is trapped inside when one of his legs gets jammed under the seat. At first he fights to escape, but calms down when a bright glow fills the bus and his wife appears to him. She reaches her hand out and they connect. The events of her final hours flash before him. He sees that she survived the initial accident and was pulled to safety by nearby Yanomami villagers. He is then suddenly rescued out of the bus by Victor.
Determined to reach the village, Joe runs to it, alarming Victor who says they need permission first. Reaching it, he's surrounded by angry native men holding weapons. He holds up a photo of his wife. A native woman walks up to him and begins speaking to him, saying that they couldn't save her body but they saved her soul. Perplexed, he follows her into one of the huts, and inside is a female infant
Infant
A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
in a basket. The child his wife was carrying had survived the accident. Immediately tears begin to flow from his eyes. The woman shows him a birthmark on the child, it is in the shape of a dragonfly on the inside of her ankle. As he embraces his daughter, he drops to his knees and begins to sob, realizing what his wife was trying to tell him.
The film ends with Joe back in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, playing with his daughter who is now a toddler, having the same wavy blonde hair and who is the very image of his wife.
Main cast
- Kevin CostnerKevin CostnerKevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J...
– Dr. Joe Darrow - Susanna ThompsonSusanna ThompsonSusanna Thompson is an American television and film actress. She is skilled in Aikido and stage combat. She is best known for her role as Karen Sammler on Once and Again.-Career:...
– Dr. Emily Darrow - Joe MortonJoe MortonJoseph Thomas "Joe" Morton, Jr. is an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early life:Morton was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton, Sr., a U.S. army intelligence officer. Because of his father's...
– Hugh Campbell - Ron RifkinRon RifkinRon Rifkin is an American actor. He is best-known for his roles as Arvin Sloane on the spy drama Alias and as Saul Holden on the American family drama Brothers & Sisters.-Personal life:...
– Charlie Dickinson - Kathy BatesKathy BatesKathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates is an American actress and director.After several small roles in film and television, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery , for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe...
– Miriam Belmont - Linda HuntLinda HuntLinda Hunt is an American film, stage and television actress. After making her film debut playing Mrs. Oxheart in Popeye , Hunt portrayed Billy Kwan, her breakthrough performance in The Year of Living Dangerously...
– Sister Madeline - Jacob VargasJacob Vargas-Early life:Vargas was born in Michoacán, Mexico, and raised in Pacoima, Los Angeles, California, since 1971. He was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family.-Career:...
– Victor - Robert Bailey, Jr. – Jeffrey Reardon
Reception
The film received poor reviews from critics and was a flop at the box office. The review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 7% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 120 reviews.