by Mcguire
Life Lessons is, for lack of a better term, a film about art. Like an actual painting, Life Lessons is rich with subtleties the less observant of us won’t notice the first time around. Beyond the scope of the direct storytelling, there is much to be dissected about the characters, story, and world the film is building in the set pieces in the film. The art and set pieces in the film actively evolve with the story, especially the relationship between the two main characters, Lionel Dobie, and his assistant, Paulette. Either subtle or blatant, these cinematic elements are used to deepen the characters. Life lessons tells it’s finest details through it’s settings.
Art has a notable presence throughout the entire story, yet somehow our main character, a successful and affluent artist in New York, has an almost barren Studio Apartment, more akin to a canvas than a living space. Art related events often take center-stage, and art, painting in specific, is often involved in the core motivations of the characters, so it’s very interesting to point out the empty nature of Dobie’s apartment. Dobie’s apartment doesn’t have many things apartments tend to have. Instead of say a lampshade, he has his paintings as all his decorations. It’s empty. Above all, Dobie’s main care is for art.
One thing that defines Life Lessons is Dobie’s unhealthy relationship with Paulette. Dobie and Paulette’s relationship is fleshed out throughout the film, with Dobie relying on Paulette for inspiration (and sex), while Paulette stays with Dobie to benefit off of his status as a famous artist. Dobie wants to have sex with her again, implying they were previously affilated before the beginning of the films. Their relationship progresses with the film,and this can be reflected by the set pieces and the details within. The relationship between the two often felt claustrophobic, especially on Paulette’s end. This can be reflected by the hole in Paulette’s wall, mirroring a distinct lack of privacy. Another visual reference to their relationship appears in Paulette’s painting, depicting a larger figure (Dobie) and a smaller figure (Paulette). As unhealthy as this co-dependent relationship was, the director did an absolutely fantastic job showing it through various set pieces. The main painting Dobie is working on throughout the film actually evolves along with the status of their relationship.
Throughout the whole story, Dobie is working on a singular painting, Chuck Connoly’s “The Bridge to Nowhere”. The question to know was what the significance this specific art piece had, if any at all. Connoly reportedly struggled with alcoholism and disillusionment from reality, the former a trait Dobie himself seemingly shows prominently throughout the film. The painting itself portrays an angsty and tragic reality. The sky is stormy, and the whole painting in general was portrayed as unpleasant, which is exactly where Dobie is in this story. He’s miserable.
Life Lessons is still a film about art, which tells many details via the set pieces hidden throughout. The main “protagonist” lives in what appears to be a blank canvas, littered with art pieces that appear to be made solely by him. The main piece in itself actively evolves with the story, ending with painting a picture that truly symbolizes the pit Dobie finds himself in. Lionel Dobie is a simple man. Everyday he gets up, paints, and uses his assistant for his own sexual means. And at the end of the film, Dobie doesn’t move on. Dobie simply finds another assistant, and the cycle begins again. Another painting, another assistant, another day of the same thing. Like the painting itself, Lionel Dobie is on a bridge to nowhere.
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