Film Paper Essay, Research Paper

Film Paper A Stranger Among Us

In the movie A Stranger Among Us there are several characters that have their lives impacted by the events in the film. One such character is Ariel. Meeting Emily Eden, the murder of his best friend, and finding out who actually had a hand in the murder all has a profound impact upon Ariel.

After Ariel s best friend is reported missing, the NYPD sends detective Eden to the community to help and find out why he is missing and where he is. When they first meet, their worlds collide. To Ariel, I think he is very intrigued in the way she acts, because he has never met anyone like her within his community. His Hassidic upbringing does not allow him to be alone with a woman. So when he is alone talking to her he feels uncomfortable, which wares off during the course of the film. He is confused on the types of questions that she asks about his friend, like that he is a thief. After they find his friend dead, she moves in with his family in order to find out whom the killer is, probably making him a little uncomfortable. Ariel and his sister help in integrating Emily into the community, which helps him to understand her a little better. Ariel helps Emily in introducing her to people to help her to more integrated. During one scene, where they are having a sort of banquet, you can see them kind of catching glances at one another, suggesting that he is starting to get more intrigued about her. Another scene finds them alone at night on the porch talking about him and his beliefs, as well as her and her job. She has no problem, at this time, confessing her feelings for him but he cannot bring himself to confess to her his feelings. After she supposedly catches two suspects, killing one, she finds herself out of the community. Later this leads him to come and meet with her, alone, at her apartment. Tells her that he is meeting his fiancee for the first time tonight, and he had to see her one last time. At this point he probably is confused about his feelings for her. They talk and this leads to them kissing, it seemed like it was his first. Still confused he still seems compelled to go to his fiancee, to further his future. When done talking and smooching, they figure out who was behind the murder and it turns out to be the victim s fiancee. When Emily is injured Ariel and his family visit her in the hospital. Ariel says to Emily that, basically, that he is grateful that he had got to know her and that she is a very special person. It ends with him saying his goodbyes and going on to marry his fiancee, never to see Emily again. But the memories of his brief encounter of her will always be with him.

When Ariel finds out about the disappearance, and eventual murder of his best friend, it changes him. They have known each other ever since they were kids growing up in the same Hassidic neighborhood. This is why his murder, at such a young age, devastates Ariel. He is in disbelief that anyone, especially within his community, could be capable of murdering such a great person. As he says, his friend was just the most kind and gentile person he has ever known, always doing good for other people. When the investigation starts, without saying, he is more than happy to help out in the finding of the suspect or suspects. After the investigation has concluded, I feel he gets a sense of closure from his help on the case. I also think that he kind of felt obligated to help find the murderer because if he hadn t, I don t think he could have lived full life in the future, with something like the loss of a childhood friend weighing on his mind.

When Ariel finds out that one of the people that was in on the murder turns out to be his friend s fiancee, he is in disbelief. He feels this because, he is in denial that it could have been anyone coming from within the Hassidic community where he lived. Why would someone, like the person he would marry, turn out to be in on her own fiancee s death? Ariel s friend had brought this woman in from the streets and brought her to his community to try and help her better her life. Ariel and his friend both thought that she was a genuinely good person. When found out that she was in on the murder, Ariel and Emily questioned her and asked her how could you do such things? She turned out that all she was after was the diamonds and money, not looking to change her life around. They then force her to surrender, she doesn’t, so Ariel ends up shooting her. This leads him to start crying in disbelief of what he had done, for it is against his beliefs to take another humans life no matter the consequences at hand. I think that he ll later come to terms that what he done was in defense of himself and of those around him. Which will make him feel better about himself down the road.

Finally, I believe that the events that Ariel had gone through changed him for the better. This is because he was so sheltered within his Hassidic lifestyle, he had no idea how anyone acted outside of his own community. These events help make him more aware of the world outside his own and would quite possibly make him a better person in this world.