Large's Ark

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Large's Ark
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2004
Original Running Time:
102 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
101 minutes
Time Cut:
8 minutes
Time Added:
7 minutes
Synopsis:
Zach Braff’s charming Garden State is retold with a more serious, emotional undertone. This edit uses deleted material and a new soundtrack to create a more intimate and revealing view of Large’s journey.
Intention:
This edit is designed to explore the emotional turmoil of Large’s character. I greatly enjoyed the original theatrical version which is quirky, charming, funny, and tender, but I always felt that the movie lacked the emotional punch that the Large’s character arc suggests or hints to. Although it is stated that his character has been medicated for the better part of 13-15 years, he comes out of the haze quickly and seems to have little emotional ill-affects, while making an incredible leap of personal insight. I’m drawn to stories of redemption, personal growth and reconciliation of father/son relationships, so I wanted to explore that thrust of this film. The result is a version which holds true to the theatrical; it is still charming and quirky, but now has a more serious tone and exposed emotional vulnerability which helps the viewer experience Large’s journey through to the end, which I have drastically changed to remove the stereotypical Hollywood ending.
Special Thanks:
DwightFry 78, Herowithoutacause and Elbarto1 each provided invaluable feedback. In particular Dwight provided some keen story observations, and Elbarto was a great inspiration for some replacement tracks which were giving me fits.
Release Information:
DVD
Cuts and Additions:
The DVD has a ton of deleted material and in my opinion, most of it was correctly left out, however there were 3 scenes which speak directly to Large’s journey:
- A confrontation between Large and his father in the bathroom where his mother died.
- An extended version of he conversation in the Ark
- An extended version of the conversation between Large and Sam in the bathtub

I elected to stick with only the scenes in the bathroom. While the material of the Ark scene clearly helps give direction to Large, the dialogue is too on-the-nose and doesn’t feel natural. These characters for which we’ve never met say exactly the right metaphysical comments, opening their intimate views to a total stranger; it is clearly the screenwriter talking, and not the characters, so it felt false to me. My goal was to make this movie feel as real as possible, so I elected to leave the ark scene as it played theatrically.

Unfortunately all of the deleted scenes were in letterbox, so had to be blown-up and distorted in order to match the A/R of the rest of the film. These scenes do stick out visually, particularly the scene between Large and his father, but the emotional content was critical to the story I set out to tell.

Because the 5.1 audio keept all dialog on the center, and only in a few instances allowed the music to bleed into center, I was able to replace a significant amount of the soundtrack. I love the original soundtrack, each song is wonderful, but as I crafted the story, trimmed scenes and rearranged them, the tone of the film went more serious and I wanted more introverted songs to match the tone at each point in the journey for Large.

Cut list:

- Replaced opening Logo sequence with L8wrtr logo and new music (Soggy Noodle by Paul McCartney)
- Replaced music during opening airplane sequence (St. Agnes and the Burning Train by Sting)
- Overlaid dialogue of Large talking to Sam from their final conversation in the Airport (this scene is cut in this version, so the purpose of the dialogue is ambiguous)
- Replaced song when Large gets out of bed (Save Me by Aimee Mann)
- Cut Large driving in L.A. and his job entirely
- New title card
- Cut audio of Aunt singing as the Save me continues to play, inserted ambient outdoor sounds
- Cut shot of Aunt clearly singing, fade song out as Large goes to see his friends.
- Swap scenes of Large getting his shirt from his Aunt and Large talking to his father.
- Replaced song played while Large uncovers motorcycle and drives to the party (Sometime around Midnight by The Airborne Toxic Event)
- Cut the entire scene of Large getting pulled over
- Cut brief line of dialogue by Large during pet burial scene “Oh yeah, I guess I haven’t told you why I’m here yet”
- Replaced scene where Large is looking into the fridge and surprised by his father. This scene is clearly intended as the beginning of Large’s last day as he A) States it is last day, and B) is wearing the shirt that he wears throughout his last day. This scene is replaced by a combination of existing footage; Large looking at photos and then walking into his parents, and then the deleted scene of his father surprising him and them then discussing her death.
The deleted scene has a few minutes are cut, primarily the awkward exchange of Large implying she killed herself, they both pretend to not be saying it, now when Large insinuates it, his father immediately gets it and Large doesn’t pretend to be not saying it. Also cut the portion of his father talking about his dream and wanting everyone to be happy. Again, too on-the-nose. (also added in audio of continuous dripping of water)
- Cut sene of Large not being able to swim.
- Replaced song played as Sam ‘tap dances’ (January Rain by David Gray)
- Replaced Andrew looking at photos and then walking into parents bathroom, with the scene of him looking into his fridge and being surprised by his father
- Replaced song while Large and company ride around (Indefinitely by Travis)
- Replace music during the end of the Ark scene (Singalong Junk by Paul McCartney
- Cut the screaming into the Abyss scene
- Restore deleted bathtub scene
- Replace song played as Large leaves Sam and heads to plane (One by Aimee Mann)
- Cut everything after Large stares into camera while sitting in the plane. Role credits (with new credits inserted)
Trailer

Largesark_Disc
Largesark_Cover
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2004
Original Running Time:
102 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
101 minutes
Time Cut:
8 minutes
Time Added:
7 minutes
Synopsis:
Zach Braff’s charming Garden State is retold with a more serious, emotional undertone. This edit uses deleted material and a new soundtrack to create a more intimate and revealing view of Large’s journey.
Intention:
This edit is designed to explore the emotional turmoil of Large’s character. I greatly enjoyed the original theatrical version which is quirky, charming, funny, and tender, but I always felt that the movie lacked the emotional punch that the Large’s character arc suggests or hints to. Although it is stated that his character has been medicated for the better part of 13-15 years, he comes out of the haze quickly and seems to have little emotional ill-affects, while making an incredible leap of personal insight. I’m drawn to stories of redemption, personal growth and reconciliation of father/son relationships, so I wanted to explore that thrust of this film. The result is a version which holds true to the theatrical; it is still charming and quirky, but now has a more serious tone and exposed emotional vulnerability which helps the viewer experience Large’s journey through to the end, which I have drastically changed to remove the stereotypical Hollywood ending.
Special Thanks:
DwightFry 78, Herowithoutacause and Elbarto1 each provided invaluable feedback. In particular Dwight provided some keen story observations, and Elbarto was a great inspiration for some replacement tracks which were giving me fits.
Release Information:
DVD
Cuts and Additions:
The DVD has a ton of deleted material and in my opinion, most of it was correctly left out, however there were 3 scenes which speak directly to Large’s journey:
- A confrontation between Large and his father in the bathroom where his mother died.
- An extended version of he conversation in the Ark
- An extended version of the conversation between Large and Sam in the bathtub

I elected to stick with only the scenes in the bathroom. While the material of the Ark scene clearly helps give direction to Large, the dialogue is too on-the-nose and doesn’t feel natural. These characters for which we’ve never met say exactly the right metaphysical comments, opening their intimate views to a total stranger; it is clearly the screenwriter talking, and not the characters, so it felt false to me. My goal was to make this movie feel as real as possible, so I elected to leave the ark scene as it played theatrically.

Unfortunately all of the deleted scenes were in letterbox, so had to be blown-up and distorted in order to match the A/R of the rest of the film. These scenes do stick out visually, particularly the scene between Large and his father, but the emotional content was critical to the story I set out to tell.

Because the 5.1 audio keept all dialog on the center, and only in a few instances allowed the music to bleed into center, I was able to replace a significant amount of the soundtrack. I love the original soundtrack, each song is wonderful, but as I crafted the story, trimmed scenes and rearranged them, the tone of the film went more serious and I wanted more introverted songs to match the tone at each point in the journey for Large.

Cut list:

- Replaced opening Logo sequence with L8wrtr logo and new music (Soggy Noodle by Paul McCartney)
- Replaced music during opening airplane sequence (St. Agnes and the Burning Train by Sting)
- Overlaid dialogue of Large talking to Sam from their final conversation in the Airport (this scene is cut in this version, so the purpose of the dialogue is ambiguous)
- Replaced song when Large gets out of bed (Save Me by Aimee Mann)
- Cut Large driving in L.A. and his job entirely
- New title card
- Cut audio of Aunt singing as the Save me continues to play, inserted ambient outdoor sounds
- Cut shot of Aunt clearly singing, fade song out as Large goes to see his friends.
- Swap scenes of Large getting his shirt from his Aunt and Large talking to his father.
- Replaced song played while Large uncovers motorcycle and drives to the party (Sometime around Midnight by The Airborne Toxic Event)
- Cut the entire scene of Large getting pulled over
- Cut brief line of dialogue by Large during pet burial scene “Oh yeah, I guess I haven’t told you why I’m here yet”
- Replaced scene where Large is looking into the fridge and surprised by his father. This scene is clearly intended as the beginning of Large’s last day as he A) States it is last day, and B) is wearing the shirt that he wears throughout his last day. This scene is replaced by a combination of existing footage; Large looking at photos and then walking into his parents, and then the deleted scene of his father surprising him and them then discussing her death.
The deleted scene has a few minutes are cut, primarily the awkward exchange of Large implying she killed herself, they both pretend to not be saying it, now when Large insinuates it, his father immediately gets it and Large doesn’t pretend to be not saying it. Also cut the portion of his father talking about his dream and wanting everyone to be happy. Again, too on-the-nose. (also added in audio of continuous dripping of water)
- Cut sene of Large not being able to swim.
- Replaced song played as Sam ‘tap dances’ (January Rain by David Gray)
- Replaced Andrew looking at photos and then walking into parents bathroom, with the scene of him looking into his fridge and being surprised by his father
- Replaced song while Large and company ride around (Indefinitely by Travis)
- Replace music during the end of the Ark scene (Singalong Junk by Paul McCartney
- Cut the screaming into the Abyss scene
- Restore deleted bathtub scene
- Replace song played as Large leaves Sam and heads to plane (One by Aimee Mann)
- Cut everything after Large stares into camera while sitting in the plane. Role credits (with new credits inserted)
Cover art by Rogue-theX & L8wrtr (DOWNLOAD HERE)
image

Trailer

Trusted Reviewer reviews

5 reviews
Overall rating
 
9.5
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0(2)
Audio Editing
 
9.5(2)
Visual Editing
 
10.0(2)
Narrative
 
9.5(2)
Enjoyment
 
9.0(5)
(Updated: August 11, 2023)
Overall rating
 
9.5
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
To the best of my knowledge, I was introduced to “Garden State” while browsing L8wrtr’s list of edits and stumbling across the page for this one, though it was a few years until I actually watched first it and then the recut. Didn’t leave a review then, but suddenly felt in the mood now to revisit and so here we are about two years later. My memories of the differences are therefore a little vague, with the only precise distinctions between it and this re-edit I can clearly remember being the yelling into the abyss and the altered ending, but I can recall enough to appreciate the difference in tone.

I think this edit is a definite enhancement in that respect, L8wrtr certainly achieves the stated aims of greater maturity, and while a few aspects are no doubt dated it feels personal in ways that so many other films try to emulate. For me the sign of a well-told story is having it stick in your mind for a few days after watching and I think this will be the case here. The integration of the new songs sounds seamless and the reinstated footage not standing out too badly, though I think there are a few instances of audio cuts within the first deleted scene that might be done a little more smoothly.

Thanks L8wrtr for not only producing the edit but for introducing me to the source film in the first place, hope that the long-mentioned HD remaster of the edit comes to fruition someday!

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Yes
Format Watched
Digital
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(Updated: September 05, 2012)
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
August 6, 2012

This was a great edit. I didn’t care too much for Garden State and haven’t watched it in years. The emotional journey of the story feels more complete now, thanks to the restored scenes and trimming some bits of fat. The editing itself was flawless. And it’s not a SW prequel edit!

FANEDIT RATINGS
Audio/Video Quality – 9
Visual Editing – 10
Audio Editing – 10
Degree of Editing – 7.5 (rounded up to 8)

(NOTE: “Degree of Editing” is a 100% arbitrary rating that I keep in mind when reviewing edits. This is not meant to insinuate that a faneditor is lazy or not. Some fanedits require a lot more work than others and I take this into account.)

MOVIE RATINGS
Narrative – 9 (original is 8)
Enjoyment – 8 (original is 7)

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9.0
March 6, 2011

*This rating was given before reviews were required*
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9.0
February 25, 2011

This was just a wonderful viewing experience!
The entire time I just kept saying to myself, “This is a great movie!”.
Never once did I preface it by reminding myself this is a fan edit.
It didn’t feel like an edit to me.
It was just a really good movie.

This is a beautiful alternate version of what I already consider a brilliant and charming movie.
While I still love the original, this version adds greater depth and weight to the overall narrative,
creating for me a very emotional journey and more satisfying conclusion.

While the reinserted scenes are of slightly different video quality, I actually thought this worked in favour of the movie.
It was almost as though the varying picture quality reflected Large’s inner turmoil and emotional state.
So for me, the deleted scenes quality was more of narrative enhancement, than a distraction.
It just goes to show how well written and performed these scenes actually were and what a shame they hit the cutting room floor.
But now we have L8′s version to enjoy Large’s journey in it’s full splendor.

I absolutely loved the music replacement choices. All seemlessly interwoven and a vast improvement over the original soundtrack IMO.

Again, just a wonderful, wonderful moving film.

Well done L8wrtr!
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(Updated: September 05, 2012)
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9.0
February 22, 2011

Well, I think I need to preface this by saying that I HATED Garden State when I saw it in theaters. Like, seriously despised. And I honestly don’t remember much about it. I remember thinking it came off very pretentious, very “quirky for the sake of it,” and very “I wish I was made by Wes Anderson but I wasn’t.” It was trying to be Indy and charming, which made it feel the opposite.

I love L8wrtr’s edits, and again I didn’t remember a whole lot of the original, so I decided to give this a whirl.

I’m glad I did.

As far as Technical goes, everything is well done. I don’t remember what songs L8 changed, but I didn’t notice any of them. There is a pretty noticeable quality drop from some of the deleted scenes, but I personally found them crucial additions, so that can be dealt with. All other editing is flawless and unnoticeable.

Now as far as the concept, I thought this was made into a real movie. The plot doesn’t feel as meandering and nonexistant as it did in the original, and I can really feel the emotion of Large’s arc (see what I did there?) as the story progressive. The quirkiness becomes sweet instead of overwhelming. The story moves at a nice pace and there’s plenty of hysterical moments throughout. The love story is believable and enjoyable and all of the actors get to shine. Generally, I feel like if I had seen this in the theater, I would not have felt anywhere near as harshly, and might have even liked it. Luckily, I have this version to like now.

Basically, I feel that L8wrtr has taken a really, really craptastic movie and made it worthwhile. I highly recommend this edit!
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Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0(2)
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9.5(2)
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9.5(2)
Narrative
 
9.5(2)
Enjoyment
 
9.3(6)
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Overall rating
 
9.7
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
This is the first fanedit that feels entirely like an alternate version of a movie to me. I am a huge music fan and one thing I love to hear are alternate takes of songs. They never replace the original, but the best ones stand right alongside the originals on equal footing. That is how I feel about this version of Garden State. If this had been the theatrical release, and the soundtrack release, I believe it would have gotten the same acclaim and the soundtrack would have won a Grammy, as the actual Garden State soundtrack did. The scenes that were added back into the movie worked perfectly for this edit. I can see why they were cut from the other version, and either works. I feel like this is quite a wishy-washy review so far.... Let me say some things about the excellent music choices throughout: I loved every song. It helps that I've owned all these songs for years and I could have compiled the soundtrack myself from my pre-existing record collection, but it was great to hear Saint Agnes and the Burning Train kicking things off and then Aimee Mann and a slew of other great tracks. One of my favorite songs ever has been cut in this version--Only Living Boy In New York by Simon and Garfunkel---and I have to say, I couldn't agree more with you decision L8wrtr. It is an excellent song and I see why Zach Braff chose it, what with the themes of isolation, etc, but it always bothered me that the movie is called Garden State, and New Jersey is the setting and is referred to many many times, and Large flew in from Los Angeles and is headed back to LA, yet here is this song with New York featured so prominently in the lyrics and title. Cutting it was a smart move that I wholeheartedly agree with, but your music choices were smart moves throughout.
As for everything else, I don't know what else to say. It was an excellent alternate viewing experience of a movie I always loved anyway. It was like having a favorite song for years and then a special boxed set comes out containing a different take of that song, with a slightly different rhythm, vocal and phrasing. It doesn't replace the original--nor does it need to. But it sure is fantastic to have. Kind of like all the different versions of songs on the Beatles Anthology sets or getting to hear earlier or later takes of Elvis singing Suspicious Minds in the studio. Sometimes the sincerity comes through more on those unreleased versions and they stand, in my opinion, shoulder to shoulder with the classic released version and I would not want to have to chose only one or the other. I really enjoyed this :-)

User Review

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Format Watched
DVD
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(Updated: September 05, 2012)
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9.0
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9.0
April 26, 2011

It has been a while since I watched this, so it is hard for me to compare specifically to the original. I am an indy music nut however, so I do remember the original music well. I wasn’t sure how I would feel with you changing the music, but fortunately l8wrtr you have very good taste in music! At first it threw me off a little, only because I knew all the songs you picked and knew that most of them didn’t come out until a good while after the movie did. The first of these song changups pulled me out of the story for a sec as I reflected on that fact, but it actually really worked well as an alternative soundtrack to the movie. The songs certainly lended a great deal of emotional poignancy to the movie.

I have mixed feels about the opening airplane scene. It didn’t feel quite right to me or connect enough to the rest of the movie or to the end to justify keeping it.

I don’t recall any major technical problems.

So, good job! And thanks for an updated version of a movie that was fun to revisit! 9/10 overall.
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10.0
March 23, 2011

When I saw this movie for the first time I was only 18 years old and I absolutely fell in love. However, the older I got, the more I started to realize the flaws. As Brumors pointed out, it seemed to focus too much on being quirky and indie, and what should have been the main focus of the movie (Large’s arc) was buried somewhere inside. The movie was supposed to be about him “waking up” from the fog of prescription drugs and coming to terms with his background, but in the end, I never really got that from it. So I hadn’t watched it in years, until coming across this edit.

By changing only a few small things L8WRTR has made a huge difference in this movie. Instead of focusing on this quirky, melancholy small town and its inhabitants, this is definitely Large’s movie – and it’s better for it. As others have pointed out, including L8 himself, the deleted scenes that are inserted are clearly of lower quality, and at first this took me out of the movie – but only for a second before I was drawn back by the quality of the scenes themselves. Why in the world were these left on the cutting room floor!? The scene with his father was so much better than the theatrical version, and gave their disdain for each other actually make sense.

And then there’s the extended bathtub scene between Large and Sam. Watching the original I always thought, “one tear, that’s it?” This version was a million times better, and in the end the lower quality didn’t matter in the least. One thing I was dissapointed with was changing the music cue during Sam tap dancing – this was my absolute favorite musical cue in the original film. I always thought it lightened the mood after such a deep conversation, which is what Sam was trying to do by dancing anyway. But that’s just personal opinion, nothing against L8 for it.

In fact, I thought the changes in the music overall were great. It really helped the new mood of the movie, which is far more serious. And that’s saying a lot considering how great the original soundtrack was. But I love Aimee Mann (Magnolia, anyone?), so ‘Save Me’ and ‘One Is The Loneliest Number’ were welcome additions.

Overall, I recommend this for those who loved the original, those who hated it, and especially those who’ve never seen it. This is Large’s journey as it should’ve been. I’ve already shown it to some of my friends who all had the same opinion. I still love the original, but this is a welcome alternative for a more mature audience. Awesome job, L8WRTR, I can’t wait for more.

Almost forgot! Without spoiling too much, the ending – much, much better :D

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9.0
March 19, 2011

I came to this from the perspective of a fan of the original theatrical cut who thought that it was a good little character piece that, frankly, could have been a great little character piece with only a little tweaking. Many times the point of the movie either became completely lost from time to time, or was put across in much too pointed in heavy handed ways. A more subtle film would have definitely played better to me, and if you could do that while turning the volume down on some of the oft too broadly comedic or needlessly quirky bits it would be even better. Thankfully, that’s exactly what this edit it does.

First of all let me start by saying I quite liked the presentation of the thing. The sound and picture quality was stellar with the exception of some re-inserted deleted scenes that frankly do look off – though given how important they were to this edit and that there was no way I can think of to make them look better than they did I found that completely acceptable. As for the editing itself, it’s next to invisible. I can’t pick out a moment where I really noticed the editing, which in this type of project I think is the best compliment to pay.

Now, all that said, getting into the movie itself. This is by FAR in my opinion the movie that Garden State always aspired to be but fell short of. The point is put across in a much more subtle, and dramatically satisfying way, with much more emotion and pathos than that original theatrical edition. Not only does this edit it remove much of the distracting and muddled bits, but also it’s gotten rid of some of the over written moments that seemed only designed to make sure even the most dense audience member got the point. But perhaps most satisfying is that it allowed the film to feel less broad, eschewing much of the inappropriate humor while at the same time keeping the quirkiness and skewed view that helped make Garden State special in the first place.

Presented here, all and all, feels like a much more professionally edited, satisfying, subtle, and overall intelligent film than the original version and for my money represents the much preferable edit.
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10.0
February 25, 2011

Large’s Ark is an outstanding example of the fanediting art. The editor has refashioned the original to a version that’s more serious and somber, that rings truer emotionally, and that still has a lot of the charm and eccentricity of the original.

Although the original isn’t all that eccentric, as it follows closely in the footsteps of other indie favorites like Rushmore, Napoleon Dynamite, and other sagas about quirky, alienated and maybe neurotic, Gen Xers/Gen Yers. It’s a real puzzle why the scenes of Large in the bathroom were deleted from the original because those scenes seem like they always were the emotional heart of the movie. Maybe the original production team felt they were too heavy and serious, verging on Ordinary People territory. Well, thank goodness L8wrtr has reincorporated those crucial scenes. Yes, the video quality is a little worse, but I can live with it.

Technically the edits are mostly flawless. I thought I noticed the editor’s touch in a handful of transitions, but 98% are high quality in the way they’re integrated with the style of the original. The audio is even more impressive. Kudos to L8wrtr for impeccable music choices that merge totally with the story and recast the feel of the movie as less pop, more alt.

I also prefer L8wrtr’s ending, which better solidifies the idea that Large is setting his own destiny instead of always acceding to other people’s wishes.

Had the original production team decided to go with this interpretation of the material, they hardly could have done a better job. It’s funny, involving and a little surreal with a life-affirming message. 10/10.
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