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The Year That TrembledBy John Hutchinson January 2004"The Year That Trembled" the deservedly award winning 2002 film which recently came out on DVD and video, tells the story of three teenagers who are afraid of being drafted in 1970-71, at the height of America's involvement in the Vietnam War and the imminent incursion into Cambodia. It centers on the anti-President Nixon events at the time at Kent State University, and it also gives a well deserved top billing to a very fine young actor who had worked very hard to build up an impressive list of movie and television credits over almost 20 years, and who seemed to me at least to have made the transition from "teen idol" to adult actor with a great degree of success. But the tragic events of November 11 and 12, 2003 would come to mean that, for fans of Jonathan Brandis, 2003, a year which had already seen much more than its fair share of death and destruction in other arenas, would become not so much the year that trembled as the year that collapsed completely. Because November 11, 2003 was the day when, away from the glare of publicity, and in the privacy of his own home, Jonathan Brandis decided to take his own life. The stories which emerged on the internet and in the press several days later related than Jonathan had been found by a friend just before midnight, at which time he was unconscious but still alive. The friend dialled 911, and Jonathan was rushed to hospital by paramedics, but tragically died from his injuries the following afternoon. He was just 27 years old. He left no clue behind as to why he had done what he did. I first received this news several days after the event in an e-mail posted on one of my newsgroups. The details were sketchy and I was tired. But, at the same time, I was so shocked by what I read that I felt almost physically ill, and had to know more. So, after a long day at work, and at a time when more sensibly I should have been going to bed, I went rampaging round the internet looking for more information. Eventually I found what I was looking for. Jonathan Brandis was dead and had been so now for something like 10 days, and nobody, certainly here in the UK, seemed to have heard anything at all about it until now. A sleepless night led to an ongoing strong emotional reaction from me to Jonathan's death. This sort of thing has happened to me before. Freddie Prinze, John Lennon, Rick Nelson, River Phoenix, George Harrison... all great favorites of mine who left us before their time, and they all took their toll on me. But somehow this was different. Over several years as a TV fan, I found that Jonathan had enriched my life in many different ways, and I was now looking forward to the time when I could see what he did when he would make good on his ambition to become a writer and director, as well as an accomplished actor. Now, all that was not to be. In common with many of Jonathan's fans, I felt the need to consolidate, and so I set about collecting as many of Jonathan's film and TV appearances on DVD and video as I could. I also established contact with other fans on the internet, something I certainly could not have done following the deaths of the other celebrities I mentioned. This proved to be a most moving and cathartic experience. We all had one genuine aim in common, and that was to try and do something to ensure that Jonathan was not forgotten (and he won't be). It was around this time that I first started to hear about a movie entitled "The Year That Trembled" in which Jonathan had been given the top billing that I always thought he deserved. Well, I waited with mounting impatience for my DVD of that movie to come through the post and since the day it did (December 19), I have watched it several times. Indeed, as I write this article, it is in the DVD player feeding me with the inspiration and the occasional reminders that I need. In my view it is a truly excellent film and I am sure that repeated viewings will only enhance this opinion. To me it is an intimate, high quality film which unfolds at just the right pace, allowing the viewer to get involved with the story and get under the skin of the characters and feel their motivation and their emotions along with them. I think it is the sort of film which, although it deserves to be seen by the biggest audience possible, really appeals to people like me, who don't always run with the crowd, but do know who they like (Jonathan Brandis, Martin Mull, Meredith Monroe to name but 3), what they like (films which deal with recent history and stories they remember from their own childhood even though they were thousands of miles away and still at school themselves at the time) and will count themselves richly rewarded for having been able to see the film. This is a powerful, honest and emotional film, and the strength of those emotions owes a lot to a superb performance from Jonathan Brandis in the role of Casey Pedersen. I am very proud to be a fan of Jonathan's and I have to say that after watching this film I feel even more proud of that because in "The Year That Trembled" he is every inch a star of the highest order. In this performance he delivers absolutely everything his fans knew him to be capable of. Passion, humour, and above all an intensity that practically burns through the screen. Casey is a high school graduate who along with his friends, is fearfully facing the prospect of being drafted.In my view at the beginning of the story, he is a serious character, working on his school newspaper, standing up for a teacher who teaches boys how to avoid the draft, maybe something of an idealist. But as the story progresses he becomes driven by conflict, both externally and internally. He's thrown into turmoil by what is happening in the world outside, he is thrown into more turmoil when a girlfriend shatters the post coital bliss by saying that she would not wait for him or remain faithful to him if he were drafted to Vietnam, and thrown through yet another hoop when a set of circumstances over which he does not seem to have too much control lead him into the bed of his best friend'ss wife, a situation which, with said friend about to be drafted, leads to any amount of inner turmoil. This is only added to when the lady, his former teacher, tells him when he tries to discuss the situation with her that, "nothing ever happened." The suppressed emotions and the turmoil are all brillantly portrayed by Jonathan whose every emotion can be seen in his face and heard in the deep, powerful voice which on many occasions he raises barely above the level of a whisper, such is the coolness and control of his performance. Ultimately, Casey's best friend Charlie is drafted and killed in the Vietnam War. It is Casey who is on hand when an Army representative calls to break the news to his widow Helen, who by now is mother to Sarahm, a daughter Charlie has never seen. At the end of the film, Helen asks Casey to try and make something of all this, to which he replies he is, he is writing. That, in the light of events of November 2003 is a quite remarkable instance of art imitating life because since Jonathan's passing, what is happening is that on paper and on the internet, people are dealing with their feelings about the situation by writing and sharing with others. "The Year That Trembled" is a long way removed from the sort of work that Jonathan was doing in the nineties which all heightened his teen idol status and without doubt gave him the experience and confidence he needed to build a successful acting career. Jonathan, who was born in Danbury Connecticut in April 1976, had actually been acting in commercials since about the age of 5, but as the eighties progressed, an impressive list of guest roles was building up behind him. Shows such as "Murder She Wrote", "Full House", "Alien Nation", "Blossom", "The Wonder Years", "Gabriel's Fire" and "Saved By The Bell: The College Years" all benefitted from an appearance by Jonathan. However,the role that propelled him to international stardom and for which he is probably best remembered is that of Lucas Wolenczak, the teenage technogenius on board "Seaquest DSV" and later "Seaquest 2032". This was Jonathan's big break and he gave it all he could, turning in splendid performances throughout the series. Seemingly completely unfazed by acting opposite such greats as Roy Scheider and Stephanie Beacham, Jonathan turned Lucas into one of the most popular characters in the series and indeed it has been documented elsewhere that, at least in its later stages, much of "Seaquest's" sucess was derived from Jonathan's personal popularity with the younger female audience. Jonathan's film career had also been flourishing alongside his TV work. The late 80's saw him taking a leading role in "Stepfather 2." In 1990 he was in the lead for "Never Ending Story 2," and also made a very impressive appearance alongside the likes of Richard Thomas and the late John Ritter in the TV mini series of "Stephen King's IT". Further movie successes followed with Rodney Dangerfield in "Ladybugs" and Chuck Norris in "Sidekicks". Jonathan was also seen during his time on "Seaquest" to great effect in "Born Free: A New Adventure" and "Fall Into Darkness," a tense thriller in which he gives a completely mesmerising performance opposite Tatyana M. Ali, with whom he was at one time romantically linked in real life. With "Seaquest" over Jonathan further honed his already considerable skills by working with Ang Lee in a supporting role with Tobey Maguire and Skeet Ulrich in the American Civil War film "Ride With The Devil" and with the Farrelly Brothers in their 1999 comedy "Outside Providence" before joining up for "Hart's War" with Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell in 2001. All of these, I feel can be seen as stepping stones to the starring role in "The Year That Trembled", which would have been the first of many such performances, I am sure. I have been asked what I think Jonathan meant to his fans. In my opinion, he was a great and very underrated actor,always a pleasure to watch, an absolute enhancement to every production in which he appeared, and very high on my list of people I most wanted to meet. Judging by what I have read lately, I think that he was still held in high regard by many of the young ladies who supported him in the teen idol days. But more than that, I think he also became something of a role model and an inspiration to people in moments of their own crisis. He has inspired people both male and female to follow particular paths in their lives and has made a lot of people feel that they would have loved to have him as a personal friend and wish that they could have helped him when he needed it. My own view on this is that I believe Jonathan was a thoroughly decent man as well as being a very good actor. He was not dogged by controversy, he did not court publicity; he just got on with what he did so well, and that is what made a lot of people happy. Of course we must not forget his family in all this. Jonathan's parents must be suffering terribly through everything that has happened, and our hearts go out to them. I hope they can find the strength they will need to deal with all this and that they will draw support from the love and affection that is being demonstrated for Jonathan. Many people are working hard to ensure that Jonathan is not forgotten. Websites are being set up in honour of him, and the one I have contributed to, www.jonathanbrandis.org, went live on January 1 2004. Do drop by and give it a look or send a contribution if you can. Other sites are also appearing and I am sure they will all add to the good work that is being done in Jonathan's memory. Jonathan Brandis, I feel, was a modest man without any ego but with a huge amount of talent. The fact that he is no longer with us will never ever feel right to me, but at least we can all be grateful for the excellent legacy of work he has left behind him. God bless you, Jonathan, and thank you. John Hutchinson |
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"To me it is an intimate, high quality film which unfolds at just the right pace, allowing the viewer to get involved with the story and get under the skin of the characters and feel their motivation and their emotions along with them."
"he was a great and very underrated actor,always a pleasure to watch, an absolute enhancement to every production in which he appeared"
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In memoriam, Jonathan Gregory Brandis 1976-2003 |
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