Guitar

I felt like writing about this old 2008 film. I watched it a long time ago, and it left a deep impression on me.

A girl named Melody is diagnosed with laryngeal cancer, and doctors tell her she has only two months left to live. By coincidence, she gets fired from her job and her boyfriend leaves her. Up until that moment, Melody’s life had been rather gray. Although her job and boyfriend are shown only once, there’s a strong impression that her work was dull and their relationship was just as unfulfilling.

Then she decides to spend her remaining time doing everything she wants without restraint. She rents a loft, bringing nothing from her past life, and starts ordering things she likes through delivery services. She fills her loft with items that bring her joy and pleasure, meets the girl who delivers her pizza, and a guy who also delivers things to her. She happily spends time with them, chatting and having sex. She starts feeling noticeably better. Compared to the dull woman at the beginning of the film, here we see a woman truly enjoying life.

At one point, she remembers that as a child, she dreamed of having a guitar, but her parents refused to buy her one. Her desire was so strong that she even stole a guitar, for which she was punished by her parents, and the guitar was returned to the store. By the way, apart from this moment in the film, there’s no mention of Melody’s parents. She doesn’t tell them about her illness and doesn’t seem to contact them at all.

Of course, she orders herself a guitar, just like the one she dreamed of as a child, along with a massive amplifier. But then she realizes she doesn’t know how to play and starts learning from online lessons.

Time flies by unnoticed. She becomes quite good at playing the guitar and enjoys it immensely. Then the loft owner calls her and asks when she plans to move out, since she rented it for only two months. She is surprised to learn that two months have passed and she is still alive and feeling well. She goes to the doctor, and they tell her there’s no more cancer.

All the money from her credit cards has been spent on luxurious items, which she now sells for next to nothing. The last thing she wanted to part with was the guitar, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She starts playing the guitar in the park and meets a group of musicians. The film ends with footage of her concerts.

For me, this film is about the importance of following your own path. It’s about the consequences of ignoring your desires. As a child, Melody knew exactly what she wanted and pursued it fiercely. But she wasn’t supported in this by her parents, who clearly thought they knew better what their child needed. This led only to Melody abandoning her desires and living a dull, empty life. Her illness was a result of all this, as the throat is closely tied to self-expression.

The illness gave her freedom. She had nothing left to lose. And she made the decision to live the rest of her life with pleasure. She began to recognize and fulfill her desires. At first, it was just delicious food, beautiful things, and sex. Then she remembered her main forgotten desire—playing the guitar. This sequence, shown in the film, is psychologically very accurate. When a client comes to therapy who has forgotten how to feel their desires and doesn’t know what they want in life, we start with simple things. With what the body wants right now. Fulfilling these small desires first allows one to later recognize deeper, more fundamental ones. Otherwise, it’s impossible. It’s like trying to jump straight to the 10th grade without going through the previous ones.

Following your desires—and thus your path—led to her healing from her illness. Sometimes, illness is the last desperate attempt of our true self to reclaim our life. In the film, everything ended happily—the attempt succeeded.

PS: Don’t try to cure cancer with psychotherapy alone, at least not exclusively.