Last night Tracey and I watched our new DVD version of Joe vs. The Volcano. It’s one of my all-time favorite movies, because I find it speaks to me on a number of levels. Obviously, a lot of other people think so as well, since it has become a cult classic which has spurned a number of web sites where people ruminate about the supposed sociological significance of the characters and what they all represent. Some people will look at it and see it as just a quaint piece of fluff, or, at worst, a pretty stupid and silly movie. OK, so it’s not for everyone, but then again, except for Jaws, what is? 🙂

To me, the key of the movie is the number of references and variations on the word “soul” – Joe worrying about losing his soul (figuratively and actually), Meg Ryan’s characters being “soul sick”, etc. The movie’s love theme, “Marooned Without You”, is a lovely little sentimental tune about missing and losing one’s lover, but it could just as easily describe one’s heart (and soul) thirsting for God:

Why is my heart marooned without you
The sun goes down
My dreams begin their refrain
I call to whatever holds you
My beloved
I wait and I wait

Why is my heart marooned without you
A tiny light upon the sea
My heart is so afraid
You have broken away
Tell me, darling, I pray
You will come to me soon

That’s the thing about cult movies, though – people either get them or they don’t. Me, I enjoy this film for the cynical and optimistic line it ever so carefully walks throughout (something I find myself doing in my own walk in life), but there’s a reason for that, as the DVD Savant’s review is quick to note:

The danger is in selling out, losing one’s dignity, losing one’s soul. DeDe and Mr. Wa-Waturi are lost and don’t even know it. Angelica is like an addict: She knows she’s wasting her life yet is too weak to do anything other than abuse potential mates like Joe, whom she patronizes because she no longer has a grip on her own personality. The chip on Patricia’s shoulder is different – she gives Joe a hard time, unconsciously testing to see if he’s going to be another passive Pod, or will fight back. Ya gotta be a fighter on the personality plane – you can’t just passively accept things.

It’s just one of the levels at which, for me, Joe vs. the Volcano works and why I enjoy the film so much.