Cinophile: Harvey

Harvey  was quite the hit in its day. It starred James Stewart, one of the biggest actors ever, and made a good showing at the Oscars, taking at least one statue for Best Supporting Actress (and a Best Actor nom for Stewart). Based on an award-winning play, it weighs the balance between our pursuit for happiness or normality and how sanity fits into all of that.

It begins with Elwood P. Dowd, a middle-aged man who seems quite happy not worrying about the real world too much. He focuses on being happy, being friendly and looking after those he cares for. Alas, his point of view includes an invisible friend named Harvey, who is a six-foot-or-so giant rabbit.

This invisible friend causes quite some grief for his sister and niece, particularly due to how they are being socially shunned by the community. Elwood is rather unaware of this – to him Harvey is real – which leads to an attempt in having him confined to a sanitarium.

Here things start taking on a different element. To spoil the plot a little – Harvey is very real. He is a Pooka, a type of spirit known to attach itself to eccentric or tortured people. And as this comes into play, you start realising that nobody, expect perhaps Elwood, can so readily proclaim themselves as sane.

The original play must be a hoot, because Harvey is a brilliant film. It is funny in a very wry way, even stalking through dark comedy territory. But the real special touch is that you never, ever see Harvey. The invisible giant rabbit never steps out from behind the curtain. It is a strange notion, especially in this age where we can make just about anything on a computer. And it may give rise to your own parameters for seeing is believing.

But what everyone will walk away with is an oddly warm sense that happiness and reality aren’t always bedfellows.