Simon Birch Film Analysis

Simon Birch is a profound story about 12 year old Simon Birch who is very small for his age due to being born with a condition. All through the movie Simon believed that he was “god’s instrument” due to his size, and wanted to become a hero. His friend Joe Wentworth alongside his mother Rebecca Wentworth were the only true family that Simon Had because his parent did not care about him due to being a ‘disappointment’ at birth. As the movie progressed Joe and Simon try to fight off all the damaging events that came their way. Subsequently Joe was the most affected character because his mother, grandmother, and Simon all died in the end leaving him with his mother’s friend Ben Goodrich.

B.3) All through this film moods were continuously changed through lighting and music creating a symbolic meaning behind every scene. An example

In the lake where Simon often begged Joe to time how long he can hold his breath under water, created foreshadowing that water may be the cause of Simon’s death. If the writers of the film were not to use water as often as they did throughout the movie, the story would not have been as effective to the audience. One of the key that scenes that involved water, was during the sinking of the bus and Simon had to save a boy who was stuck between seats. In doing so, Simon had to hold his breath in order to get the boy out of the bus safely. But Simon did not survive and died in the hospital due to being under the cold water for a long period of time, as well as having many health problems.

In summary, as we watched the profound film “Simon Birch” I broke the story down into questions/categories that would help the audience have a more symbolized and detailed understanding of the film. Which include the use of lighting/music, Simon’s real purpose in life, the symbolic meaning behind the deer, armadillo, as well as