The Impact of the Past in The Holdovers
The following is an excerpt from our The Holdovers Student Study Companion. It also forms a part of our VCE English Teacher Resources Pack.
As Angus stands on the precipice of adulthood, the pressures of the past and the expectations of those who have come before him have a tremendous impact on how he sees himself developing into an adult. Laced throughout the film are images of the past: names of students who fought in wars, paintings of figureheads of the school from yesteryear and honour boards that celebrate the tradition of the school. However, the impact of the past is not limited to an overt honouring of tradition. Each of the three key characters, Hunham, Angus and Mary, is shown to be battling with traumatic events. As the film plays out, each takes strides in overcoming what they’ve lost, tellingly with the support of one another.
Hunham is a teacher of history, a subject that students are struggling with as young men on the verge of adulthood. Alexander Payne presents history as overbearing, both in the manner that it places pressure upon young people as they develop into adults, and also in the pain of adversity and loss that sculpts how people see themselves.
“Barton men don’t do that. Barton men don’t lie.”
When we consider how Payne creates a world where history is ever-present, we need not look much further than Barton Academy. A prestigious boarding school, Barton has a character of its own, looming over the boys it looks to educate and providing a physical space from which these young men must find a path into adulthood through the expectations of their parents and teachers. Following numerous establishing shots of the grand buildings of the campus, Payne pans along the backs of chairs in the dining hall, displaying the closeness of the boys as they eat together on the final day of classes. The teachers, seated on an elevated platform, are shot in a similar fashion, with Payne moving the camera along the table to show them eating and conversing in a similar manner to the students. Shortly after this, Angus and Teddy are shown whispering to one another during the service. Again, Payne shows the educators carrying out the same behaviours as Hunham questions his colleague Mr Endicott about his mother’s health, the suspicious reason given as to why Hunham must take on the care of the holdovers in his place. The worlds of the students and teachers are shown as separate, but still meaningfully similar. We learn that some of the educators, including Hunham himself, are former Barton students as well. The boys from the floor will one day become men, bound by the traditions and expectations of their school. The names of former students, as well as the portraits of former school leaders, adorn the walls of the school, acting as further reinforcement of the expectation of what “Barton men” are to become. The past is ironically ever-present in the lives of the students, setting a standard for them to follow into adulthood.
“If you truly want to understand the present or yourself, you must begin in the past. You see, history is not simply the study of the past. It is an explanation of the present.”
In a more covert manner, the past impacts upon the characters of The Holdovers through its ability to hurt and shape one’s world view. Angus and Hunham’s relationship grows as they come to learn more about each other’s past, gradually coming to understand and respect the other as more is uncovered. Tellingly, Mary acts as a conduit between the two of them, often reminding Hunham of Angus’ age and encouraging him to show more kindness and warmth. Suffering from her own trauma, Mary is also shown to be affected by the past, with the death of her son Curtis looming over her. We also learn that Curtis’ father was not alive to see Curtis’ birth, adding to the hurt of Mary losing her son after raising him alone. Payne is able to show the varying impacts of the past through the difference between Hunham’s and Mary’s outlooks following difficult experiences. Hunham, whose expulsion from Harvard set him on a path of resentment and reluctance to “broaden [his] horizons”, approaches Angus with a coldness steeped in his belief that “adversity builds character”. He is able to admit that the world “doesn’t make sense” to him anymore, yet he is still so deeply wounded by his past that he believes the boys of Barton to be entitled and undeserving of his sympathy. It is Mary who challenges his beliefs whilst also displaying how one can respond to trauma with an outlook that seeks to help and nourish others.
“They’ve had it easy their whole lives.”
“You don’t know that. Did you?”
In this exchange, Hunham’s view of the boys at the school is tested by Mary’s simple observation that, as a Barton student himself, Hunham’s life was not “easy”. Mary continues to push Hunham towards kindness, scolding him after the Christmas Eve party and assertively instructing him that “you don’t tell a boy that’s been left behind at Christmas that you’re aching to cut him loose.” The party acts as one of many small turning points in Hunham’s development as he is also reminded by Lydia that Angus is “just a kid”, before she laments that “life catches up to them so fast.” In a moment that weakens Hunham’s resolve, Lydia then remarks: “Them. Ha! Us.” This works as a powerful wake-up call to Hunham as to how his own life has unfolded to this point. From this moment, he opens himself up to changing his approach, even slightly, to Angus, with Payne leaving room for hope that whilst the impacts of the past can be strong, they are not necessarily permanent.
“He’s not entitled to my story. I am.”
The meeting with Hugh, a former classmate of Hunham’s, leads to Angus, as well as the audience, gaining an insight into Hunham’s past. The lies told in the exchange bring the two closer whilst also providing context as to Hunham’s disdain towards the world and the more privileged of his students. Speaking of the events that changed the course of his life, Hunham is able to find a sense of companionship with his student, illustrating how one can change their views and outlook if they are prepared to deal with the events of their past. It is then Angus’ plea to visit his father, and the subsequent revelation of his father’s illness, that bond the two further.
“You’re not your father.”
“Because no one is his own father. I’m not my dad. No matter how hard he tried to beat that idea into me.”
“You’re erratic and belligerent and a gigantic pain in the balls, but you’re not your father. You’re your own man. Man, no. You’re just a kid. You’re just beginning. And you’re smart. You’ve got time to turn things around.”
Buoyed by the possibility and potential that he sees in Angus, Hunham is able to provide hope for the young man while also accepting changes in himself. His defence of Angus over something as trivial as the serving of cherries jubilee strengthens their bond and leads to a ceremonious lighting of the dessert on the front of Hunham’s car. Now joined by Mary, the three are able to enjoy a moment and free themselves, if only momentarily, of their pasts. The lighting of the dessert foreshadows the levity of New Year’s Eve, where the trio, along with Danny the janitor, are able to let off a firecracker, a symbolic gesture of setting fire to the past and embracing the present and future. Mary has returned from Boston with a purpose: to send her sister’s child to college. Angus has found care and compassion from an unlikely source who steels him with the belief that he is responsible for his future and not bound by his past. Finally, Hunham has undergone the most drastic of transformations. The confident, compassionate and selfless man that walks from Dr Woodrup’s office is far removed from the bitter, self-righteous man who stood in that very room only weeks before. His words to Angus, that “in real life, your history does not have to dictate your destiny”, are tellingly appropriate to his own situation. Hunham leaves Barton with freedom from the past and all that shackled him in his shame and bitterness. The “empty pages” of the book gifted to him by Mary represent the excitement of the journey that lies ahead, and the insult from Kountze that he’s now “history” is not the demeaning comment it is designed to be, but rather a representation of Hunham’s ability to create a life outside of the gates of Barton Academy. The past is powerful, and it is shown to impact all characters in how they see themselves and their place in the world. However, by the film’s end, there is hope that a more optimistic future is possible and that new chapters in their lives can be written.
Ben Taylor - The English Lab
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