Brokedown Palace

20th Century Fox
PG-13

It promises to be a liberating adventure for Alice (Claire Danes), a wild, living-on-the-edge teenager. To celebrate her high school graduation, she and her best friend Darlene (Kate Beckinsale) have decided to treat themselves to an exotic trip. Although Alice and Darlene have told their parents that they're headed to Hawaii, the two girls' actual destination is Bangkok ("Las Vegas without parents and laws," Alice says to the more cautious Darlene).

Under the magical and golden Thailand sun, Alice and Darlene have the time of their lives. But things begin to change after they meet a seductive and handsome Australian, Nick Parks (Daniel Lapaine). Both girls are smitten with Nick, who eventually asks Darlene to spend the night with him–much to the surprise of the more outgoing Alice, who must fight growing feelings of resentment and anger about her friend's romantic conquest.

When Nick proposes a quick side trip to Hong Kong, Darlene convinces Alice to come along. Nick's real plans, however, are anything but romantic. At the Bangkok airport, the two girls are shocked when heroin is found in their luggage. As they are surrounded by Thai police and DEA officers, Alice and Darlene are caught up in a maelstrom of hysteria, panic and confusion, each suspecting the other of a dark betrayal.

Their mutual suspicion intensifies during their first year–of a 33-year sentence– in a hideous Thai prison ruefully described by its inmates as the "Brokedown Palace." As their despair grows, they are given one last bit of hope: "Yankee Hank" (Bill Pullman), an expatriate American lawyer. But Alice, who has always been the more reckless and irresponsible of the two, eventually realizes that their salvation can only come from sacrifice...and she realizes how far she'll go to save her friend.

"Brokedown Palace" is about two high school graduates who whisk themselves off to Thailand for one last summer adventure, only to find that everything in their lives (including values, concerns, priorities, attitudes) has shifted. And while the movie is also about the consequences of betrayal, "Brokedown Palace" is more than anything about friendship, sacrifice and finding what is truly important.

One of the overriding questions of the movie is, "What are the main characters (Alice and Darlene) looking for?" The obvious answer is "Freedom." The more pressing question for the viewer is, "How are they going about trying to find freedom?" The answer to this gets played out throughout the movie, and even after Alice hears from her fellow prisoner "inside yourself," it takes her until the end of the movie to really figure this out. While this movie does not have obvious Christian themes, it seems that the human predicament is a search for freedom, and we Christ-ones (we Christ-followers, we children of God, we the body of Christ) only find true freedom in God when we realize that we, too, are held captive.

Martin Luther gets at this in his usual gruff way by saying that we are donkeys ridden either by the devil or God. What he is getting at, it seems, is that freedom is not simply becoming a self-possessed individual, as Enlightenment Philosophers would have us believe. Rather, we are free when we are in relationship with God and pursuing the ways of the Spirit. For instance, Galatians 5:13-16, "For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh."

We are held captive to the world that we live in, captive to the trappings of our individual lives (whether we consider ourselves free spirits or not), captive to sin. And it is in Christ’s sacrifice that we find freedom in our own lives.

Discussion questions
What follows is a series of questions related to the movie. View the movie before seeing it with your group with the following questions in mind, remembering that you can guide the discussion where you would like it to go. (I have included in parentheses the way I would answer the questions, so you can see what I’m thinking. Please feel free to deviate from the answers if it is helpful for your group.) However, bear in mind that there is much in the movie that would be interesting for teenagers to discuss other than what is contained in the questions below.

• "Hawaii seems so middle class, like my parents’ idea of fun." Alice and Darlene want to have a special ‘final trip’ together. Why do they choose to go to Thailand instead of Hawaii? Why do they feel like they can’t (or don’t want to) tell their parents their real plans? How much freedom do you have to make your own plans?

• What are some of the things the girls are concerned about early on in the movie? (making sure their parents don’t find out about their plans, getting caught when they sneak into the hotel, the cockroach on the wall, seeing the sights in Thailand, jealousy over who should ‘hook up’ with Nick Parks, having fun together)

• How do the girls’ concerns change after they are arrested? (hoping their parents can help them out, getting enough food to eat without getting beaten, the cockroach in Darlene’s ear, seeing the outside world again, trying to find ‘Nick Parks’ again, getting out of prison alive)

• What is the most important thing to Alice? (finding someone who believes that she didn’t do it)

• How did you respond to Darlene’s dad when he was talking with Alice? Was his reaction justified? Do you think Alice had been a bad influence on Darlene? Does Darlene’s dad have any business choosing his daughter’s friends?

• Alice’s attitude shifts toward the end of the movie; she changes from being a little bit selfish to being concerned for others, especially Darlene. What event precipitates this change? (Yankee Hank telling her that of course she didn’t do it: Watch the scene again for her reaction to his statement.)

• When their friends from high school take a quick trip to Thailand, the conversation seems strained. It seems that Alice and Darlene’s lives are completely different from their friends, and that they can’t really even relate to one another any more. How does it feel when you’ve grown apart from some of your friends? Do you sometimes wish that things could go back to the way they were before?

• Even Alice and Darlene’s relationship with one another is strained at times. How did you feel when they were fighting with one another in the prison? Have you ever had fights or disagreements with your closest friend? How were you able to make up with one another (Hopefully it didn’t involve paying We Lai $100 only to be thrown into isolation)?

• Where does Alice finally find freedom? (in herself, in her actions, in giving of herself for the sake of someone else)

As with anything, feel free to adapt this guide to your own situation. Enjoy the film, enjoy the discussion and enjoy one another. And remember, the first word and the last word is always, “God Loves You.”