The young people do discuss God, belief and the afterlife, but they are children of our culture. I recommend this clip her family put together when her book, This Star Won't Go Out, was released this year.) (You can search for her name on YouTube and catch her funny and smart video entries. She died of thyroid cancer at the age of 16. Author Green culled elements of the story from the many brave young people he knew as a chaplain for children, but he especially drew from his friendship with a courageous and funny girl named Esther Earl, whom he met at a Harry Potter convention. "The Fault in Our Stars" is a movie about life told by young people who are facing death. Woodley will go on to play many roles well, but I think relative newcomer Elgort will always be Augustus Waters. With this film, I think his star has been born. Woodley is excellent as Hazel Grace, but Elgort as Augustus Waters is gently compelling and luminous. The film is a fitting tribute to Anne Frank's memory, as this year we commemorate what would have been her 85th birthday. There is a mystical synchronicity here, two young people dealing with cancer and facing death and the life force that was Anne Frank (1929-1945). To make up for the disaster, his secretary takes the couple to visit the attic where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis. Then, after a magical dinner (a gift from Van Houten), they meet the author, and he is a total alcoholic jerk. As for Gus' hobby, he is fairly content with his well-appointed man-cave and video games.Īnd I really don't want to tell you that Augustus uses his yet unused cancer wish from a wishing foundation to take Hazel Grace and her mother to Amsterdam to meet Van Houten, who has refused to answer Hazel's questions via email. The main character in his book dies in the middle of a sentence, and Hazel Grace needs to know what happens to those who are left behind. I don't want to tell you that Hazel Grace's hobby is reading and rereading a book, An Imperial Affliction, by her favorite author, Peter Van Houten (Willem Dafoe), an American living in self-imposed exile in Amsterdam. That he will die and no one will know he has ever lived. His name means "majestic," "grandeur," "magnificent" and "dignity." When you see the film, you will see that Augustus is a transformative character whose beauty and bearing reveal a sharp intellect, wit, and a great heart. Then there is "the metaphorically inclined" Augustus Waters, age 18. Hazel Grace wants to live for the moment, unsure of what comes next. She is a strong, magnetic young woman filled with strength and blessing. Combined with the name "Grace," which means blessing and brilliance, we have a picture of our heroine. I don't know who would name their child Hazel these days (except for Julia Roberts), but the name means "commander." If you research the name further, it is said that those with this name are good at analyzing and understanding, that they desire love, family and a stable home. I want you to feel the intelligence and wit of the characters and hear, really hear, the voice of the story's teller, Hazel Grace.
I want you to see the film and read the book by John Green, who was once a chaplain at a children's hospital. I almost don't want to tell you any more of the story. But he explains that he will not light it as it is a metaphor: to put that which will kill him in his mouth and not give it the power to kill him.Īnd their little infinity within infinities of a love story begins. From that point on, he always calls her "Hazel Grace." She mostly calls him "Augustus Waters." When they walk outside, Gus puts a cigarette in his mouth, and Hazel Grace is astounded that he fought cancer but is going to smoke something that will give him cancer again.
Gus cannot take his eyes off of Hazel, and he asks for her full name. He lost one leg from the knee down in his effort to survive. His ride to the group is his friend Augustus "Gus" Waters (Ansel Elgort), who has been cancer-free for a year and a half. Isaac (Nat Wolff) has already lost one eye to cancer and will soon lose the other and his gorgeous girlfriend. The group leader, Patrick (Mike Birbiglia), is a cancer survivor who means well and tries to spiritualize with their experiences by having them sit around a rug he's made with Jesus' Sacred Heart in the center. Her mom, Frannie (Laura Dern), drops a less-than-enthusiastic Hazel off at the local Episcopal church so she can join in a support group for teens coping with cancer. She doesn't go anywhere without the tank and plastic tether that keeps her going. The chemo has severely damaged her lungs, so she needs constant oxygen. Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) is in her 16th year of life and fourth year of thyroid cancer. Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley star in "The Fault in Our Stars." (CNS/Fox)