Philosophy -- Film Review Existentialism in Razor's Edge

In 1984, Bill Murray starred in the second film adaptation of the novel, The Razor's Edge, written by W. Somerset Maugham in 1944. Murray plays the protagonist, Larry Darrell, who desires one kind of lifestyle at the inception of the film, but goes on a physical and spiritual journey over the film's course. The philosophies of men such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty are illustrated in the film, especially in regard to the truth of individual experience and the exploration of personal freedom. Larry encounters the gamut of the existential experience, from angst, to the absurd, to the debate between the authentic vs. The inauthentic. The paper will concisely summarize and reflect upon the protagonist's journey to relate the narrative to philosophical questions and experiences.

Larry Darrell wants to lead, and in some ways he has, a charmed life. He enjoys an almost upper class lifestyle and is engaged to the beautiful socialite, Isabel. Larry is drafted and is assigned to become an ambulance driver during World War I. His experience in the war changes his perspective on life forever. Many soldiers, if not all of them, suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which was a phrase and condition...

This is, though, what Larry suffers from. He suffers from a physical and metaphysical form of PTSD. His perspective changed because of the experiences he endured during the war. Larry's character arc resembles that of Neo-from The Matrix, or Hamlet from "Hamlet." His journey also resembles Buddha's. Buddha was a wealthy prince who gave up the trappings of luxury to pursue enlightenment and found it through his travels. This is the same order of journey Larry has through the course of the film.
Larry's character is also representative of the "everyman" of the time. Because of the horrors experienced during the war due to biological warfare, a new military tactic at the time, and other advances in military technology, people in general were distraught and shocked by the horrors. People were confused and numb by the war and its effects. WWI is a leading contributing factor in the development of existentialism. Larry, then, is a figure for people in general during this historical period who had direct experience with WWI. Larry questions what life means if humanity wastes and destroys it with war. His primary questions are what is the meaning of life and what is the meaning of my life? When Larry returns to America after the war, he is disillusioned with life in America. He drinks alcohol excessively and postpones his engagement with Isabel. The life he dreams of having no longer appeals to him once that life is within his grasp.

Larry postpones the wedding and travels to Paris. Paris was an important city in WWI and WWII. It is also the birthplace…