Rachel

Description

A romantic tear jerker, Rachel is a tale of love lost and love found. Obsessive planner, Jacob is deeply in love with his wife Rachel. After years of trying, she’s finally pregnant with the child he’s always dreamt of but when the labour goes wrong, Jacob is thrown into turmoil. With his newborn rushed away to the special baby unit, his wife dying in his arms and nothing he can do about it, Jacob falls into despair. After days lost in depression, the midwife, angered by the apparent apathy she sees in Jacob, is moved to anger. Forgetting all pretext of professionalism, a screaming match ensues in the hospital corridors before Jacob breaks down in tears. Clutching the midwife in desperation, her harsh words cut through to Jacob. By surrendering the illusion of having control he sees what has happened with new clarity Through the monitors and the wires he meets his baby for the first time. Seeing Rachel’s smile play across the babies face he realises he has found his centre.

Biblical Connection

Rachel is an exploration of the sentiment of Job 11:13&15 framed around the final days of the biblical story of Rachel. ‘Surrender your heart to god, turn to him in prayer. Then you wont be ashamed, you will be confident and fearless.’ This passage from Job deals with the idea of trusting in god, going to him for help and guidance and finding strength through him. I wanted to explore this idea with a story where someone has lost their way in life and rather than fight things that are out of their control, they can only move forward through acceptance. The tragic story of the death of Rachel during childbirth really resonated with me. In the western world maternal death is thought of as a historical problem, however 830 woman still die due to pregnancy related complications every day. At its heart a tragic love story and a story of sacrifice for a greater good. The desire of Rachel to have children and her loss, leaving Jacob broken hearted is as current now as it was over two thousand years ago.