I don’t think this type of show is for everyone. I would even bet most people will hate it. But for those of us who often see life through bland colored glasses, I think it makes some sense, teaches a few things, and even offers hope.

The movie was sometimes sweet, sometimes sad, often sardonic. At times it seemed to drag on way too long. Caden spends so much of his time trying to understand himself and figure out “why,” that he forgets to live. His efforts to make sense of his life are so extreme (he stages a grand play to reenact his entire life in an attempt to understand it) that it robs him of new experiences. He lives life by looking in the rear view mirror, searching for meaning and answers. And the answers are dismal; we are alone, there isn’t a higher purpose, and there isn’t rhyme or reason to our existence. But what else would you expect from this type of movie? The irony, however, is that these particular answers exist only because he wants more from life than living. When living isn’t enough, it’s a bitter road. Wanting more is either an insatiable and disappointing quest or a delusional existence.

(The next section has spoilers and harsh language in the movie quote)

In one scene, Caden’s  grown daughter wants an apology from him for something he did not do. She’s dying so he plays along. He confesses to her and apologizes for the things he never did. But she can’t accept his apology. This theme comes out multiple times, things we want (or think we want because we crave for them all our lives) won’t give us what we expect. We search for what we think will fix us…but the searching is the real problem, evidence of our insecurity and denial. There are no magic words to soothe our torment. If we can’t open our eyes and live in the now, we live in pain and sadness trying to make sense of the confusion that is our past. Perhaps if Caden could have celebrated his existentialist mindset and embraced the lack of answers even while he searched for them, things could have been different. Maybe in the end he accomplishes this (we faded to white instead of black). But how sad to find it at the very end of an existence.

I have never seen a movie with so many references to feces. Multiple scenes related to taking a dump, actual wiping of the arse, toilets. Life can be shit. His certainly was. I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything different from one of the best presentations on existentialism I have ever seen. It really captures that mindset. The payoff is the speech given by the preacher, which hit my gut like a cannonball.

Everything is more complicated than you think. You only see a tenth of what is true. There are a million little strings attached to every choice you make; you can destroy your life any time you choose. But maybe you won’t know for twenty years. And you’ll never ever trace it to its source. And you only get one chance to play it out. Just try and figure out your own divorce. And they say there is no fate, but there is: it’s what you create. Even though the world goes on for eons and eons, you are here for a fraction of a fraction of a second. Most of your time is spent being dead or not yet born. But while alive, you wait in vain, wasting years, for a phone call or a letter or a look from someone or something to make it all right. And it never comes or it seems to but doesn’t really. And so you spend your time in vague regret or vaguer hope for something good to come along. Something to make you feel connected, to make you feel whole, to make you feel loved. And the truth is I’m so angry and the truth is I’m so fucking sad, and the truth is I’ve been so fucking hurt for so fucking long and for just as long have been pretending I’m ok, just to get along, just for, I don’t know why, maybe because no one wants to hear about my misery, because they have their own, and their own is too overwhelming to allow them to listen to or care about mine. Well, fuck everybody. Amen.

I consider myself a pretty dark person, my view of the world tends to be depressing. But I fall short of the preachers (Caden’s) extreme view. Lop off that last sentence and it resonates better with me, which I find comforting. That last sentence sums up Caden’s miserly, his downfall. It is him living in the past, not embracing the present and not reaching out to the people around him. I do better than Caden in that area, but I still fall way short of where I ought to be.

It had a surreal feeling feeling to me. A drab world. Short camera shots that capture simple everyday events and string them together to paint a depressing meaningless place. Our hero, in an attempt to escape the void, signs up to test an experimental drug and gains special powers.

As his life takes on new meaning and he strives to use his powers for good, we watch his antics play out in the same old boring world the movie opened with. As a result, I found myself laughing without smiling. There is both humor and tragedy buried in every scene that seem to blend like a sweet and sour sauce. The end result is confusingly interesting, thought provoking, and highly entertaining.

The show ended and I realized I felt empty, but in a good way. Everything that had been on my mind earlier in the day had been drained away and I just sat on the couch feeling free and peaceful. I like it when shows do that to me.

I’m sure my take on it is far from objective, I mean, I have been working with this idea for over a year now. Although there are a lot of similarities, my book is different enough that I think maybe there is still a chance I can get a publisher to pick it up.

Catinca Untaru, a six year-old girl from Romania, steals the show. Children are, generally, inherently cute but poor directing, filming, or lame attempts to exploit our tender emotions for kids can make me hate a movie. I read that in many scenes of The Fall cameras were hidden to help Cantinca feel spontaneous. Many of the scenes diverted from the script but the filming continued. The result is dialogue that reveals innocent misunderstandings, child-like questions, and some of the sweetest humor I have ever seen. The story is wonderfully creative, bizarre at times, and full of color and dreamlike scenes.

What started as a sweet fairy tale become heavy and an emotional roller coaster. I wish I could cry around my wife and kids, but instead I try and control my breathing, swallow a lot, and inconspicuously dab my eyes. Dark themes are addressed in ways that twisted my stomach and made hiding my emotions nearly impossible.

I picked it up because it reminded me of Pan’s Labyrinth, one of my favorites. Children, imagination, and the dark side of humanity always make for interesting combinations. I believe we all have active imaginations at times…when it comes to dealing with some of life’s hard realities. But when children experience true horror, the power of stories, magic, and make-believe sometimes seem like the best and only way through them (Life is Beautiful is another example). This movie isn’t as dark as Life is Beautiful or Pan’s Labyrinth, but it does create a sense of anguish to watch how pain and confusion in adults infects the young and innocent.

The style of animation is really cool, artistic and different. It’s worth watching for that reason alone, but not why I recommend it. Watch this show for the insight it offers into the difficulties people have faced in Iran over the past 30 years. Before I lose most of you, let me add that the story is wrapped around a girl whose teenage adolescence/coming of age experiences are touching and heart wrenching. Not only does she struggle with issues faced by any typical teenage girl, she must also deal with the fact that her country is fighting a war and a radically changing government regime. I was fascinated by the peek into the Iranian world.

Here is where I found my thoughts wandering while I tried unsuccessfully to sleep as I stared at my bedroom ceiling for several hours after the show.

At one point in the show, she’s talking with her friends and becomes angry when one suggests that life is meaningless and, basically, the only reason we do anything (like start wars) is to cure boredom. I can sympathize with her friend and yet I envy her passionate response, and thus, the meaning she holds in her life. Fighting for your country and for equal rights is certainly something I’d call meaningful. But yet, in some ways it gives substance to her friends argument. I think there are people so desperate for meaning they create lies, start fights, and lobby for this or that simply to escape boredom or protect their fragile ideals.

Meaning is certainly a struggle in my life. I grew up believing life was a test and all my struggles and trials were meaningful because one day I would live in a wonderful place with all my loved ones. Over time, my beliefs changed and I lost that foundation. It’s was scary to even think about ripping away such a wonderful and concretely defined ideal, but I decided I couldn’t hold on to it just because I wanted it to be true. I had to face what I felt was reality, which for me meant letting go of that crutch.

It has been a long difficult process for me to replace that divine purpose. I was living my life for the afterlife and when that was taken away, it left me wondering why I was enduring the test with no reward at the end. I was working the job without a paycheck. Whatever you believe will come after this life, stop and think for a minute how you would change if you were told the deal was off. Maybe how you live your life wouldn’t change too much, mine didn’t. But it ripped me apart inside and completely changed how I see the world. If you can really pull this off, it’s a scary exercise.

Is this the core of an extremist? Somebody so desperate to hide from a reality that might threaten core beliefs they will put on blinders and allow racism, genocide, violence, or oppression to protect themselves? I consider myself agnostic and still open to the possibility that their is a God. But I reject a God who would condone violence, genocide, and labeling mass groups of people as inferior just because of their beliefs. Therefore, I can’t believe for a minute that God is really on the side of the extremist Muslim (or similar extreme, controlling mindset). So what happened in Iran is driven by men who are afraid to consider anything that threatens that crutch they hold so tightly.

Now, going back to the original argument, meaning. Why was that crutch created in the first place? Was it boredom? Was it out of a desperate need to create meaning where it is horribly difficult to find? I promise, it’s a lot easier to find meaning in an extremist world than an agnostic one. Even religion offers incredible meaning. Wars offer meaning. A cause offers meaning…would the world go mentally insane if we didn’t have wars and constant causes to battle? How could we ever survive without villains and evil-doers? Fighting hunger, poverty, and illiteracy don’t seem to have the same draw as fighting evil. I think people want evil…because they want to fight it. And I think when we don’t have it, we create it…for boredom and to silence our search for true meaning.

So I agree and disagree with her friend. It’s not that there is no meaning, it’s just that it is really hard to find and it’s not nearly as exciting as battling evil. I’m also not against religion and I certainly don’t think everyone who believes in a divine power is running from boredom and fear. An extremist, perhaps. But I recognize that many religions serve mankind well. It’s just too bad there are so many horrible things done by some in the name of God.

Chris gave away his $24,000 trust fund to charity, turned down a new car from his parents, burned his money, and wandered around the western United States meeting people and experiencing the land. His final adventure was living in the wilds of Alaska for several months. It’s not spoiling the ending to tell what happened, it was all over the news. When I say it was his final adventure, I mean it literally. He left behind journals, pictures, and friends to help tell his story.

“Rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness…give me truth.”

That quote from the movie sums me up. I don’t think most people really want truth, but maybe I’m wrong. Not that I claim to even have a clue about truth. Think about your most dear relationship or belief. If it is false, would you want to know? Many people I have talked to openly admit that if they could live out their life without having to face their darkness, they would prefer avoid the pain. And I see nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s the happier life and we need most of us to stay happy. In studies, pessimistic individuals are more depressed, big surprise there. But they also recount a more accurate portrayal of reality. Happy people tend to understate the bad and overstate the good. Thank God for happy people, I have no qualm with that. But it’s not for me. I don’t care the price, I want truth. I’ve battled depression all my life and have learned some skills to ease the bite, but I know it’ll follow me to the grave because I’d rather live a sad lonely life with truth than a happy disillusioned one. The bad news is that I’ll never know real truth. The good news is that my life is really quite good. But when it comes down to it, I want truth over happiness. I know how to survive living lonely and sad and I can get through those times. Please don’t ever “protect” me with lies.

I read the book and saw the movie and loved both. I expected I would enjoy them, but I also thought I’d find myself running a critical dialogue and arguing back with Jon Krakauer, the author. But this was not the case. He presented what I felt were objective arguments and won me over. Initially I thought Chris was a complete nut and the whole story was an over-sensationalized account of nothing. But Sandi liked the book so I gave it a chance. It’s the first book of his I’ve read and I’ll read more. I’m jealous of his writing ability. Dang I wish I could write that well. I also want to express my thanks to the family Chris left behind. They worked with Jon and exposed their demons so this story could be told truthfully. It takes character to face it like they did and I am thankful and respect them for this honestly.

The girls perform superb. The documentary on the DVD about the making of this movie and history behind the story it as intriguing as the movie itself. The young actresses were picked from rural Australia and faced their own personal struggles as the movie was filmed. They are charming girls and if you follow-up the movie with the documentary you be that much more touched.

The images are beautiful, the story sweet, and the characters moving. It’s another good movie that inspires me to try and do a little more with my life.

This movie sparked several pages of journal writing for me. It touched on teenage issues, the inhumanity of poverty, and the whole Carpe Diem philosophy: what the hell am I doing with my life…wake up Warren! I enjoyed this show and it left me feeling flustered with some of the evils in the world but thankful for the life that I enjoy. I’d have to say watching this show helped make me a better person…or at least wanting to be a better person. Shows that can do that are certainly worth watching.

The humor comes from a loving father doing everything he can to protect his young son from the nightmares around them. And maybe that’s why it gets me so much. It’s hard to see any child suffer. That alone is enough to choke me up. But throw in the idea that I have to watch my own children suffer and the knife twists inside me. I want to shield my kids from pain and suffering. I want them to be happy and feel like the world accepts and loves them. Yet there are places where that just doesn’t happen. So as I watch this show and put myself in the place of the father, it melts me. It inspires me to be a better parent to my kids. I certainly don’t face a fraction of his troubles. He shows how parent’s sometimes must resort to extreme measures…even put themselves in harms way if that’s what it takes. It’s hard to imagine the hardships people face around the world. I’m beyond fortunate in my life.

I can’t imagine having to escape from my country and start a new life in a hard new land…walking away from wealth and privilege to work on a farm. It’s something that I find myself sometimes wishing would happen to me. It would have to happen to me cause I doubt I’d ever do on my own. But something like that would be good for me.

Life is full of hard knocks. I learn through trial and mistakes. But rough times are not fun so when I watch people struggle in relationships, make poor choices, and push through their trials, I’d like to think that maybe I’m learning something from them. I’d rather learn from their mistakes than have to make them myself. As I experience heartache, anger, and frustration during a movie like this…maybe I’m growing a little bit. Maybe I’ll understand people a little bit better. Maybe I won’t be so judgmental. Maybe I’ll be a better person. With the amount of emotion this film pulled out of me, I have to think so.

There were a few points in this movie I was disgusted. It’s too easy for me to judge people sometimes and some of the choices they made and the things they said pushed my buttons. But I liked the characters and I didn’t want to be angry at them, so I had to let myself understand and empathize with them. Which wasn’t easy because some of the topics are ones that haunt me from my own life. But then, that’s why they pushed my buttons in the first place.

In the end, I resolved my issues with the characters. I certainly can appreciate that life is hard and we all do what we feel we have to in order to survive. We all hurt and feel pain and just want to be happy. Well, most people I know want happiness. Being torn from my home and family, thrust into a the middle of Africa, and then hearing the horrors that befell my loved ones left behind would wring out the best and worst in me. This was a very sweet movie and helped me forget about all of the stupid things I stress about…at least for a little while.

It filled me with passion. It angered me. It made me want to stand up and do something to help change the world. It’s an emotional roller coaster through flying daggers, bullets, blood, and mayhem. If you like action, conspiracy, government cover-ups, and seeing somebody stand up to The Man, then I think you’ll enjoy this movie. I just wish they would have played a longer version of the 1812 Overature during the first part of the show.