Moments

I have often found Hollywood to be, well, sometimes too Hollywood.  But I think that over the last ten years or so, that even with the well-placed melodies over the most emotional of moments, there's been a reality it seeks.  And while some, well okay many, of the ideals that it presents I'm not a fan of or believe in, I think there's something to be had in a few of it's tender moments.

As a writer, there are moments in a movie where the world seems to stop for just a moment.  In this briefest of moments, I can see, nay, feel the purity of love and life.  I sense the serenity that man was meant to have before the Fall.  And while  I realize the moment was rehearsed multiple times, sounds dubbed over, lines written and edited, and momentary emotions exhibited, there's still a beauty that's there.  When I experience, I wish to revel in it, as enjoying a beautiful flower on a spring day, or that first smell of burnt wood in the fall.  I like to close my eyes and drink it in.

I've experienced this sensations in several movies.  Two that have stuck with me, however, were Quartet and most recently the Second Exotic Marigold Hotel.  I'm not quite sure whether it is the British actors and their sensational voices, or the Golden Age of life, there's a beauty that seems to have only gotten better with age . . . .

The latter of the two movies spoke to me in a way that i replayed the ending several times.  Maggie Smith's voiceover of the letter she has written spoke volumes.  It wasn't the words in the letter, it is what the movie showed beneath those words.  You could feel someone who appreciated the journey she'd taken.  And while her character was gruff, to the point, and of few words, there was a greater message you could feel/hear under that rough exterior.  Her character had worked as a nanny for over 40 years.  Watching children that weren't hers but loving them just the same; scrubbing floors, managing the affairs of the house - being loved, and loving others but with no family of her home.  The journey to India, becoming a co-owner of a hotel.

And while there were several subplots in the movie, the one that spoke to me is that this life, with all it's hardships, moments of both joy and sorrow, filled with those we love and who love us, are merely a part of the journey, preparing us for those eternal days.  Her character, as many that I know, quietly invested in the lives of those around her (them).  She never sought fame, nor even thanks for what she did.  But she did it out of love, even with her prickly character.

Moments like this remind us to better appreciate those in our "circle", I think.  We are challenged (or at least I am) to love and appreciate them that much more.  And so it is in this moment I write to you, savoring every last minute of it, not wanting the night to end.