Hello Bliss.
Well, as I said, my film co-chair and I normally get a little jaded when we watch a film more than once. Just imagine us as the robots in Mystery Science Theater 3000... commenting in the background. But this time we were right there paying attention throughout each screening. We did comment on which of the men we thought were most attractive: BT Swami... best facial display; Indian guru... most beautiful. He was, btw, amazing. His questioning the question itself, "What is God?" was fantastic, as was his answer. I really felt he was telling the truth. Really, they all seemed to be telling the truth as they knew it. THAT's refreshing!
The more I watched it, the more I wondered how Chris Willis was doing today (and hoping he was okay). The deaf lady and her channeling was amazing. I think Father Keating is the coolest of them all but Robert Thurman must have been awesome to be around. (He did make me a little nervous; I think it was his eyes.) Deepak turns out to be a lot deeper than you might think, considering what a pop icon he is. Some of us were particularly pleased with his feminine reference. Father Rohr was a little prissy about the fly (that was funny) but he sure made sense when he talked about the media and how it influences supposedly smart folks. Llewellen-Vaughn was a great surprise, even though I have been listening to Coleman Barks tapes and become a mesmerized fan of Hafiz, Lalla and Rumi. I was prepared to enjoy the Sufi point of view.... and I did, but I had not idea a Sufi could seem so modern.
My friends who came were all entranced with the film and wished they could see it again. We want to get together and talk about it, but won't have the time until later this week. I've had a few more calls and emails today from strangers who were sad they missed out. Oddly, there was someone who called the library and said she was a teacher. She said she'd talked to the producers of the film and they told her I was supposed to give them this copy of the DVD.
I walked away from the film thinking that the answers I'd given to the fifteen questions were still an accurate appraisal of my own feelings. I felt I'd found agreement with them in the film. "Satisfied" would be the best word to describe my feelings, "satisfied and comfortable." I call myself a Lapsed Catholic Neo-Pagan Daoist. That didn't change.
I think that many Christians will stay away en masse. Too bad, as there is a lot to be said for the compassionate Christ and his dutiful loving mother. Having the Christian POV there in a few of its forms should interest them, but... <shrug>... I imagine the film will do well in mass-markets in the blue-states and not so well where it is conservatively red, mostly because people will refuse to see it, rather than not liking what they see. Europeans may like it a lot if they get the chance.
I'm looking forward to seeing the full interviews. Since this is a documentary, I would have preferred an introduction to the main names at the beginning and I wish the dates and places of the others would have been displayed as they spoke.
I liked Scott Carter's depiction of the traveller... that path is very Tao and he did it well. I liked the bus, boat and final destination. I liked the sunset.
I think, looking back, that the run of photos of the film-makers with the interviewees needed some editing. It interupted the flow and I thought that it was the end of the film, the first time. Maybe if they'd splashed those quickly onto the screen like a photo album. Some might say that the beginning could have been speeded up. I felt that way during the first screening (when I admit I was being overly sensitive as to how the audience was taking the film). Later, I just thought it was funny... the psychedelic imaginings of an early youth and a good chaotic, symbolic start.
Well... this is overly long. There is a lot to think about after watching
One.
(Sorry, but that was an open goal)
