M.E. Herchak
Parables

Teaser: In 1797, William Wilberforce, the great crusader for the British abolition of slavery, is taking a vacation for his health even though he is sicker at heart on account of his frustrated cause. Meeting the charming Barbara Spooner, Wilberforce finds a soulmate to share the story of his struggle. With few allies, such as his mentor, John Newton, a slave ship captain turned repentant priest who penned the great hymn "Amazing Grace"; Prime Minister William Pitt; and Olaudah Equiano, the erudite former slave turned author, Wilberforce fruitlessly fights both public indifference and moneyed opposition determined to keep their exploitation of slaves safe. Nevertheless, Wilberforce finds the inspiration in newfound love to rejuvenate the fight with new ideas that would lead to a great victory for social justice.

Review: This inspiring film lets all who believe that no one was interested in ending slavery prior to 1863 see a story of social justice on many planes. Wilberforce devoted his life to the cause of British abolition of slavery. He staked his political and social standing on this point of justice. This film also shows that age, whether young or old, is not a barrier for those whose cause is social justice. Wilberforce is primarily known for his abolitionist work, but he was also instrumental in animal rights, health care, and education. This film will make you want to know more about his time in history.

© 2012 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: When the New York child performer CC Bloom and San Francisco rich kid Hillary meet at a holiday resort in Atlantic City, it marks the start of a lifetime friendship. The two keep in touch through letters for a number of years until Hillary, now a successful lawyer, moves to New York to stay with struggling singer CC. The movie shows the various stages of their friendship and their romances including their love for the same man.

Review: Love knows no bounds or limits, and Beaches explores the love between friends. CC and Hillary’s love for one another transcends time, space, quirkiness, and heartbreak. They are tenaciously loyal to one another. These are the kind of friends we all long for; the ones who have your back; who love you in spite of yourself. If you haven’t seen this classic, now’s the time. May we all have friends like CC and Hillary in our lives.

[Incidentally Mayim Bialik, the actress playing young CC, is Sheldon’s girlfriend on Big Bang Theory on TV.]

© 2012 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: Walt Kowalski is a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Michigan neighborhood and the world around him. Kowalski is a grumpy, tough-minded, unhappy old man, who can't get along with either his kids or his neighbors. He is also a Korean War veteran whose prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in mint condition. When his neighbor Thao, a young Hmong teenager under pressure from his gang member cousin, tries to steal the Gran Torino, Kowalski sets out to reform the youth. Drawn against his will into the life of Thao's family, Kowalski is soon taking steps to protect them from the gangs that infest their neighborhood.

Review: This is Clint Eastwood at his classic best. Tough, determined, belligerent, and single-minded. There are heavy doses of violence in this film, but there is also justice. This movie challenges the viewer to decide when to get involved in others’ lives and when to stand by passively. It is often difficult to help “the others,” whoever they may be in our lives. Those who don’t look like us, don’t sound like us, don’t believe like us, don’t live like us are easy to marginalize and stereotype. This film shows Walt Kowalski and the viewers that most people want to live safe, healthy lives, free from fear, anxiety, and retribution. Sometimes this means stepping up and stepping out of our comfort zones.

© 2012 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's rugby team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match.

Review: The fact that black South Africans greatly outnumbered white South Africans when apartheid ended and Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa could have led to a total reversal in the roles and rights of South Africans. Mandela’s philosophy for moving his country forward most likely has kept this from happening. This film shows how Mandela incorporated people of all races into his administrative teams and security details, and it also focuses on the way toward unity. A simple path that hasn’t changed all that needs to be changed in South Africa, but a path toward a more equitable and just world for all South Africans. You’ll learn a lot about justice and humility in this film, and a little about rugby. This film chronicles how Mandela used the rugby world cup event to promote social justice in his country.

© 2012 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: In 1930s Italy, a carefree Jewish bookkeeper named Guido starts a fairy-tale life by courting and marrying a lovely woman from a nearby city. Guido and his wife have a son and live happily together until the occupation of Italy by German forces. In an attempt to hold his family together and help his son survive the horrors of a Jewish concentration camp, Guido imagines that the Holocaust is a game and that the grand prize for winning is a tank.

Review: When everything about your life is wonderful, beautiful, and you’re living a fairy-tale existence, you think it will never end. When Guido finds himself and his son in an unimaginable position in a concentration camp, all he can do is find a way not only to save his son’s life but also to save his son’s humanity. At once heart-wrenching and uplifting, this is the story of a father’s unconditional, sacrificial love for his son.

© 2012 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: The storyline revolves around an Indian man named Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, living in Canada and telling a novelist about his life story and how, at 16, he survived a shipwreck in which his family died, and is stranded in the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

Review: Are you a person who prefers to believe in things that always make sense, things that you can see? Or are you a person who prefers to believe in miracles, taking things on faith? There are no right or wrong answers—just an opportunity for introspection. “And so it goes with God.” I am often the person who has “read the book” before a movie has even been imagined, so I was quite amazed when I heard that Life of Pi (book) was being made into a movie. I just could not see how this was possible, and then computer generation steps in, and the movie becomes possible. But there’s so much more to this movie.

The character of Pi is endearing. He is a child being reared in India, at his family’s hotel and zoo. His family practices Hinduism, as does Pi, but he is very curious about God. He learns from a Catholic priest about Christianity, and he learns about Islam while visiting his cousins on their tea farm. Pi is enchanted by the mysterious and marvelous nature of God, practicing all three religions. As a teen, when Pi becomes one of two survivors on a lifeboat (the other the tiger) after a shipwreck, his total trust in God keeps him alive. He also has much time to ponder how others’ evil can cause one to commit evil, if one allows it.

Faith—a devotion, a practice, a belief, a relationship—involves an awareness of and an attunement to God's presence in our everyday experiences. This is part and parcel of the theme of Life of Pi. The movie can be seen as an allegory of faith. Do we believe only those things that are plausible and provable, or do we believe the astounding and glorious impossible? As Pi tells his story, one of remarkable feats of survival and incredible visions of nature, it seems more than the mind can conceive, but when he tells a more believable story, does it make surviving on the Pacific Ocean alone for 277 days more realistic? Such is the way of faith. Try as we might to explain to someone all the reasons for having faith, or simply stating, “and then I felt better”—which is more believable?

Yearning is a very strong theme in Life of Pi. Pi spends much of his childhood feeling a sense of incompleteness and searching for “The More” that is God. Yearning is restlessness, a need to go beyond ourselves to a mystical and sacred presence. Pi also experiences yearning for God during his isolation.

Related to both faith and yearning is openness, to be receptive to the vast and numerous possibilities. Questioning, wondering, searching, hoping, and looking for every possibility as potentially coming from God. Seeing the relationships instead of the separations. Looking for richness in simplicity instead of deficiency. Openness allows us to be receptacles of all potential. The character of Pi is the epitome of openness. Even as a child, when his name is bastardized as “Pissing,” he uses this as his launching point to become “Pi,” “an irrational number” which he memorizes to the “nth” degree and gains the highest regard from many of his peers and instructors.

I was pleasantly surprised by the film adaptation of the book and give this movie a strong recommendation.

© 2014 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: Philippe Pozzo di Borgo is a very wealthy French aristocrat who has lost his wife, the love of his life, to cancer, and he is a quadriplegic as a result of a paragliding accident. He lives in a magnificent walled-estate with his staff and adopted daughter. Philippe hires a rough-edged man, Driss, to be his caregiver, even though the man has no experience and was only in the interview to get his “benefit paper” signed, because Driss does not pity him. The relationship between this unlikely duo grows to one of mutual respect and friendship.

Review: Okay, I admit it, I love movies that are based on real-life events, and this is one of the best. It is in French with English subtitles, but you won’t mind at all. (Negotiations are currently in the works for an English remake of this film.) This is a strong, sharp, witty, and touching film.

Transformation, the act of letting go, shedding old ways, or having an epiphany, is a major spiritual theme of this movie. Both Philippe and Driss have to reevaluate their current circumstances and decide how they want to live their lives. Transformation does not cause one to lose oneself, but it causes one to become the best of oneself. Philippe could live his life in chronic depression, or he could live a fulfilled life. Driss could continue to be mired in crime and poverty, dragging with him his entire family, or he could find another way. Transformation is not usually easy or consistent, but when it happens, the results are astonishing.

Being present is another spiritual theme in The Intouchables. What do we miss by not being present in the “here and now” with the people who are with us? How do we fail one another and God by dwelling on the past or waiting on the future when being present is so critical to our relationships with each other and with God? Does Philippe see his daughter’s needs as she lives under the same roof? Does Driss realize how his daily life is impacting the rest of his family? When we are truly present in our own lives and in the lives of the ones we love, we form stronger, more resilient relationships.

One of the subtle spiritual themes in the movie is beauty, recognizing the splendor of all creation. Beauty can be the magnificent or the simple. Art, music, poetry, nature are all beauty. Philippe has been constantly surrounded by and appreciates classically recognized beauty. Through Philippe’s encouragement and Driss’s indomitable spirit, beauty is shared by these unlikely friends.

Give this movie a try; I think you’ll be impressed.

Full disclosure: I categorically liked this story, and I indeed liked the actors who played in it. I also read about the real people about whom this movie was made. While the actor who played Philippe looked very much like the real man, the actor who played Abdel (Driss), couldn’t have been more different. Omar Sy is a very attractive, big, athletic Senegalese French man, and Abdel Sellou is a small, “ugly” (his word), Algerian Arab man. There is a part of me who would have liked an actor more similar to Abdel playing him since most Arabs in current films are cast as terrorists.

© 2014 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire are three intelligent young children who receive terrible news that their parents have died in a fire and have left them an enormous fortune not to be used until the eldest child is of age. When they are sent to live with Count Olaf, a greedy distant relative, they soon learn that he is trying to steal their fortune for himself.

Review: This film is a feast for the eyes. Intricate sets, extravagant costumes, eccentric characters fill the screen. The Baudelaire children have the examples of smart, loving parents to support them on the “unfortunate” journey to find the truth and to receive some comfort for their great loss. What they also carry with them is a great faith in one another. Each Baudelaire child has his or her unique gifts that they bring to the fore. Violet has the mind of a scientist, and everyone better watch out when she takes the ribbon from around her neck and ties back her hair. That’s when the real creativity and inventions are revealed. Klaus is an extraordinarily well-read young man. Because of his vast book knowledge, Klaus is able to assist Violet with her solutions to their problems. Sunny, a very young child, is quick-witted and curious. Her actions keep the other two bolstered and encouraged as she “stumbles” upon many of their needs and answers.

While this may be a stretch, and I’m always looking for relationships to the Trinity, I can see the relationship of this trio’s unconditional love for one another and their interconnectedness to each other to the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit—three, yet one, separate in expression, but one God. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are three unique individuals, but their faith in one another and need for each other makes them one—the Baudelaire children—not three, for they could not accomplish by themselves the great feats they manage together. Just a thought. Enjoy with most ages.

© 2012 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: Jerome Bixby's Man from Earth is a thought-provoking and challenging science-fiction film. This movie has intelligent characters and exceptional dialogue that keep the viewer satisfied and intrigued even though the entire movie takes place in one small room. John Billingsley stands out, as does David Lee Smith, who may or may not be a caveman. The entire cast enriches this movie. For those who are true science-fiction aficionados, you won’t miss the contemporary infatuation with space ships, explosions, and aliens that tend to define many modern sci-fi offerings.

Review: Concerning issues of faith: would you be able to disclose the most unimaginable truth to your closest and dearest friends, realizing that not only will they not believe you, but they may resent you and hate you for your candor? The Man from Earth examines what would happen among close friends and colleagues if the unimaginable is disclosed and is, in fact, true. Would this shake your faith in all you know and believe, or would this make you crave to know more, regardless whether the knowledge confirms or refutes all you have ever known or believed? Gather a few of your close adult friends or family and spend the afternoon or evening with this thoughtful, well-crafted film. Very interesting discussion may follow.

© 2012 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: Glenn Holland is a musician and composer who takes a teaching job to pay the rent while, in his “spare time,” he strives to achieve his true goal: compose one memorable piece of music to leave his mark on the world. As Holland discovers, “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans,” and as the years unfold, the joy of sharing his contagious passion for music with his students becomes his new definition of success.

Review: This film exemplifies the concept of love as a concentric circle moving out beyond the giver and touching others, many never known to the original giver. Small acts of kindness, encouraging others to strive to do their best, staying the course when it would be so easy to give up on our dreams or others—any of these can be acts of love, and all of these are explored in Mr. Holland’s Opus. How like God’s love for us, ever-constant and vigilant.

© 2012 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: Tessa, a 17-year-old girl, has lived with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and the effects of chemotherapy for four years, and she has decided to stop the treatments because her cancer is terminal. Even with the treatment, she would not have long to live. Tessa lives with her very attentive father and 9-year-old brother. Her parents are divorced, and her mother is nonchalant and uninvolved in the children’s lives. Tessa’s best friend, Zoey, becomes her accomplice to “really live” before she dies. Tessa has a list of things she’d like to do as quickly as possible. She also unexpectedly meets a wonderful young man, Adam, who wants to enjoy every minute with her.

Review: Get out your box of Kleenex, your large bowl of popcorn, a good drink, and a couple of close friends to watch this one. Don’t worry, there are plenty of things to laugh about, and there are quite a few “aw” moments, but from the beginning, you know what’s coming (sort of like in Titanic). It doesn’t take long for you to feel like you know the characters in this video, and they are quite believable. Now is Good is straightforward and sincere. You won’t forget it.

One of the most endearing spiritual practices is hope. Now is Good is full of hope. There’s no doubt about the ultimate end of this movie, but Tessa goes after life with the type of hope that we all wish we have in the same circumstances. Adam and Zoey, faced with very difficult circumstances, remain hopeful about the future. They’re looking for a break in the clouds, a glimmer of light, something positive in very difficult times.

Tessa is questing: she is leaving the comfortable and knows for what may be difficult, dangerous, and unknown. She’s on a pilgrimage to know all she can before her life on earth is over. Isn’t this really what we’re all doing? In Tessa’s case, the timing is much more urgent. She wants answers that only experience and time can give, and she goes after these with grace and urgency.

There is much nurturing in Now is Good. As a spiritual practice, nurturing involves the best ways to receive and give nourishment. Being a lifelong learner is a way to be nurturing. Tessa helps her younger brother in this regard, but she also seems to be in wonder of so much that her example is the example of a nurturing person. Her father and Adam are both very nurturing, which makes the opposite so obvious in some of the other characters. To be nurturing, one must commit some time to leisure and some to reflection. This concept is present throughout the video, and one can see the characters become out of balance when they don’t practice nurturing behaviors.

I really like the acting in this moving, and I especially liked seeing Dakota Fanning in this role. I also liked the handling of “the end.” It was sensitive without being sappy, and it allowed Tessa to take part in a very real way. This movie will touch you in a profound way.

© 2014 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: Charlyne Yi does not believe in love, or at least does not believe she has been in love or is capable of feeling “in love.” She goes on a cross country trip (with a brief stop in Toronto) on a quest to find out what love means, what it means to be in love, and even finds she may be falling in love.

Review: Paper Heart is a low budget, quirky video that focuses on Yi’s quest and her interviews with people of all ages about their experiences with love. She queries, “Have you ever been in love?” and the documentary takes off. There is a particularly sweet interview with children in a playground, funny characters and stories from all over the country, and even quite a few poignant tales of love from a variety of people. An unexpected consequence is a budding romance between Yi and Michael Cera. The search for love is as old as time. It has been a quest of kings & queens, maids & mavens, young & old. To sum it up, romantic love can’t be forced or contrived; it has to be freely given and freely accepted to be real. Love blossoms or wilts as a result of the choices that each individual makes. You can’t really understand the full extent of love until you allow yourself to experience it.

One spiritual theme that comes out of the movie is connections. Spiritual connections are the idea that everything is interrelated. Actions, words, and events don’t just occur without consequences or interactions. Religion and science both respect and talk about the truth of interrelatedness through time, space, and being. Connections go hand-in-hand with spirituality. We speak of one Body made of many parts, one event leading to another, or a decision made long ago having an unforeseen consequence today. Everything is really related and connected. In Paper Heart, Yi felt she could search for the meaning of romantic love without it having an impact on her, but in fact, the searching was met with results. Connections are an interesting way to look at any point in your life. Sometimes the connections are simple and direct, sometimes they are quite mystical.

Love is the obvious spiritual theme of this movie. While the focus is on romantic love, the viewer may reflect on self-love, universal love, fraternal love, innocent love, and any other countless forms of love. Within most spiritual seeking is the desire to be loved without bounds or restrictions. This is an amazing, and seldom achieved, human desire. This desire is often fulfilled within the depths of love between two devoted individuals and/or one’s devotion to God.

Paper Heart is not a blockbuster, nor is it necessarily a must-see movie, but it does make one think about how people still quest for love above all other things.

Spoiler alert: The Yi/Cera romance may have been a set-up for the two up and coming actors since both have later said it wasn’t real and that they are still friends, but, for the sake of the movie, it works.

© 2014 Martha E Herchak

Based on the true story of the Hadhads, a Syrian family who seeks refuge in Canada

Teaser: The Hadhad family has lost their large, family-owned chocolate factory in Damascus, Syria, and their home in the war in 2012. They find themselves in a refugee camp in Lebanon. They are some of the fortunate who are being relocated to Canada. After living in a bustling, urban city, it is quite a shock for the family to find that their refuge is the town of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, which has a population of less than 5000, and their young adult son, Tareq, becomes the first Arab resident. Tareq, who has almost completed medical school before the war began, is the first to arrive in Antigonish, then his parents, Issam and Shahnaz, are allowed to come. Finally, his sister, Alaa, and her daughter, Sana, are permitted to come to Antigonish after her husband has been killed in the war. Tareq is desperate to complete his medical studies, but his father, who has started making chocolates in a home kitchen, needs him, too, stating, “Without you, I am illiterate.”

Review: The characters and the story of this movie will keep your interest as you hope for a fairy tale ending, but we all know life is much more complicated that that. The struggle between neighbors who are good people and want to do good things in their community is authentic. There is also the hesitancy and distrust that comes from the unknown and “the other.” The story also shows us the bonds between family and those who become family. Peace by Chocolate touches on so many aspects of the refugee story: from the perspective of those who are refugees, those who welcome refugees, and those who really mean well, but will never understand the desperation of refugees. This movie touched my heart, and I highly recommend this movie. 

Character Traits: There are lots in Peace by Chocolate!

"Courage" is the key to this movie. The courage to stay in a war zone, then the courage to leave for an unknown refugee camp for an unknown amount of time. It takes courage to go on one’s own to a completely new continent and culture with the hope that this may be a new place for your family to build a future. It also takes courage to welcome others so unlike what you know into your home and community.

Every main character in the movie has "resilience". Each in their own way must withstand and recover from real difficulties so that they may move forward. Sometimes resilience is seen as stubbornness, and sometimes it is clear-headedness. 

"Transformation: is a key character trait in many of the characters in Peace by Chocolate. Sometimes our plans for life change, whether we want them to or not. With change, we can stagnate or transform. Tareq had to reevaluate how to move forward in Antigonish, or elsewhere, and so did his father Issam. Transformation keeps some of our essence, it can be quite difficult to accept, but like a caterpillar transforming to a butterfly, the end result is beautiful.

Throughout the movie, "family" is key. The Hadhads kept family in the forefront of all their final decisions. However, as most of us know, family comes with many faces and from many places.

© 2023 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: The story takes place at Beecham House, a retirement home for former professional musicians, patterned after the real-life Casa di Reposo per Musicisti founded by Giuseppe Verdi. The primary action revolves around close friends and opera colleagues, Reg, Wilf, and Cissy, and the bustle around the home as everyone prepares for the annual fundraiser concert to honor Verdi’s birthday. The snag comes when Jean, another retired opera singer, and Reg’s former wife, moves, unannounced, into the home.

Review: There’s always something to enjoy about British drama-comedies, and that’s the case with Quartet. The characters are idiosyncratic, egotistical, proud, talented, and all dealing with the challenges of aging, not necessarily gracefully. In their careers, all have been at the top of their games at one time or another and all become more and more vibrant as they rehearse their crafts in preparation for the concert. There is a tenderness of compassion between and among the residets of Beecham House, a bit of a protective nature toward one another, and probably more tolerance is extended even to those who are difficult prima donnas. And then Jean comes to live at Beecham House, and sets the community out of balance . . .

There is a genuine love of one’s neighbor in Quartet. There is the acceptance, and even the appreciation, of the individual nuances that could drive one to distraction were it not for love. The characters seem to see each other’s flaws, but they also seem to encourage and foster each other’s strengths as an act of love. There is support that is not pandering but nurturing.

Compassion is the most evident spiritual quality of the movie: the ability to care so deeply for another that one experiences their suffering and wants to help alleviate the suffering. The character Cissy is extremely forgetful and may have the beginnings of dementia, but the other characters extend their compassion to her by sending her reminder notes, helping her to remember why she has the note, coming for her so that she is included, and always keeping track of her purse so that she doesn’t become upset when she can’t locate it. Seldom is there an unkind word to her. Since each of the residents of the home has as least some diminished capacity, compassion is exercised most readily.

Zeal, being fully aroused by life, is another spiritual quality that is evidenced in Quartet. The residents seem more abundantly alive when they are engaged in their talents, and the staff and residents of Beecham House encourage this. Reg, for example, has never stopped teaching or learning about the sung word. While he can seem a bit curmudgeonly, he has workshops for high school students about opera, but he engages them initially by learning about contemporary songs and artists. His zeal helps the young people step up and share their talents, too.

Quartet is an enjoyable, thoughtful movie. The talented performers make it worth your time.

Caution: Some language

© 2014 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: This charming comedy/drama is filmed in the beautiful Roanne hills of France, and is the story of Eve Vernet, an artisanal rose developer and horticulturalist, who is trying to honor her father’s memory by keeping his rose farm and company afloat and relevant in the highly competitive and scientifically modern world of the industrial rose complex. Eve is well-known in the industry as an exceptionally gifted rose maker of unblemished character. Eve’s lifelong friend and secretary, Véra, attempts to keep bankruptcy at bay by arranging for three ex-convicts, who need transitional employment and training, and who have no rose or horticultural experience, to come work for Eve. Eve’s desperation to maintain the farm leads her to make a very dangerous and unethical decision, which not only endangers herself, but also put everything in jeopardy, including the futures of the three ex-convicts.

Review: I like a good novel where I become engaged with the characters. That is how I felt when I watched The Rose Maker. I do not speak French, but that did not stop me from becoming totally emersed in this movie. I found myself rooting for the Eve when she was “back to the wall” and desperate to make just one more champion rose. My heart broke for Fred, a gifted young man, who meant nothing to his parents. I cheered as Nadège grew and grew until she emerged from her cocoon. Samir just wanted to get through this part of his life, but, as most of us know, nothing is quite that simple. Through it all, Véra remains steadfast and committed to the cause. This movie is most appropriate for adults, but older middle school youth may enjoy it, especially if they are learning French. 

Spiritual notes & Character traits: The overarching character trait of The Rose Maker is loyalty. Loyalty to one’s heritage, loyalty to family, loyalty to friends, and loyalty to one’s words. Spiritually, this movie is all about redemption and healing, becoming more than anyone thought was possible. No one is a “throw-away,” and everyone is “damaged.” However, just as we preserve the chipped piece of fine china, so we cherish the underdog who stays afloat and then flourishes. The movie also has a theme of humility: to know when to admit one’s mistakes and give credit where credit is due.

© 2023 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: Gail, Cynthia, Julie, and Kay are aboriginal girls growing up in Australia. Even as children they are considered talented singers. In 1968, Gail, Cynthia, & Julie enter a talent show, and while they are the best, they feel the racial tension associated with being aboriginals. Eventually, they work with a “manager,” Dave, to develop their talent and audition for a “paying gig” to entertain the troops in Vietnam. Their cousin, Kay, leaves the security of being “white” to join them to round out the group that becomes known as The Sapphires.

Review: Once again, if it’s based on a true story, I’m probably going to like it. One of the hard facts for aboriginal peoples in Australia and in the United States is the fact that the children were often taken from their parents to be raised in schools or by “white parents” to learn “white” society and culture. This is the case with Kay, who is a light-eyed, light-skinned child. The Australian government policy was to “take” the light aboriginal children from their communities to be raised as “white.” The aboriginal people of Australia greatly mourned their children, as one might imagine.

The Sapphires are a hit with the troops, but their infighting almost causes them to implode. Fortunately, they manage to settle down and put on some exciting shows.

Devotion—being vigilant, seeing the divine in the daily, nurturing relationships and rituals—is a spiritual theme that is seen in this video. The aboriginal people have a strong devotion to nature and family relationships. They believe the soul is connected to the source of one’s existence.

Connections, the spiritual idea that one is made of the many, is also evident in The Sapphires. The girls are fiercely independent, but they are definitely devoted to and connected with each other, and therefore they are better working in harmony than independently. This is the nature of much of spirituality: finding unity in the many, a oneness of spirit and ideal.

Play, the exuberant expression of our being, is a spiritual practice. The girls exemplify play in their lives and their styles. They are full of joy when they are playing together in harmony and sharing their playfulness with others.

I had never heard of The Sapphires, and I enjoyed “getting to know them” through this movie. It reminded me of how so many people did so much to improve the morale of the men in Vietnam, just as people try to do that in war-torn areas today.

Full disclosure: In reality, only Laurel and Lois went to Vietnam; Beverley and Naomi were protesting the war and would not go. Also, Laurel, Beverley, and Naomi were the “official” Sapphires, though Lois was sometimes “drafted” to join them, but author Tony Briggs thought having the four in the group made a better story. In reality The Sapphires did perform in Vietnam with other groups, but they did not go into the warzone areas or travel unescorted.

© 2014 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: Young Brendan lives in a remote medieval outpost under siege from barbarian raids. A new life of adventure beckons when a celebrated master illuminator arrives from the isle of Iona carrying an ancient but unfinished book, brimming with secret wisdom and powers. To help complete the magical book, Brendan has to overcome his deepest fears on a dangerous quest that takes him into an enchanted forest where mythical creatures hide. It is here that he meets the fairy Aisling, a mysterious young wolf-girl who helps him along the way. With the barbarians closing in, will Brendan's determination and artistic vision illuminate the darkness and show that enlightenment is the best fortification against evil?

Review: This film is definitely worth of a viewing on the big screen. The vivid colors and animations are in the style of the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript gospel book created in the ninth century. The story is enchanting and fun for the whole family, especially 4th grade and older. The viewer will see the abbot’s loss of faith in the mystical while he retains total faith in the physical (a stone wall). Brendan exhibits innocent faith through the love for his uncle, the abbot, his respect and admiration for the illuminator, and his unfaltering trust in Aisling, who shows him the beauty and wonders of the great forest. The illuminator highlights the unmitigated joy that comes from knowing how faith sustains us through the most trying and unexpected times.

© 2012 Martha E Herchak

Teaser: Life doesn't always go according to plan. Pat Solitano has lost everything—his house, his job, and his wife. After spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain, and now living back in his parents’ home, Pat is trying to rebuild his life, remain positive, and reunite with his wife, despite his ruined reputation and a restraining order. All Pat's parents want is for him to get back on his feet. Then Pat meets Tiffany, his friend’s sister-in-law with some serious problems of her own, and things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he'll do something very important for her in return. Pat agrees and the unexpected starts to happen.

Review: Silver Linings Playbook is a bit of a romantic comedy/drama, heavy on the complications of relationships among family and friends.  It shows how patterns of behaviors lead to expected outcomes and how difficult it can be to give, and accept, forgiveness, and start on a more positive journey. The video also delves into the difficult moments in life when we know we must make a change, even forgive ourselves, but we don’t always want to let go of the past and the familiar. That being said, like the character, Pat, in the movie, I believe most difficult circumstance can be overcome, with time, and many difficult situations may even have a silver lining.

One of the most beneficial spiritual practices is forgiveness. Most recognize three kinds of forgiveness: self-forgiveness, forgiving others, and forgiveness from God. Tragically, many of us forgive others and expect that God is all-forgiving, but we often harbor our own faults as unforgivable. This is the case of the character of Tiffany in the video. She has responded to the great loss and grief in her life by acting out socially, and does not see herself as worthy of forgiveness. (I could go into a whole diatribe about the sin of pride in holding on to one’s guilt instead of seeking and accepting forgiveness, but I’ll spare you.) Most of Pat’s family and friends are so glad to have him home that forgiveness is obvious. Pat, himself, has forgiven his wife’s responsibility in his decline even though she may not be aware of this or may not care. The most important aspect of forgiveness is how freeing it is to the “forgiver” when one lets go of the hurts and injuries afforded us by others.

Vision is the spiritual practice of seeing things in a new light, discovering fresh insights about the ways of the world, and cultivating a different outlook on life. This is a prevalent theme throughout Silver Linings Playbook. Pat has learned at his father’s knee that the only way to tame the world is by cunning and force. Through Pat’s therapy, he gets a new vision, one that shows him that there is more than one way to look at the same situation or circumstances. This is an epiphany for Pat that helps him stay balanced. He visualizes the good and sees things with new eyes. Otherwise, Pat, like many of us, would spin in circles in a cycle of despair. When one practices the spiritual quality of vision, one’s values also tend to become more ethical and socially appropriate. Spiritual vision helps us reexamine our previously held assumptions.

I can go on and on about the spiritual practice of love in this movie. As human beings, we tend to build the path of our journeys on love: love of self, love of family, love of neighbor, love of God. Each step we take in our lives can often be related to the love relationships that we foster. Those love relationships that are good and just and true make us better for them while relationships that masquerade as love are burdensome, depressive, and damaging to our wellbeing. There are several good examples of what love should and should not be in this video.

© 2014 Martha E Herchak