I Love Movies

Despite the awfulness that was Hostel (never to be referred to again after this post), I've seen some other movies/shows that I've enjoyed a tad more.

For instance, Monarch of the Glen (Season 2 Disc 1, 2001) continues the excellence in story telling begun in Season 1. I just love this show, though upon occasion it's a little hard to understand the dialog due to quickly-spoken, heavily-accented speech. Why oh why aren't there subtitles? Usually, though, it's not a problem. The castle belonging to Archie (the main character) and his family is gorgeous. I wouldn't mind having something like this for the cat to roam around in, and perhaps he'd let me have a room or two. The indoor swimming pool would have to go, though. "Why does the indoor swimming pool have to go?" I can hear you asking. The indoor swimming pool is in reality a flooded basement. Not too cool (being in Scotland, perhaps it is very cool). In Texas, you don't have to worry about flooded basements or any bicycles perhaps contained therein.

But this is a TV show, not a movie; I still like it. Watching over three hours in a row requires more commitment than most movies.

I then watched Les Quatre Cents Coups (USA Title: The 400 Blows, 1959) is director François Truffaut's first feature film, and it reminds me why I love movies so much. Listening to some of the back story surrounding the film and its origins helped me to understand more concretely what I felt while watching. The movie follows the trials and tribulations of a 13-year-old boy in school and his family, from a mother who pretty much hates him to school teachers who have no problem knocking a kid upside his head.

And I remembered how hard life is for a child when everyone is against him.

How much do we ignore kids who don't fit the mold? What if they're not smart or not pretty or just plain annoying? Do we just medicate them into submission? Or do we somehow find a way to treat each of them as a real person, finding a way to reach them at their level where they can be inspired? Don't ask me how to do this because I really don't know, but I do know we have to do better than our current efforts.

Now that the smoke has cleared from that little pipe dream, I loved this movie. Honest would be the best term for it, which I think would warm Mr. Truffaut's heart. It's not pretty (at least not story-wise), but it rings of truth. Maybe not the Truth, but the truth of His love and how it might change someone when demonstrated.