Life Through the Lens: L.O.V.E. = Life’s Only Valid Expression
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"She sees me very well, but she forgets that I can see her, too."
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Have you ever tried to define "love"? It is, in many ways, indefinable … but it is universally received and gifted. It is so easy a baby can do it! How can something so hard to explain be so easy to express?
Here is a pretty fitting attempt at describing love by C. S. Lewis:
"There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket -- safe, dark, motionless, airless -- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable."
Although I am usually drawn to fiction, I recently watched a trio of documentaries … and each one blew me away! They are about love, but each tell a dramatically different story. It's almost as if love is important or something …
Spoiler alert: to love is to be vulnerable!
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The Painter and the Thief is a story from Norway about, you guessed it: a painter and a thief. The painter is Barbora Kysilkova, an aspiring and brilliant young artist. Although talent abounds, money is tight (a tale as old as time). She gets an opportunity to show her work … only to have it stolen! It was pilfered by, don't fall asleep on me, the thief. The thief, now caught and prosecuted by the police, is Karl-Bertil Nordland.
End of story, right? Nah.
Barbora, a woman of confidence and determination, is presented with the thief's name. She confronts him about the stolen paintings, but Bertil was strung-out at the time and can provide very little information. He does however provide Barbora with something: unexpected inspiration. His story, his character, his helplessness, his spirit … there is a painting in there. Barbora asks if he would become her muse, and he accepts!
It is a story of unlikely friendships, undeniable bonds, and unexplainable love.
This movie caught me extremely off-guard! I did not expect the enormity of its heart and the sincerity of its approach. There were many moments of pure honesty, inspiring in their depth. The friendship formed between this improbable-pair is genuine and rich -- it won't make sense … but love rarely does!
Director Benjamin Ree tells the story in a non-linear fashion keeping you connected but guessing. He also gives ample time for love to become real, for people to show vulnerability. It is touching to see the tears and moving to hear the how they truly see each other.
Everyone needs seen -- everyone needs appreciated -- everyone needs loved.
The movie can be streamed right now on Hulu.
REPORT CARD: "The Painter and the Thief"
Grade: A
Comment: Some truth is stranger than fiction
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Dick Johnson Is Dead is the story of a daughter preparing herself for her aging father's death. Although death is inevitable … it still stinkin' stinks.
Director/daughter Kirsten Johnson watched her mother struggle with Alzheimer's and eventually pass only to now see its early stages appearing in her father Dick. Dr. Dick Johnson is a beloved man who has changed countless lives professionally and personally … but he is slipping. He knows it, too.
Instead of ignoring the inescapable, Kirsten asks her father if he would be willing to die … on camera … in every way possible. As Dick's health disintegrates, his "staged deaths" become harder and harder. Along with his "deaths," we see his life: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Again, this movie caught me off-guard! It has a needed-humor and an open-sorrow about it that is hard to replicate in fiction; it is unashamedly REAL. Dick is an eloquent and kind man, both aware and awake. He is unafraid … but is still fighting with all his might! Director/daughter Kirsten gives this movie her whole-heart. You can see and hear what love looks like through her devotion to her father.
Prepare yourself for vulnerability. Prepare yourself for surprising-strength and frank-frailty. Told with wit and tenderness, the movie confronts this certainty: dying is easy … what you leave behind is the hard part.
The movie can be streamed right now on Netflix.
REPORT CARD: "Dick Johnson Is Dead"
Grade: A
Comment: A beautiful portrait of love and loss
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Time is a story of incarceration in America - not of the incarcerated but of the family waiting on the outside. The movie tells you early on that this is not a story of "wrongful imprisonment": out of sheer desperation, Sibil "Fox" and Robert Richardson robbed a bank in 1997. The crime happened. Fox spent three and a half years in prison (as the driver) while Robert is serving 60 years (for armed robbery). Upon her release from prison, she moved her six young boys near the prison and began the uphill-battle to get Robert's sentence lessened and get him released.
The movie is atypical for a few reasons. It does not claim innocence … it claims excessive. Robert made his mistake but is more-than-worthy for release. With a prison system overflowing, candidates like Robert must be allowed forgiveness and freedom. It is also special because of its vast catalogue of real footage over those two long decades. Fox has been keeping a video-journal for Robert, to chronicle all of the moments he has missed. Her motive is simple: this love she feels must be expressed … or she will burst into flames!
As Robert says, "If it could be an acronym, it would be 'life's only valid expression.'" Every emotion is either an expression of love or a perversion of it. There is only love.
The movie can be streamed right now on Amazon Prime.
REPORT CARD: "Time"
Grade: A-
Comment: Raw, powerful, uplifting, and inspiring