epic haiku

*knock knock* House keeping! + Cuckoo and Peter Pan reviews

Just a few things before I forget: I fixed the font size, the comment thingy, as well as a few other little odds and ends around here. Hope things are more enjoyable around here.

Last night I watched one of the oddest and most charming films I have ever seen: The Cuckoo.

The setting is somewhere in northern Finland days before the Finnish pulled out of World War II. It starts out with a Finnish sniper being nailed (via a chain, thankfully) to a rock because he is thought to be a coward. Somewhere near bye there is a Russian soldier on his way to a trial about something that seemed to involve poetry... which puts one on awares. Placed in the midst of this is Anni, the Lapp farmer (as in, her cultural background is Lapp, or Sami, not as in the far distant cousin occupation to a lap dancer) who has been widowed for four years. Things happen, as the tend to do (trixie things), and they all end up living together; a Russian soldier who speaks only Russian, a Finish soldier who is not a fascist, even though his country is sided with Germany, and this simple farm girl who is rather sexually frustrated. All three of these people have the gift of gab and watching them all try to communicate is fascinating, all well as extremely funny. It's definitely a comedy, although a slow and thoughtful one. These people breath back life into each other simply by caring that the others continure to live. It's well worth the watch, so go get it! Gowan witcha!

Still here? Well, another good movie I saw today (now yesterday) was Peter Pan. This is the best version of Peter Pan yet, and makes one want to watch Hook as soon as it ends so you can continue the warm feeling Neverland gives you. I have been so surprised this Christmas at the depth of feeling supposed "fantasy" movies have conjured for me. Return of the King was arguably one of the most moving movies I have ever seen, and today I definitely had tears in my eyes again. The innocence and wonder of childhood is so important to hold on to as adults (which I guess I am now). I think that maintaining wonder was a big part of my personal growth this past year. It's funny to think of something like wonderment as a discipline, but in a way it is. Sinking into a jadded world view is much simplier then constantly throwing out the garbage of day to day life so that one can maintain innocence and wonder. Hrm, I am going to have to think on that one some more.

Peter was played by Jeremy Sumpter, who looks remarkably like a childhood sweetheart of mine. We played together all the time growing up and when I moved away we were both so sad. I saw us in the interactions between Wendy and Peter and that made their romance more relevant to me then almost any other movie romance I have ever seen. Yes, romance, and yes, between children. I fear for the reputation of the film. Romance is something that does not necessarily need a sexual element (much like sex often lacking in the romance department) and the sweetness of feeling shown here was definitely childlike and innocent. Wendy genuinely cares for Peter, and vice versa, but the difficulty of communicating caring to someone, let alone of the opposite gender, is so hard, and they both shed many tears over their failings at it. In the end Wendy's love saves Peter's life. It seems that love always ends up being the truest savoir. This film is both enchanting and deeply moving. I doubt many people will watch it with the same wonder I did, but I hope they at least try.