Sep 24, 2005

Review: The Notebook

I finally saw The Notebook. I originally wanted to see it because it has an incredible cast, but later I read several positive reviews, which reinforced my wanting to see it. Though I never really knew what the story was about aside from a woman having to choose between two loves. Well, I finally just watched it and it goes so much deeper than what I thought. Aside from incredible storytelling and amazing acting, this film touches me a such a deeper level. J. told me that in one review he read the film was said to be designed to make the viewer cry, but, then again, they weren't expecting me as a viewer and what I've experienced. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It was soul deep. It took me to a place in time that is so hard for me to visit I often shut it out. Oddly enough, though, I was recently reminded of that place by a suggestion to write about it. I couldn't bring myself there on my own, but this film just took me right to that place. I know this may all sound confusing, as I'm leaving out key elements of both the film and my past, but, I guess what I'm trying to get at is, that only a truly good story can bring out such emotion; only a tale that touches upon universal truths and the human condition can awake our own truths within us. I highly recommend The Notebook. You may not cry as hard as I did, but then again you just may. It depends on how close your own past, your own family experiences come to the plot. Mine was frighteningly close, but I'm glad I saw it and I'm glad it unlocked part of my memory. Everything happens for a reason, we just have to pay attention to the signs and go with the flow (which doesn't mean "follow," it just means going with "the way," as described in Eastern philosophies).

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