| The Movie Mystic | by Stephen
Simon The Matrix: Revolutions (129 minutes, rated R for sci-fi violence and brief sexual content) "Everything that has a beginning must have an end." Or does it? The groundbreaking Matrix series (but not its impact) comes to a conclusion with The Matrix: Revolutions and I believe that it will be remembered for decades to come as a seminal step forward in the potential of Spiritual Cinema to remind us of the complex beauty and paradox of our humanity. So, please, see it yourself. Regardless of what you may hear or have heard to the contrary -- regardless of what you may have felt about Matrix: Reloaded. There is magic and mystery in this film that rivals and, in some ways such as its brilliant and paradoxical ending, surpasses the original Matrix. The symbolism and fascination of the film start with the title itself: Revolutions. Plural. Not just the standoff between humanity and technology, but multiple meanings such as evolving and becoming a society where the ascension of racial equality and feminine energy has reached such an apogee that the heroes of the film are, save for Neo, women and people of color. With a nod to John Lennon, imagine that. "It's easy if you try." The visuals in Matrix are dazzling and majestic, but it is has always been the philosophical and metaphysical musings of the Matrix trilogy that have made the series so extraordinary. Revolutions illuminates both the challenges and breathtaking opportunities of humanity on the brink of knowing the unknowable. On the brink of, but not yet ever quite complete. As is said in the film -- "I didn't know...but I did believe." The human experiment, the "illusion" of life, the ephemeral nature of our notions of reality. Emotions and glimpses of the potential answers to our existence, tantalizing yet never so obvious as to rob us of our individual right to create and interpret our own reality. For these reasons and more, I feel that this column must take on a more unconventional form than any of my other columns. Challenges to us as an audience abound in Revolutions, not in plot "turnings," which we will leave for the viewer to discover, but rather in the fascinating ambiguities of the tantalizing clues that lead Neo and Trinity to their destinies. We could discuss this for hours and hours -- and will as the years unfold -- but space here allows us only to examine one of the film's most exhilarating complexities. The crux of Neo's journey in Revolutions is explained early on to him by the Oracle who tells him that "no one can see beyond a choice that they don't understand." Choice. The word and concept behind it lie at the center of the Matrix and have also become perhaps one of the key concepts of our evolving humanity. We have chosen a path of destruction before. Atlantis. Maya. Egypt. One of the crucial tenets of the new spirituality of the last half-century has been our recognition that fate is not indeed thrust upon us. We have choices. Opportunity can present itself, yes, but our fate is never forced upon us as an inevitability. We can CHOOSE to hear the clarion call of our soul's call to adventure or choose to ignore it. We have the final say as to whether or not we actually move into that eternal flow of our own destiny. When we do make that leap, we almost immediately sense at the core of our beings that the choice is made from a deep well within our own hearts and consciousness, and yet, it remains just beyond our ability to totally comprehend; nevertheless, we are forevermore drawn forward by the choice we have made to engage the world of mystery and paradox. Neo and Trinity have a passionate love for each other and yet both have a knowing on a deep soul level that they must each moment choose to push inexorably forward, regardless of the consequences. As the Merovingian notes early on about them: "Remarkable how close the pattern of love is to the pattern of insanity." Neo even comments much later in the film that he persists in his quest simply because he so CHOOSES. If for no other reason than the spotlight that the film focuses on our freedom -- and responsibility -- to choose, Revolutions deserves our attention and respect as it mirrors an agonizing and seemingly insoluble problem of our own modernity. The right to choose. Conception. Birth. Freedom. Reality itself. The Wachowski brothers who conceived, wrote and directed the Matrix trilogy have been faulted recently for making concessions to commerciality. Being given $300 million to make Reloaded and Revolutions created a daunting balancing act, and I believe they deserve our awe and respect as true visionaries who have introduced concepts into mainstream culture that could never have been even imagined before they began our journey into the world of Matrix. And they saved the best for last, because not since 2001: A Space Odyssey has there been a more intricate and fascinating closing 10 minutes than Revolutions. I believe that film classes will be discussing the ending for years to come and the interpretations will be as varied as they were for 2001. The Wachowskis will not discuss their interpretation of the ending of the series. They respect our right to CHOOSE.... Somewhere, Stanley Kubrick must be smiling. MovieMystic Chakra Rating for Matrix: Revelations Chakra 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rating 5 4 4 5 4 4 5 (For an explanation of The Chakra Rating System, please visit www.Movingmediamessages.com) Stephen Simon has produced such films as Somewhere in Time and What Dreams May Come and has just produced and directed Indigo (www.Indigothemovie.com). His book The Force is With You: Mystical Movie Messages That Inspire Our Lives, published by Walsh Books/Hampton Roads, is now available. Stephen leads seminars, telecourses, and inspirational Mystical Movie events around the world. For more information, please visit www.Movingmediamessages.com. Stephen welcomes your comments by e-mail at Stephen @Movingmediamessagees.com Copyright © 2003 Stephen Simon |
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