| What the #$*! Do We Know!? 111 minutes, unrated The Movie Mystic | by Stephen Simon I finally had a chance to see What the #$*! Do We Know!? -- the film that has been causing such a grassroots stir in the Pacific Northwest. After seeing the film, I now know why. Filmed in a fascinating and utterly awe-inspiring style of combining documentary like interviews, stylistic and exciting animation, and a dramatic storyline featuring Marlee Matlin, the movie is an innovative masterwork of spirituality. With strategic marketing, "What The Bleep" has the potential of being recognized as nothing less than a significant cultural milestone. Filmmakers William Arntz, Mark Vicente and Betsy Chasse deserve Nobel Prizes just for having the courage to attempt such a daredevil, highwire act! They have taken three years to wrestle this bracing blend of animation, documentary and live action footage into a coherent and entertaining storyline and have succeeded brilliantly. The audience is hooked from the very first images, which are beautifully photographed by co-director/producer and Cinematographer Mark Vicente (the city of Portland should erect a monument in Mark's name!) The journey then plunges us into the ultimate questions of Spiritual Entertainment -- who are we and why are we here? We meet several fascinating and eloquent scientists, authors, innovators and spiritual seekers who all discuss, with intricate cohesion, the basic secrets of our existence. Together, they make an inescapable and breathtaking case for the bedrock of all metaphysical teaching: each individual creates his or her own reality. There is no objective experience of the world around us. We create all of it -- from our thoughts, feelings and intentions. This is the first film in my memory to illuminate that issue in such a frank, no-holds-barred fashion, and I was just thrilled and amazed to see these discussions up on a big screen for the world to see. Intercut with these fascinating discussions and insights is a poignant and deeply moving dramatic story that features Marlee Matlin as a Portland-based photographer who actually observes and experiences many of the issues presented by the personalities in the documentary aspects of the film. For instance, she experiences multiple versions of herself in different life situations where one little decision here and there can reshape an entire lifetime. It's a wonderful way of demonstrating how deeply our own choices impact our lives. More than all that, however, her story is also one of heartbreaking honesty and vulnerability as she faces her own inner demons of feeling deeply ashamed of herself. In illustrating the debilitating effects of a negative self-image, Matlin's performance is so naked and vulnerable that it seems more of a purging of the depths of a soul than a mere role in a movie. She also interacts with an extraordinary young actor (Robert Bailey, Jr.) on a basketball court (a great metaphor for the "game" of life) who challenges her with the penetrating question of how deeply she wants to look at both her own existence and also the depth of the mystery of everyday life. "How far down the rabbit hole are you willing to go?" he asks her. For me, the Matlin story is the emotional center of the film and, in and of itself, is worth the price of admission. Blending with the documentary and Matlin aspects is some state-of-the-art animation that illustrates the very inner workings of our cellular structure as it responds to stimuli from the outside world. Reservations? Not many. What the Bleep is nothing less than a filmic adventure into the very nature of human existence and, as such, it has the potential of bringing these deeply spiritual questions into mainstream media and dialogue. For that reason, I personally believe that the title does a real disservice to the movie in that it trivializes the very innovative and groundbreaking world of the film itself; moreover, I believe that the title denigrates the essence of its message. As humans, we actually do have the capacity to know more about the illusion of life than we ever have before and a title that minimizes that aspect of our self-awareness detracts from, rather than enhances, the message of the film. I also found some of the highly technical and detailed discussions of phenomena such as "neuropeptides" to be somewhat obscure and there is a wedding scene that I experienced as being a bit too broadly farcical and out of tune with the rest of the film. These last two comments, however, are trivial quibbles in comparison to the brilliance of the huge majority of the film. Like Mel Gibson did with The Passion, financier and co-director/producer William Arntz has personally financed the courage of his convictions (here with a spiritual rather than religious theme), and he deserves to be rewarded for his vision and bravery, as do all those involved with the film. "What the Bleep" has opened in theaters on the West Coast and in Arizona, and efforts reportedly are underway to bring the film to the Twin Cities. Stay tuned for theater locations and information at www.whatthebleep.com Stephen Simon produced such films as Somewhere in Time and What Dreams May Come and also produced and directed Indigo. Stephen has just co-founded www.Spiritualcinemacircle.com and leads seminars, telecourses, and inspirational Mystical Movie events around the world. For more information, please visit www.Movingmessagesmedia.com. Stephen welcomes your comments by e-mail Stephen@Movingmessagesmedia.com Copyright © 2004 Stephen Simon |
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JUNE 2004 |
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