11/14/2011 Insomnia sometimes has its advantages Late last night, actually early in the AM hours, there was no choice but to arise and try to make the best of unwanted wakefulness. Thought I'd watch some television to get my head together, if there was anything worthwhile to view. Found a program on public TV that seemed as if it might be interesting. Missed the very beginning but it was close to the start. Cannot tell you the title and, at the end, when there was brief mention of the producer, I was so spellbound by what I had just seen that I simply could not take even perfunctory notes. This was the latest installment of a feature that OPB shows. Not that I don't sometimes object to the channel's programs but I have learned to be selective. It was a "short," a 20 or 25 minute film. Most such films I have seen on OPB have been quite good, only a few not worth much. But this one was simply outstanding, really, really outstanding. How do you stop thinking about this kind of movie ? Not certain about the exact details of the beginning, but the scene was inside a restaurant. Various patrons were at different tables, like a man who had already gone through several cocktails, sitting more-or-less nervously before ordering a meal. There was also a mother with two unruly kids. The drama soon became clear. At its center was a man and a friend of his. Turned out that the friend was the restaurant owner or maybe its manager. The man, seated at a table, said that he was uneasy, and the impression was that this was "new" to him in some way. Whatever it was. The man said that he felt that everyone was looking at him. His friend tried to reassure him. After all, he had plenty of reason to be looked at as restaurateur. And mostly he was on his feet, visible to all. The man was also self conscious about something else. There would be a woman guest of the friend, specifically invited to meet with the man. For ease of dialogue let me call him Brad. The woman was to be sort of a date, or sort of a therapist, this was unclear to me. And Brad was nervous about who she might be. Finally the woman arrived. She entered the door and was using a white cane. Very attractive but, of course she could not see. The manager helped her to the table and introduced her to Brad. The woman's blindness was, I took it, a surprise to Brad. But she was very self assured and was non-plussed at Brad's awkward gaffes at the beginning. The manager asked the two of them if they would like drinks. Then Brad asked another awkward question, would the woman like to see a wine list ? Brad realized his mistake but the woman, in her late 20s or so, said that Brad should not worry about it, that, yes she would like to see a wine list, or even a shopping list, but was unable to do so, but that was her life and she must accept reality. Then began the woman's "therapy." Or maybe it was just how she was as a person. I knew a woman like that once, no training in therapy but gifted at her own version of therapy, nonetheless. After the manager had departed to get the drinks, the woman and Brad began their conversation. She observed that if their's had been a normal "date," since it was unclear to them both exactly what this really was, how to characterize it, at some point she would wonder about the time, he would wonder if the evening would end with getting laid. But this was not a normal date. >From clues in the conversation the woman had lost her sight while a teen. She understood dating rituals from once experiencing them herself. Finally the woman asked Brad to close his eyes and tell her what he had seen in the restaurant. Gradually Brad began to feel at ease, he was being drawn into her world, he could begin to understand. He was relieved to find commonality. She was a very nice woman and how could he not want to find exactly that ? The woman then asked Brad to tell her what he imagined it would be like to be with her, anywhere, in his dreams. I am telescoping the drama, this development took several minutes of transition, but to get to the point. Brad, eyes still closed, told the woman how nice it would be to be with her on a tropical beach. It took a while for him to admit this but when he did, the woman's hands, which had been reaching across the table slowly, clasped Brad's. Then the scene shifted to a beach and the two of them seated until Brad asks the woman if she would like to go for a walk. Yes, she would like that very much. The two walk along the beach and Brad remarks how good it is to feel the sand between his toes and the warmth under his feet. They finally pause and stand face to face. There are feelings between them. Slowly they draw nearer and nearer and then ...pause... they kiss. The scene is back in the restaurant. The manager has returned and the woman and Brad order a meal. By this time the two of them are clearly enjoying each other's company, animated, exchanging stories, smiling, happy to be together. At one point she tells Brad how brave he is, jumping out of airplanes. The camera depicts the passage of time as patrons come and go and finally the lights start to go out, table by table. The manager comes over, glad that the evening has gone so well for his friend and the woman. But when told that it is now 2 AM, both Brad and the woman are surprised. Hours have passed and it only seemed like minutes. The manager asks the woman if he can help her with her chair and he does, as she walks toward the door with her cane. The manager, Brad's friend, then asks what at first seemed like a strange question. Can I help you with your chair ? Brad needs the help, he is new to his wheelchair and has difficulty getting into it from the restaurant chair. -------------------------------------------------------- And that is the story. Guess you would need to see the short film for full impact but this does get most of the overall idea across. What the viewer does not know all this time is that Brad is crippled. Now, at the end, the crux of everything becomes clear. And is it ever powerful. All along it has been Brad providing comfort and a feeling of belonging for the woman. In fact, while this perception has not been false, it has been the sightless woman providing comfort and a sense of belonging for Brad. Each has an overwhelming handicap. Each has monumental problems and yet each tries to act in a normal way, needing normality for wholeness that is impossible for either to ever have again. Can they find fulfillment in each other ? The film does not answer this question. We can only surmise. But what on earth can be as poignant as their situation ? Brad with a beautiful but unseeing woman, the woman with a hero who no longer can walk, and maybe no longer ........ Not one word in the drama had anything to do with religious faith or spirituality or anything similar. But thinking about all the meanings in every vignette in the story, and how emotions of the two became warmer and warmer as time passed, and thinking about what can never be, yet what each experiences regardless of the tragedies each cannot avoid living with, what can be more spiritual ? And aren't we all like Brad or the woman, maybe not in such extreme ways, but in terms of other limitations and lesser tragedies we all live through ? Thanks to a really good friend they found each other. Hours later I cannot stop thinking about the drama. A selfish thought. Can I ever create a short story half as beautiful as this one ? The film was pure art, filled with the deepest possible meaning. And there is a lesson, although this lesson only comes much later, long after the film has ended. People have different talents and gifts and problems and limitations yet when they are together then they are new people with far more that is possible in their lives than was even thinkable before. Damn, what a film. How profound, maybe not in my telling, but if you ever have the chance to see it, do not miss it. You will be moved more than you can now imagine. Billy
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