Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The Search for Eternal Glory

Author(s): John
Location: Romania

The Search for Eternal Glory (or Eternal Search for Glory)

Directed by Fernando Meirrelles
Written by BrĂ¡ulio Mantovani

Principal Cast:

Gael Garcia Bernal(Nathan Wool)
Geoffrey Rush(Tom Keller)
Catalina Sanadino Moreno(Lupe)
Djimon Hounsou(Majiji,chief leader)
Michael Gambon(Dr. Lowell,explorer)
Ken Wattanabe(Kurosai Nakywawa)

Genre: Adventure-Drama
Rating :R-for strong grisly violence and gore, sequences of terror and torture, nudity and language
Duration:155 minutes

Tagline: “People don’t try anymore to be glorious in what they do. One man dared to travel the world to be glorious”
or
"Everyone has a purpose in life, but only few start searching it”
or
"Nathan has been traveling the world for a long time, looking for recognition…wait!…who’s Nathan, again?”

Synopsis: Adventure-drama,about Nathan,a young writer who has a revelation:his purpose in life isn’t writing at all,it’s something more big,something that few,achieved in history.His good friend and mentor,Tom Keller,has a very strict opinion on Nathan’s decision to travel the world hoping that someone,something,anything at all will give him a sign of his purpose in life:eternal glory.That,for Tom,seems ridicoulous and foolish,but still his friend’s decision remains.First of,he visits a native tribe,in Africa,where he meets Majiji,the chief-leader,the one who tells him glory is given by gods and can be obtained only through a sacrifice.That’s when Nathan circumsizes himself,but thinking that his search has made one step further, and then Majiji gives a him a sacred mark on his chin so that the gods would protect him. He goes in near the Great Chinesse Wall,where he learns that glory comes from meditating and much wisdom.His next stop was in Germany,talking to many people there,about Hitler,some considering that he was a simbol of eternal glory in the whole world,the man who left a big mark on many nations.Nathan even starts writing about everything he hears from different nations,countries,civilizations and tribes. His dreams,at night,are about animals running free along his side through the air and water.He dreams about fairy tales and not even one could be a nightmare.Along his journey his vision of the future is much much different than any other man or woman:he thinks in the future all that is fiction will eventually come to life and dreams of a better place are fufilled.The way he wants to gain glory is the way of lying and deceiving everyone,with much cleverness and whit,and from there starts his nightamre.Chased by african tribes,being shoot in the leg by a crocodile hunter,stabed by an nazi-german and tortured in unknown chinesse military-camp. His last stop,after gathering much information about different cultures and nations,is in Antarctica at a research camp,where he meets Lupe,a beautiful,ambitious woman who is a great explorer along with his team-mate Dr. Lowell.Nathan,ofcourse falls in love with her and at the end she is so intrigued by everything that surrounds him,that she even starts writing a book,who enventually will be called:”Lie and Deceive:One man’s search for eternal glory”.The book’s title means that this man lied and deceived just to gain eternal glory,but really,that isn’t glory at all,is it?Nathan believes in this fake „glory” and in the end killing him,leaving a mark on the people he loved and cared about,so that they,just they,will know he did something they will always remember:didn’t give up his dreams and goals being an eternal model for his kids,gran-kids,great-gran-kids,etc. and that would mean he was glorious after all.

What the press would say:

”Two thumbs up”Roger Ropert,because what he says about the film:”It’s simply amazing what a man can do for recognition,that’s what the movie’s message gave me”.And indeed,a surprinsingly beautiful story about making one’s purpose in life,living a fictional,rather than real,glory,but for the character Nathan,it’s eternal.Very hipnotizing music and outstanding imagery.This character is trying to tell us that even if the world is sometimes a bad place to live in,there are few moments in life that we discover as wonderful,happy and interesting,but he didn’t have that so he tries to deceive everyone and provides amazingly self-trust to him even if nothing is what it seams. An original story about one very original man.The movie is so linked with every scene,it’s like even if you tried to take a breath of what heavy imagery the movie is giving,you could not.In the end,believe it or not,it’s more like a sadistic,violent way to show this story,that’s why it’s rated R.

FYC:Best Picture
Best Actor:Gael Garcia Bernal
Best Actress:Catalina Sandino Moreno
Best Supporting Actor:Geoffrey Rush;Michael Gambon
Best Original Screenplay: BrĂ¡ulio Mantovani
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction
Best Film Editing
Best Original Score
Best Original Song:”Scream for a dream”performed by U2
Best Makeup
Best Original Screenplay

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