Silence

[Drunk Monk]

Scorcese makes some weird films. At first, I felt it was a Kurosawa homage, but that's only the early scenes. This is a long rumination about faith and culture. Like with Captain Philips, I found myself rooting for the evil buddhists - not so much the torture part but ideologically. Japan is muddy and did the lead villain really have to be so buck-toothed and whiny like Mr. Moto? There's some gritty bits and some really gorgeous shots, and lots of fog and steam. I would have like more theoleological discussion and for it to be maybe half an hour shorter. The ending when then narrator switched was dragged out too much and really predictable. The baddies all had swords and there's one good chop. It had moments of thought provocation but it needed more. Maybe it'll nag at me more later.

[Drunk Monk]

Now that I've had a mediocre night's sleep (threw my shoulder last Saturday cleaning mold and mildew - a hazard when living by the sea - so I didn't sleep well) I'm finding this film rather annoying.  It's heavy-handed Christianity was just way too preachy.  Oh those evil Japanese and their Buddhist ways.  There were a lot of allusions to how Japan was a 'swamp' where the 'tree' of Christianity could not take root, which made me think "So Buddhism is a banyan tree?" which is a great misconception.  It's often said that Buddha was enlightened under a banyan, but he was enlightened under a bodhi tree, which is a kind of fig, which has this weird parallel to the notion that the apple of wisdom in the Garden of Eden was really a fig... at which point I realized I was projecting waaaaay more than Scorcese put into the film.  

I can't wait until his Grateful Dead documentary comes out.  

[Greg]

How does the Bodhi tree work into the whole Bodhidharma thing?

Dead in May!

Rolling Stone Announcement

[cranefly]

How does the Bodhi tree work into the whole Bodhidharma thing?

Dead in May!

Rolling Stone Announcement

It pretty much represents the first five letters.

(Actually, that's a question I hadn't considered...)

[Drunk Monk]

How does the Bodhi tree work into the whole Bodhidharma thing?

Bodhi means 'awakening' or 'enlightenment' in Pali.  Bodhidharma is a combination of the terms Bodhi and Dharma.  Don't ask me to explain Dharma.  Just goog it.  

[Greg]

Didn't you just say Bodhi was a type of tree? I sticking to Christian mythos were three gods are one god. It's simpler.

[Drunk Monk]

The tree was named Bodhi after Buddha was enlightened under it.

Maybe you'd like Silence...