Hare Krishna hits Hollywood

[Sunandaji]

http://preaching.krishna.org/Articles/2004/04/007.html

[Dervish]

I wish I had known about it. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[gHari]

Richard Gere follows Buddhism, but here he will be a Jewish dad who I guess has to rescue his son from the cult. It seems he may discover it's not a cult. Hopefully the audience will too. I have a feeling we will all be very pleased about the film.

 

 

[gHari]

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=62-0385498802-0

 

Review:

There is so much pain in this powerful first novel about a family's unraveling that it often seems on the edge of unbearable. And yet, as we watch nine-year-old Eliza Naumann transform herself from underachiever to spelling prodigy, we endure the pain out of respect for one girl's courage and all-consuming love. Eliza's family is gradually breaking down in front of her: father Saul, whose self-absorbed passion for Jewish mysticism blinds him to the suffering of those closest to him; mother Myriam, whose quest for perfection leads her into kleptomania; and brother Aaron, who rebels against his faith and turns to Hare Krishna. Eliza attempts to put her family back together by an act of will, spelling her way to harmony, with an assist from her father's Kabbalah masters. Goldberg effectively mixes fascinating detail about spelling bees with metaphorical leaps of imagination, producing a novel that works on many levels. There is something of Holden Caulfield in Eliza, the same crazed determination to save her loved ones from themselves. An impressive debut from a remarkably talented writer.

 

Part of Amazon.com review

When Saul sees the state of transcendence that she effortlessly achieves in competition, he encourages his daughter to explore the mystical states that have eluded him--the influx of God-knowledge (shefa) described by the Kabbalist Abraham Abulafia. Although Saul has little idea what he has set in motion, "even the sound of Abulafia's name sets off music in her head. A-bu-la-fi-a. It's magic, the open sesame that unblocked the path to her father and then to language itself."

 

Meanwhile, stunned by his father's defection, Aaron begins a troubling religious quest.

 

From a reader at the above site: The whole family seems to be searching for a way to complete themselves. The father, Saul, through his children. Eliza through trying to please her father, and later through absorption into the study of letters. Her brother Aaron through a spiritual quest that ends (I kid you not) in a Hare Krishna temple. And Eliza's mother--I won't give that away but it's the most captivating and bizarre part of the story.

 

From jewz.com http://www.ujafederation.org/content_display.html?articleID=9367

Unable to recreate this oneness in adolescence, Aaron shops for another religion, eventually finding what he seeks with a Hare Krishna sect. In one of the novel’s most beautiful moments, Eliza thinks she hears her brother chanting "hairy, hairy," a mistake that exposes a deeper truth, given that Aaron is using meditation to escape his discomfort with his own newly hirsute body.

 

Bee Season’s strength lies in Goldberg’s uncanny knowledge of the odd but touching ways in which bright, inward children confuse their need to feel special in the eyes of their peers and parents with their need to feel special in the eyes of God. Unfortunately, the adults in Bee Season aren’t as convincing as their offspring. Only a lunatic would pressure his fifth-grader into pursuing a spiritual state whose attainment would flood her with the "divine influx," weakening her external and internal organs so her "entire body will begin to tremble" until she thinks she is about to die.

 

Attractive actor preacher: http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0098378/ TWO THUMBS UP

 

 

[gHari]

When the kirtana hits the screen, it will appear as though the rest of the movie has been shot in black and white. I am pleased that the directors were so taken with the power and spectacle of the kirtana; that should mean a lengthy exposure in the editing of the film.

 

They have given a high billing to the actress who plays the devotee, so I expect a major contribution from her. I hope Richard Gere gets some prasadam along the road.

 

 

[stonehearted]

I read this book a few years ago on the recommendation of a colleague at the university where I taught then. I will definitely go to see this film. The friend who recommended it to me womdered whether the Hare Krishna stuff was accurate. It was clear that Goldberg had domeher research--it was pretty much dead on, including the goofy zeal of the new convert.

[Haridham]

Hare Krsna everyone.

 

I really like where this movie is heading. I read the link on the above post and it was awseme. How all the cast and crew loved the devotees.

 

Thats awseme. There should be an actual movie about us.

 

It would rock.

[Guest guest]

My faith is always inspired by seeing how supposedly non-devotees can contribute so much towards spreading Lord Caitanya's Sankirtan Movement, while those generally considered as devotees too often remain locked in squabbling over how best to push forward that same cause.

 

Co-operation based on mutual respect of differences, alongside forbearance of what are usually seen as faults, can result in better appreciation not only for ALL others; but also far deeper realization of the significance behind Sri Krsna appearing in the mood of Srimati Radharani, and the inevitability of Her purpose being accomplished through Him.

 

What our narrow minds cannot possibly understand will surely be revealed through open hearts which somehow, way down inside, have always known. I personally feel His Divine Grace is far more than we could ever imagine, just as the wonder of Radha's love continues to elude Krsna's comprehension. Amazingly, we find ourselves swept up in Their eternally glorious mystery, more in spite of than due to our own feeble efforts.