Lessons in cinema part 3

Say hello to The Brothers Bloom. More like, say hello to Adrien Brody, one of my favorite actors (especially after The Pianist). He's no Matt Damon, but.. lol.

I have a feeling many of my readers here haven't even heard of this movie, much less have seen it. Well let me tell you, it's very entertaining. I will not say that the film is amazing, but it is a fun adventure across the world (Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Russia and Mexico) with a couple of con artists. Um.. minus a most awkward scene with Rachel Weisz' character on a train. Sorry about that one.

But I'd like to focus in on Brody's character. He tells his brother at the beginning of the film that he wants to quit the con artist life. He talks about his desire to live an "unwritten life", where the next step is not already planned out for him. A life where he doesn't have to act his part to get the girl or the money or what have you.

As the movie progresses, we see Brody falling for what he said he hated; there is a little bit of beauty and excitement in a staged life, although he himself does not realize that the stage has been set for him! If that's confusing, just watch to see what I mean.

This all got me thinking about the predestination and free will argument. When in our own lives are we truly free to make a choice, and when is it pre-planned?

More questions: Is complete free will or complete predestination a good thing? God seems to have some stages set (ie time/location for when we are born), but does that necessarily mean that the rest is up to us? Or as Al Pacino's character, aka the devil, in the movie Devil's Advocate says,

"I just set the stage, you pull your own strings."

That's a scary thought, but then again it makes sense. Pacino's character is talking about sin, and setting the stage means providing the temptations. We are the ones who choose wrongly.

Where I go from here is wondering how much control I want in my own life. On the one hand, I'm glad I'm not a robot, and that I am not obligated to follow God by force. I'm thankful to God that He has given me emotions and a mind to think for myself (unless this is the Matrix. Insert Twilight Zone music.). On the other hand, I know I would never be able to choose for myself the best way for me. There are a lot of things in life that I think I want, that I think would be good for me. Yet God, my Creator, knows me best by the mere fact that He created me in the first place.

This thought on the "unwritten life" is so hard to gauge. Technically, our life stories are unwritten until they are, well, written. That is to say, what happens in the present didn't happen until just then. But God knows us so well, inside and out, that He knows what we will choose. He already knows even the unwritten present. Is this hurting your brain?

Why do we feel the need to control our lives? Brody's character despised cheating life by acting out the role in accordance with the con. We too, have a desire to put on the false image of ourselves as a way to control our feelings, how others perceive us, and how certain circumstances will play out. What would happen if we could, would just let go? In the film, Brody got to experience the so-called unwritten life. With it came pain and love. Then when he reviewed everything, it turned out to be part of a plan as well (a plan put together by his brother who loved him). Were we to truly let go (our own free will?) to a loving God's master plan (predestination?), what might happen? We might experience a lot of pain and love in that as well--but at least those things are real.

The question marks are my way of saying that I have no real grasp on what I'm thinking. I suppose we have arrived again to a point of tension. There is choice, and there is predestination. Maybe the mixture of both is a really good combination, and God foreknew that. Uh-oh, now don't start that again!!