hilitehead

I absolutely love films, all types of films, foreign and all, so you can imagine how much I enjoy reviewing works of cinematic depth. I  recently watched an animation called “The Illusionist” (by Sylvain Chomet, 2010), and re-watched a film called “The Beach” (by Danny Boyle, 2000), both of which resonated closely with me. Both films dealt with similar themes regarding the perception-misperception-illusions of life. The topic made me reflect on personal issues, so I am eager to share some of my thoughts.

In The Illusionist, the film approached the idea of “magic” in reflection to how we create and believe false ideals to achieve the ‘perfect life’. This Oscar-nominated animation tells the story of a marginally employed magician and a teen girl who believes his magic is real and becomes his surrogate daughter. She is fixated by his magic tricks and believes that everything in life could be attained through his power. Ultimately, she is confronted with a note from the magician indicating that “magicians do not exist.” At the end of the film, the city lights turn off one by one and the girl is left to face the cold world.

The film was successful at mirroring the illusions that we create to cope with the imperfect nature of our lives. Illusions distance us from the truth. In a way, maybe we need illusions to distract us from the brutality of the world, but at what cost to ourselves? “The Beach” also deals with the same topic, it is about a young guy who travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumours state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss – excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it. Upon his journey, he falls in lust, joins an island of hippies, and eventually goes insane to finally uncover the truth. The truth about the island, about humans and himself. He sees that paradise does not exist, and you cannot ‘escape’, it is an idealogical and unattainable concept, especially in the ways which humans function.

Recently I evaluated that the most realistic form of an illusion in my life is the notion of perfection. It feels like an attainable feature at first, but unconsciously it becomes a never ending ontological process of dissatisfaction. Of course we all strive for happiness and hope for the ideal life, which in a sense gives us purpose to move ahead, but the concept of idealization is the biggest deception. The perfect life does not exist, mistakes do happen, loss will occur, and faults will arise. Maybe the point is to accept these facts, and start enjoying the equilibrium of the imperfect and perfect as much as the other.Eriko