"Meet Joe Black" is an underrated movie that deals with a very special aspect in spirituality which concerns the energy of the beginning.Black (Brad Pitt) is none other then Death which has decided to take a form of a handsome young man who had just died in a car accident. He comes to visit Business man Bill Parish (Anthony Hopkins) and to tell him that he is about to die, further more, He asks Bill to show him around and teach him about life in the remaining days Bill has till his death. All this in order so he could learn how does it feel to be a human being.
Bill has no choice and introduces the stranger Mr. Black to his family and his daughter Suzanne (Claire Forlani) which is amazed to recognize the handsome Joe Black from a first meeting she had with him earlier in a coffee shop (only she doesn't realize that the body of the young man she met in the coffee shop and almost fell in love with – is now taken by Death itself).
Joe Black is like a child who has just been born to the world, every experience is new to him, simple actions such as eating and using his senses are experienced for the first time. At one point he sees Suzanne's boyfriend Drew kisses her and after which he asks Suzanne: "When Drew kissed you, it seemed as a frequent thing..." this is just an example of how frequent and usual actions become to human beings as they get older and especially in relationships which loose the energy of the beginning and the charm and magic of a new relationship. When later on Suzanne falls in love with Joe Black she says: "making love to you feels like making love for the first time...", and this is an important statement since when a human being experiences real Love, it is usually that unique and special experience that manifests in this specific way that the "energy of the beginning" feels like. Everyone remembers the first kiss, the first date or the first love making with a partner, because it had that special aspect which is called in spirituality "the energy of the beginning".
Later on in the movie Suzanne learns that Joe has to leave and they both don't want to part, as they confess their love to each other. This is an example of an aspect which relates to Anahata chakra which applies the issue of unfulfilled love, and it is this kind of love which truly comes from the heart as it is showed so wonderfully in the last and powerful act of this movie.It is the real true love because this love will be eternal and will not loose it's energy as we so often see in couples (married or otherwise), which just follow the wrong formula that so many of us are brain washed with of marriage=love and happiness. According to Tantra yoga it is wrong to get attached since in such a relationship the energy of the beginning will be lost and the love that was so powerful in the beginning will slowly slowly vanish. That is why in Tantra it is always recommended to try and preserve the energy of the beginning (by using specific techniques and Yogic practices, see: Agama Yoga & Tantra School, Thailand). Some Tantrics try to solve this phenomenon by having new lovers all the time, because this maintain the feel of real love. Not that frequent kiss after 10 years of marriage but that first kiss, those first days of spending time with a new lover. In other words the special feeling of the start of love, and this is a state that should be preserved and maintained in any relationship, otherwise it will not be a true relationship which is based on love any more.
To conclude "Meet Joe Black" is a beautiful slow paced movie which will be mostly remembered for it's last powerful and emotional act. Pay special attention to the wonderful acting of Claire Forlani as Suzanne
Final verdict: 4.5/5
1 comment:
Well said.
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