Comments on: The Greatest of These Is Love http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2008/08/31/the-greatest-of-these-is-love/ Appreciation and Criticism of Cinema Through Heartland Eyes Fri, 18 May 2012 09:10:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Andrew http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2008/08/31/the-greatest-of-these-is-love/comment-page-1/#comment-3572 Andrew Sun, 18 Jan 2009 23:25:11 +0000 http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2008/08/31/the-greatest-of-these-is-love/#comment-3572 Glad to hear you responded so positively to "The Edge of Heaven," Kevin! I've been trying to talk this film up to everyone I know since I caught it in its limited release here in July. Just a stunning film. As you say, the effective thing about is its reliance on a slight deviation from the now-familiar hyperlink concept to tell an humane, credible, and emotionally rich story. Glad to hear you responded so positively to “The Edge of Heaven,” Kevin! I’ve been trying to talk this film up to everyone I know since I caught it in its limited release here in July. Just a stunning film. As you say, the effective thing about is its reliance on a slight deviation from the now-familiar hyperlink concept to tell an humane, credible, and emotionally rich story.

]]> By: Kevin J. Olson http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2008/08/31/the-greatest-of-these-is-love/comment-page-1/#comment-3570 Kevin J. Olson Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:43:54 +0000 http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2008/08/31/the-greatest-of-these-is-love/#comment-3570 Just got done watching this. Wonderful review. This is certainly one of the best films of 2008. It's so much more fulfilling than the slew of hyper-link films that came out during the post-"Crash" era. I never felt like these coincidental occurances or happenstance moments were me being jerked around by a filmmaker who was just trying to use smoke and mirrors to mask a flimsy parable about humanity and forgivness. Akin is wise to not for the grandiose and to let some of the most simple moments and facial expressions speak for the multitude of emotional currents running through the film. That last image is as poetic as it gets. Just the sound of the waves was enough to bring tears to my eyes, and the image of the son waiting for his father was enough to make me smile wider than I've smiled in a long, long time at the movies. I have nothing more to add, so I'd like to just reprint a portion of your review and simply say: amen. You say: "Revealingly, Akin denies the viewer the satisfaction of narrative release as well as a sense of cosmic mercy. He offers moments of tingling anticipation capped only with deflating disappointment. He also plays with cruel, agonizing turns of fate. If only Ayten hadn’t dropped her cell phone; if only Nejat had left the sign on the bulletin board; if only Lotte had turned left instead of right. If only, if only, if only… Akin warmly but firmly urges us to let go of our instinct to game the past or second-guess what is beyond our control. The thematic currents that coarse through The Edge of Heaven are multitude, but the film-maker’s essential message is unambiguous: forgiveness and compassion are the paths to liberation, whether from shame, hatred, or grief." Amen. Just got done watching this. Wonderful review. This is certainly one of the best films of 2008. It’s so much more fulfilling than the slew of hyper-link films that came out during the post-”Crash” era. I never felt like these coincidental occurances or happenstance moments were me being jerked around by a filmmaker who was just trying to use smoke and mirrors to mask a flimsy parable about humanity and forgivness. Akin is wise to not for the grandiose and to let some of the most simple moments and facial expressions speak for the multitude of emotional currents running through the film.

That last image is as poetic as it gets. Just the sound of the waves was enough to bring tears to my eyes, and the image of the son waiting for his father was enough to make me smile wider than I’ve smiled in a long, long time at the movies.

I have nothing more to add, so I’d like to just reprint a portion of your review and simply say: amen.

You say:

“Revealingly, Akin denies the viewer the satisfaction of narrative release as well as a sense of cosmic mercy. He offers moments of tingling anticipation capped only with deflating disappointment. He also plays with cruel, agonizing turns of fate. If only Ayten hadn’t dropped her cell phone; if only Nejat had left the sign on the bulletin board; if only Lotte had turned left instead of right. If only, if only, if only… Akin warmly but firmly urges us to let go of our instinct to game the past or second-guess what is beyond our control. The thematic currents that coarse through The Edge of Heaven are multitude, but the film-maker’s essential message is unambiguous: forgiveness and compassion are the paths to liberation, whether from shame, hatred, or grief.”

Amen.

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