Journal of Sacred Work

"[The] signature on each soul may be a product of heredity and environment, but that only means that heredity and environment are among the instruments whereby God creates a soul."  C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain

   What are the other instruments through which Love marks and shapes our soul? Through his writing, C.S. Lewis found many ways to expand our sense of the meaning of pain.
   I thought of Lewis during the first, startling, dialogue-free fifteen minutes of a film that is unlike anything I've every experienced. And I thought about it again as I traveled for two hours and fifteen minutes in the world of a Mennonite community in Mexico that serves as the setting for a rare and remarkable film experience called Silent Light (Stellet licht).

   Long after leaving the theater, this film still infiltrates my consciousness. As a veteran of thousands of films, I know this one will stay with me. It has signed its name into my soul. How many films reach us in such a way?
   Writer/Director Carlos Reygadas is the one responsible for creating the masterpiece of Silent Light. To have any chance of appreciating the way the creator of this film invites Love into our souls, you will need to let go of any other experience you've had at the movies. I can't imagine any American filmmaker creating such a piece.  
   The minimum dialogue in this film (not unlike Ingmar Bergman's work) mark it as the opposite of an action movie. since I am self-trained as a still photographer, I am fascinated by the impact of Reygadas filming technique and the impact it has on our sense of presence to the world. Instead of the dozens of quick cuts per minute in typical cinema, Reygadas allows his camera to stay fixed for long moments as characters enter and leave the frame. Sometimes, the camera remains aimed at a chair as we hear the characters off camera. Sometimes, we only see the tops of a group of character's heads. Reygadas changes the way we see and hear.
   I doubt if I'm describing the experience of this film very well. Most likely, you might be thinking, Why would I want to sit through such a thing? If you choose to, you will be rewarded with something unforgettable.
   Those of us blessed with vision sometimes imagine what it would be like to be blind. We marvel at the hearing acuity of those without sight. Yet, you probably know that the hearing of blind people is, physiologically, no different than the rest of us. What creates the sense of difference is the ability of blind people to be present to their senses!
   This is what Reygadas does for us in Silent Light. At the opening, we hear a cacophony of cicadas and experience the arrival of dawn in real time. Those who keep expecting gunshots or car chases will immediately wonder, Where's the action? We're so accustomed to movie directors playing to our impatience that the several minute experience of watching the sun rise on screen in real time becomes unbelievable and astounding.

   Throughout Silent Light, we hear crickets saw, flies buzz, boots squeak through snow, chairs move, cows groan, farm machinery roar, doors clothes, floors whine and the astonishing thwap (there's no word I know for this) of buttons being undone. The reason we hear all of this is not only that the volume may be up on these sounds, but because Reygados begins to signal to us something we may have forgotten: These are the sounds of life. There are no gunfights here. No bombs exploding or secret agents driving by in sleek cars.

   And the movie, for me, was riveting.  

   I imagined the day/night role of caregivers as I watched this Silent Light. I saw you sitting by a bedside writing on your chart or typing into your computer; the soft clicks on the keyboard, the sound of your shoes as you enter a room, the exchange of voices down the hall, the ebb and flow of ventilators, the beeping of monitors interrupted with occasional alarms that are so often false. The sound of a human heart beating through your stethoscope
   What does it mean to be present to such sounds? It seems to have something to do with Lewis' notion about pain. Silent Light shows us the ancient love triangle with all of its pain, joy and peculiar result. Yet you may feel that you have never seen a love triangle that plays out like this one.

   For caregivers, the third party in your Love triangle may well be the patient who is before you at the moment, drawing your heart away from someone else. Work can be, for some, as demanding as any lover. 

   The other film I recommend to you from this weekend's movie experience is called Two Lovers. There's plenty about the problem of pain in this film as well – particularly as it is realized through the wrenching performance of Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role. The Academy might as well give Phoenix the Oscar right now.
   Some people go to the movies to escape. I like to watch episodes of Seinfeld for the same reason. If you're looking for a deeper experience, take yourself to the local art theater and see both of these films. They will tell you as much about the problem of pain as any two hours attending to the needs of your patients. And after you see either or both of these movies, you will be even more in touch with Love's power. These two movies may change how you hear the world. If they do, they will mark your soul.
   Let us know what you think?

-Erie Chapman