The Outrage - THIS Buddhist Film Festival

Caught the first Movie of this year's Buddhist Film Fest. Its a great choice to choose this Thai production as the opening film of the event.

Very nice shots, fantastic directing and acting. What's even more interesting is how it could be a very broad based movie with actions, romance, detective and yet mind provoking story line.'

The story starts with a monk deciding to get disrobed with cut scenes of his memory on why he decided to stay as a monk after being a novice monk. His reason to disrobe is upon his realization of his own ignorance after standing witness to a murder.

While estranged in a cave due to bad whether, the monk and his companion starts to share 4 very different version of testament by people involved in the murder. Both the Bandit, who later got beheaded as well as the lady protagonist, claims to kill the warlord. The third version of the murder was testified by the spirit of the dead warlord summoned by the shaman. The last version was by the woodcutter that was in the cave with the monk that did not disclose his case during the hearing.

The lessons from the film basically centers around how people are so attached to their ego. They either choose to falsify the account of the murder to inflate or preserve their honor, or deluded by their own desired that cause them great misery in life. The very idea of desire and fear distort what we perceived as truth.

"We see what we wish to see, hear what we wish to hear and thinks what we wish to think."

How true it is when sometimes we are so steadfast and stubbornly attached to our ideas that we hold it as the truest of the truths. This film also shared about how we often likes to play the judge role to 'sentence' who is and what is right or wrong. Actually all deeds happen due to conditions and circumstances. Someone doing something unrighteous might do so to protect lives and their love ones.

My own take is that when one starts to judge, they stop learning from the issue. It is only by learning from past mistakes or from others, can we better ourselves and make sure we are better next time. Even the most despised persona of a society can teach us views that enlightens us.

The first film this year that set me thinking through the plot till now.

I think there are still one more screening at 7pm Friday (28 Sept 2012). Catch it!

http://booking.sistic.com.sg/SisticWebApp/SeatAvailability.do?contentCode=outrage0192