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Jan. 1st, 2004 02:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valarltdIt's too late and I'm a little drunk. I should probably leave this for a more sober time, but I want it out while it's fresh.
I watched Frisco Kid this evening. It's a little movie that can't quite decide if it's a road picture, a buddy movie a comedy or what. It hits in a few spots, but never quite enough, and the misses aren't loud enough to be false steps. Lots and lots of language. PG, circa 1979. Gene Wilder is brilliant. He's a Rabbi traveling from Poland to San Francisco. He is a wide-eyed inncent, a man of faith who perfectly exemplifies the "lilies of the field" concept. God provides at every turn, whether kindly Amish who patch him up after he's been beaten or a big-hearted bank robber who gets him to his destination.
But the scene that gets me most is in the Indian village. Rabbi Avram and Bank-robber Tommy have eluded a hanging posse and been captured by Indians. They're bound out on frames, and left to scorch a bit in the sun. Tommy, being a bit yellow, begs and pleads to not be killed. Avram simply prays.
When the chief asks Avram what he would give up for the Torah he is carrying to the new schul in San Francisco, Avram says everything. He agrees he would give up his horse, his boots, his clothing, and everything he owns. When asked if he would give up his knife, he says he has no knife.
The chief then asks if he would purify his soul through fire. Avram looks at the Torah. He looks at the fire. He looks at his panicky friend. He looks back at the fire and then at the chief. In a soft steady voice, he says "Yes."
The frame is lowered back onto the fire. Halfway down, it stops and the chief asks "If I let you go now, may I keep Torah?"
Avram's voice is still steady, but louder as he says "No."
They lower him back onto the firepit. He stays calm. His eyes close and the prayers come a bit less steadily. After a minute or so, he is raised back up.
The clear calmness, the other-directed purposefulness, even as the fear shows is so beautiful, so perfect. Avram doesn't know how much purification will be asked of him, but he says yes anyway. No begging, no pleading. Just calmness and prayer even as he is singed.
Anyone writing hero-abuse of the heroic, purifying sort should watch this scene.
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jkb, I'm looking at you.)
I watched Frisco Kid this evening. It's a little movie that can't quite decide if it's a road picture, a buddy movie a comedy or what. It hits in a few spots, but never quite enough, and the misses aren't loud enough to be false steps. Lots and lots of language. PG, circa 1979. Gene Wilder is brilliant. He's a Rabbi traveling from Poland to San Francisco. He is a wide-eyed inncent, a man of faith who perfectly exemplifies the "lilies of the field" concept. God provides at every turn, whether kindly Amish who patch him up after he's been beaten or a big-hearted bank robber who gets him to his destination.
But the scene that gets me most is in the Indian village. Rabbi Avram and Bank-robber Tommy have eluded a hanging posse and been captured by Indians. They're bound out on frames, and left to scorch a bit in the sun. Tommy, being a bit yellow, begs and pleads to not be killed. Avram simply prays.
When the chief asks Avram what he would give up for the Torah he is carrying to the new schul in San Francisco, Avram says everything. He agrees he would give up his horse, his boots, his clothing, and everything he owns. When asked if he would give up his knife, he says he has no knife.
The chief then asks if he would purify his soul through fire. Avram looks at the Torah. He looks at the fire. He looks at his panicky friend. He looks back at the fire and then at the chief. In a soft steady voice, he says "Yes."
The frame is lowered back onto the fire. Halfway down, it stops and the chief asks "If I let you go now, may I keep Torah?"
Avram's voice is still steady, but louder as he says "No."
They lower him back onto the firepit. He stays calm. His eyes close and the prayers come a bit less steadily. After a minute or so, he is raised back up.
The clear calmness, the other-directed purposefulness, even as the fear shows is so beautiful, so perfect. Avram doesn't know how much purification will be asked of him, but he says yes anyway. No begging, no pleading. Just calmness and prayer even as he is singed.
Anyone writing hero-abuse of the heroic, purifying sort should watch this scene.
(
jkb, I'm looking at you.)
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Date: 2004-01-01 07:37 am (UTC)But you forgot to mention Young Harrison Ford!
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Date: 2004-01-01 09:24 am (UTC)Yes, very young, very skinny, and very stubbly. Cleans up nice in the end, and I promise, i am so turning the last frame of the movie into a "Respect all marriages" icon.
Must do some video capture work from the film anyway as I am using it for the first verse of the multi-movie Harrison Ford "Highwayman" video
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Date: 2004-01-17 08:42 pm (UTC)