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This is not a movie to watch in a group setting. It’s to be consumed alone or with one other person. For my first watch, I made the mistake watching this in a group with people who were Googling the meaning of the movie and purpose of the characters while the movie was still on. Imagine my disdain for the person who voiced their Google research during the last 10 mins of the movie. Pitiful. Just enjoy the art, man.
For my second watch on the blu ray, my experience blossomed into a deeper understanding of how the boy interacts with the heron, a stand-in for grief. The boy was initially angry at the heron for showing up, highly resistant - similar to how people can despise the mere presence of grief.
Grief instigates. Grief dangles the idea of a life where the person is back in the griever’s life. When the boy starts working with the heron/grief, that’s when the story gets interesting. The boy grows within his relationship with grief, which in turn, allows the boy to come to terms with his grief directly and coexist with grief, learn from grief. It’s not about hating grief. That won’t make it disappear. Grief will be present until it’s not - and when it’s not, it’ll be okay too. It doesn’t mean the grief didn’t happen… it’s just that it’s time for a new chapter.
A Fleetwood Mac song goes like this: “Well, I've been afraid of changing Cause I've built my life around you.”
Grief helps with the changing so you can move through/with the grief instead of staying in your tower.
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