enlighten up!
nick is a 29 year-old, between-jobs, n.y.c. journalist; he is physically fit, witty, incredibly skeptical, and the peculiar, yet comic, result of two vastly different (currently divorced) parents: a lawyer and a healer.
nick begins his journey in new york then L.A., and as he tours these two funky urban yoga scenes, his sardonic wit and insight provides some pretty laugh-out-loud moments. (and if you were there, don’t think I didn’t hear you chuckle along with me at his “kunda-looney” comment!).
you can't help but giggle as you watch nick's experience from class to class . . . in part, because you've been there! and if we can, just for a moment, forget our own self-importance, we can admit that we yogis can be quite a unique and quirky crew.
thus kate, not satisfied that nick is taking this seriously – which he isn’t – drags his ass to india.
over the course of the movie, the change in nick is subtle . . . perhaps so subtle that the film chooses to overlook it. seems both nick and kate, as well as the film itself, may have fallen into the trap that so many of us do: they became too attached to the outcome
and here comes my one (and only) qualm with the movie – the frustrated filmmaker kate, so interested in a tidy ending, manages to force one that wasn’t there, yet allows nick’s true transformation to go unaccounted for just because it was not as profound as expected or wanted.
i won’t completely ruin the ending for you, as i totally hope you will see it . . . but lets just say, while nick may not have evolved into the yogi kate wanted, in the end, he seems to have found the path that is happily his.
anyway, isn’t that what it's all about?
here are some highlights:
nick thanks dharma for his class, but admits he's not all that spiritual . . .
dharma mittra: you say you are not spiritual, but you are. because those who say they are something – they are nothing. but those who think they are not, they are truly something.
nick finds himself in an intermediate yoga class and confesses to his teacher that he doesn't belong . . .
cyndi lee: the intermediate yoga student’s mind is full and there’s not much room, but the beginner’s mind is empty and completely open to learning. we all strive to be just like you.
there was a beautiful, quiet hush when guruji came on screen, each of us silently honoring his message to nick. practice.
nick asks iyengar how he evolved or transformed . . .
b.k.s. iyengar: it took me eight years of practice to just get physically healthy. forget the philosophy – that didn’t come until much later. I had to get healthy first.
nick finally admits, like a child in confession, that he is no closer to finding spirituality
guru in india: to find yourself, your true self, you simply begin to peal away that which doesn’t fit. find out what you’re not, and you will find out who you are. if you don’t like yoga, don’t practice yoga. find what makes you happy and that becomes your yoga.
Enlighten Up! opens to the public this Friday June 5th. Playing: 1:30, 3:30,5:30,7:30, 9:50 and 11:45. Kate Churchill will be present for a Q & A after the 7:30 screening and intro. the 9:50 on June 5th.
Posted by peg mulqueen at 6/3/2009 8:38 PM 
Categories: yoga, video, dharma mittra
Tags: yoga documentary
Categories: yoga, video, dharma mittra
Tags: yoga documentary
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