Movie Mayhem with God Part 7: Wu Xia

Finally! Able to sit down to catch a good movie in theatres after so long. (I've actually watched another movie just days before this one, but was so insulted by its lameness and so ashamed of my stupidity and curiousity in going to watch it... I think by now you may have known which movie I'm mentioning about... :P )

Anyway, I was supposed to have was Wu Xia much much earlier ago with an ex-colleague of mine when we met up. However she had disclosed to me that she was a bit uncomfortable with watching in as she didn't like the "Wu Xia" concept, which she feels maybe against the lines of Christian teachings. Eventually, by God's plans, we didn't manage to watch it that day, and it was only till today was I able to catch the film.

Maybe due to my liberalness cum being an avid swordfighting novel fan since childhood, I feel that actually it all depends on how you interpret the movie. If you pray to God, asking him to show you his teachings in whatever you partake. This crucial aspect is how we relate and reconcile everything back to Him, the famous loving God with "all of heart, mind and soul".

In the movie, Donnie Yen plays a ex-killer, who deserted his murderous clan 10 years ago in search of a peaceful life, due to his guilt and remorse over a gruesome murder of an entire family, in particular one young victim. He has settled down in a village as a papermaker, married a virtuous village widow, and now has a happy family of two sons. However to his horror, his past catches up with him when two killers from a rival clan happen to pass the village and recognise him and launch an attack to kill him. In a bid to save the villagers while still keeping his identity secret, he skillfully kills them, making everything seem coincidental and out of sheer luck. This does not deceive the detective constable, played by Takeshi Kaneshiro, who deduces that Donnie Yen is not quite the simple villager he makes himself out to be...

The fighting scenes of the film are awesome (kudos to Donnie Yen again for being i/c of action screenplay) with the team behind the soundtrack being a huge boost to adding impact to the movie as it proceed. However the ultimate scriptwriter, God, peppers in His teachings in more precious nuggets.

The story emphasises on repentence, as the lead character wishes to turn his back from his cruel and murderous past. The detective constable however is not convinced by his sincerity. This is too is attributed to a dark past of himself, having been too merciful to a young convict in the past, thus giving the killer another chance to commit an even greater crime. Thus, the detective constable is disillusioned by the concept of mercy and repentance, always insisting on the governance of justice. Below is a conversation between the two, when the constable was grilling the lead on his past, illustrating their conflict.

Lead: Actually everything is interlinked and through fate. If I hadn't passed by the village 10 years ago and spotted my wife, I wouldn't have settled down here and married her. If I hadn't settled down here and married here, I wouldn't have taken up the job of being a papermaker. If I hadn't taken up the job of being a papermaker, I wouldn't happen to be in the store that day during the attack. If I hadn't been in the store that day, I wouldn't have run into those two men. If I hadn't run into those two men, they wouldn't have died. If they hadn't died, you wouldn't have come here to investigate me. All of us are equally responsible for everything in the world that happens.
Constable: Are you meaning to say that all of us are equally responsible for the crimes committed by murderers?

Lead: I wasn't mentioning about the context of murderers committing murder...

Another character in the movie, the lead's mother, also poses doubts to the concept of repentence and re-birth. She, under the lead's father (also clan master)'s orders, heads the first expendition to the village, committing mayhem and murder, in a bid to force the lead to showcase his swordfighting to save the village, and eventually make his compromise and return to the clan. At the final moment when the lead tries to stop her from falling into the rapids after a rigorous fight with her (one of the best kungfu moments in the film), she looks up at him and says "Who are you deceiving? You are still Tang Long. (The lead's original name)", before plunging into the depths.

Thankfully, the lead is saved from the depths of eternal sin and condemnation as eventually all these doubts and half-truths are reconciled back to God's teaching. What happens eventually can be really a literal translation of God's teachings... The lead undergoes death of sorts (with the grudging help of the constable's medical knowldge to put him in semi-coma state but to reawake him again later) to trick the second expedition, literally severs himself from him dreadful past (similar to what was in the previous movie "The Beaver" which I last reviewed). Most importantly during the final showdown between the lead and his father cum clan master, it is not through his own strength and ability in which the clan master is eventually defeated. In fact it is really through an act of God. The lead having slightly exhausted and distracted his father, manages to allow the constable an opportunity to use acupunture to attack his father's critical defense nerve points, rendering it vulnerable. Even then, it is a bolt of lightning from the heavy rain which strikes his father dead through that acupunture point, as his and the constable by then have been very badly injured, collapsed in a corner. From this way, it is a three-tier effort through which the villian is finally defeated.

Similarly, the three-tier relationship is also present in us Christians. This is namely God (represented by the lightning bolt), the Holy Spirit (the lead himself), and Jesus (the constable). Yes, sadly the constable eventually dies after this final battle but at his death moment, he himself is finally reconciled with the fact that repentence and re-birth does exist. Kind of a perfect fit of sorts in my view, as the concepts of judgement, repentence and re-birth all fall into place seamlessly.

During the night before the final battle between the lead and his father, this is the conversation between the lead and the constable. I think we Christians can take heed and keep it as a gentle reminder in our hearts...
Lead: Didn't I tell you not to come back?
Constable: Why didn't you murder me that day when you were leading me out of the village?
Lead: You promised to let me off.
Constable: Come on, did you think I would really let you off?
Lead: I trust you.

No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.
John 3:3 (NIV)

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
1 Peter 1:23 (NIV)

But God raised him from the dead.

Acts 13:30 (NIV)

If your hand or foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed and crippled, than to have two hands or two feets but to be thrown into eternal fire.

Matthew 18:8, Mark 9:46 (NIV)

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17

At the end of the film, the lead settles down to the peaceful and tranquil life he so much wishes, taking on the passed away constable's tasks of moonlighting TCM. Now that his past is reconciled, his wife is finally at ease with telling him to return home in time for dinner daily. Likewise, when we are God's new creation, we are assured that we will be able to return for reunion with God in the home that we call Heaven. Amen!

Movie Mayhem with God Part 6: The Beaver

It's been a very traumatic weekend. I've just finished attending a 3-session introduction to a counselling course where the eventual counselling method was based on deliverance. I was recommended to the course by my cell leader and cell mates after all that I had been going through, especially the past 9 months. Of course the notion of me needing counselling did not have a positive connotation. I was actually very perverse to it due to my history. I won't give too many details about about my past or what happened this weekend. In fact even though I haven't gone through the actual counselling session (they will do the one-to-one session later) I was already experiencing immense spiritual warfare which unleashed itself partially today. Definitely doesn't look good to outsiders who doesn't know what is going on. Well, I certainly thank Jesus I have let some of the murky water that has been bottled up inside me come out this noon, and also for Him explaining to me the reasons why I was so bothered with its murkiness. Turns out I had so many misconceptions about the murkiness which need to be cleared. However, for now, He tells me that these are the issues, just wait and we'll deal with it later. I'll tell you when the time is ripe. Just rest now.

Thus, I went to watch a movie. Again. Ok, thankfully I had watched the movie with God in the theatre (and some public), as this movie needs to be watched with God accompanying you fully throughout, as even though the teachings behind the story is biblical, it is quite harrowing. Plot-wise it is about a depressed man (Mel Gibson), whose depression has led to such intense frustration amongst his family members that his wife (Jodie Foster) is forced to ask him to leave. In his despair, he found a puppet beaver which he uses as a therapy tool of sorts to deal with his relationships with everyone around him, and he regains his confidence in life...initially.

Ok, I'm kind of thinking how best to reveal the biblical concepts without giving spoilers about the movie. I think the best way is to write the verses down and for those with the courage to pray and then go watch the movie, you'll definitely know which verses inspire the parts of the plot of the movie.

And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go to hell.
Matthew 5:30

If your hand or foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.
Matthew 18: 8

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better to enter life maimed than two hands into hell, where the fire never goes out.
Mark 9:43

Woah... Those teachings are very difficult to stomach leh... Definitely for me, as I know the things that are causing me to stumble cannot say cut then cut one. For me if can so literally cut off and throw away then it would be wonderful... Then how? Then how? This has been the point that has actually bothering me for the past 9 months. It then falls back to his teachings. If both He and you know this aspect bothering you in faith cannot be literally severed, then we can only pray and trust and then wait for his instruction to come. Don't go into panic mode with you feel you don't hear/see/feel/know anything. Aiya, easier said than done la. My past 9 months have been a horrible status anxiety constantly. Even now there is still residue and this blog is a form of prayer to Him for trust, patience, perserverance and peace... There is truth and wisdom to be found in His Word. However, being the creator of language and literature techniques, we must remember that God also uses this techniques in his teachings. Many of his famous teachings were in the form of parables. Those 3 verses quoted above seem very literal and straighforward when reading, but application is another matter altogether. The act of severing or cutting in those verses may actually mean another form of severing. At least for me, it means the severing of certain strongholds that the Evil One has on me, which sadly are not physical issues. Thus the pain and ardour of the process is of a different level. It is definitely traumatising. Today's round was only just an initial part of the severing. Darn painful really. Now the ultimate physician has told me, that's enough for today. Just go back and rest for now. When it is time for be it you, me or others to do anything, I Jesus Christ will instruct on how to proceed...

I'll just like to end up with a concept I extropolated from the movie, not sure whether it was part of the scriptwriter's intent. Sometimes, we see the four walls where we are in as enclosing us in a prison and we desperately want to break free. However, sometimes we yearn for those four walls us they symbolise room which God has specially allocated for us, to be protected forever safe from any fear and danger outside. Thus whenever we are at a lost of how to interpret something, pray to Him first to show how to read and analyse it.

We are often confused by some phrases. In the movie, it concludes with a graduation ceremony speech of a female character, saying that "everyone has been telling us a lie, "it is going to be alright"". Ok, the point at which the character says is valid, as she gones on to explain that even though everything may not be alright always, there is someone that is always there for us, watching over us. However an additional point I want to point out that, to turn the lie into an ultimate universal truth we just need to say "everything is going to be alright eventually". And this is also how the movie ends too... Praise God!

My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a room for you?
John 14:2