Notre demeure

This film was the best one in 2010 because put in the main screen the most famous book of Chico Xavier

• brings a new spiritual way to see life (not so new for 'espíritas'= a philosophical movement born in France, but Brazil have the main followers today, see 'Allan Kardek' for more information) - it doesn't have violence (common in 'good' films today) - actors were very good and the history was perfect showing the spiritual growth of a person (André Luiz) - the special effects were superb, carefully done - music by Philip Glass, no comments... very beautiful This film is controversial for many people because brings subjects as reincarnation, life after death so on

Let's start by stating the obvious: Astral City offers a rather poor cinematic experience. The overall quality of this product is that of a soap opera. Writing, acting, and direction are naive in a way that will be obvious to anyone, except those who are heavily invested in spirituality and are easily impressed by any relevant work.

The movie has not much artistic merit.

However, I have to acknowledge that while better-made movies about the afterlife (e.g. What Dreams May Come) succeed in entertaining me, they fail to elicit the same level of soul-searching and spiritual curiosity of this B-movie. I am sceptic by character and very hard to impress or persuade, and of course I don't believe that the book on which this movie is based was actually psychographed, yet I find the ideas of cyclic reincarnation, spiritual healing and spiritual elevation insightful and worthy of research, especially for Western audiences who may not have had much exposure to them.

Something I didn't like about the theology in this movie (and presumably the book if I were to read it), which is maybe stemming from the culture in which it was produced, is that the astral city is organised as a powerful bureaucracy which micro-manages every aspect of your (after)life, to the extent that in order to make meaningful progress in your spiritual path, you have to go to a public building and queue (yes!) to talk to some patronising government official.

I am British and have no particular sympathy for the libertarian extremists in the US, but I dread the idea of my afterlife being ruled by a celestial bureaucracy where good deeds can be effectively spent as a currency to access government-supplied benefits. I hope that is not what afterlife looks like: possibly, it is just the utopia of a "fair" bureaucracy conceived by someone who is fed up with corrupt governments and institutions here on Earth.

Nosso Lar (seen yesterday) is an adaptation of a book written by André Luiz himself through spiritual medium Chico Xavier, hence it's a shortened version of what the book really represents. Also, we all know that book adaptations almost always fail to deliver to the fans the expected experience and hardly ever entertain the ones who haven't previously read the book that's being adapted. Nosso Lar is also kind of boring and confusing. In the beginning of the film the narrative will constantly change between different parts of the main character's life and his physical and spiritual state after his demise. There are several long speeches that break the pace of the film, but funny takes relieve the boredom making the film more watchable.

The film has directing, role cohesion and visual effects problems, but it does well in delivering to the spectator some more advanced notions of spirituality, an issue that's recently been brought up much in Brazil through films and soap operas. It may be entertaining and inspiring to those who have interest on spirituality but if you don't believe in those thoughts you probably shouldn't watch it, since it may be a not so good introduction to this wonderful subject.

This movie is not only visually impressive but it is also the most beautiful story about the real meaning of life.

I recommend it! You have to watch it to have your own opinion since there are many moral values involved in this story making it hard to trust the reviews.

The movie tells us a story about "Andre Luis" who was a successful doctor living a rich life (rich material life) and just like many of us he did not care to enrich his spiritual life (moral values) letting the selfishness, pride and self-centeredness take over his personality. Only after death he finds out that knowledge, status and money without moral values doesn't help him to be happy in the eternal life.

Hard to explain, but this is not a normal movie, please understand it as a deeper insight. Be open and let this change your perspective, it is a great and important work.

If you have the chance read the books, too, it is definitely worth it and there is much more content waiting for you. Believe it or not, these are not conventional fictional books, they are "written", or more specifically "psychographed", by the brazilian medium Chico Xavier (died in 2002). Search for Chico Xavier and Andre Luiz to find the psychographic works this movie is based on.

Obviously the movie uses fictional images and actors to convey the original message of the books, but I think they did a good job with that (though, as usual, the original work is even deeper in meaning).

May it bring more light to your life... :)