Erleuchtung garantiert
- 1999
- 1h 49min
Aggiungi una trama nella tua linguaTwo very different brothers get together for a temporary stay in a Japanese Zen monastery. The trip from Germany to Japan brings up some unexpected quests they need to manage. Soon both real... Leggi tuttoTwo very different brothers get together for a temporary stay in a Japanese Zen monastery. The trip from Germany to Japan brings up some unexpected quests they need to manage. Soon both really must leave their ordinary lives behind to embark on a voyage to themselves.Two very different brothers get together for a temporary stay in a Japanese Zen monastery. The trip from Germany to Japan brings up some unexpected quests they need to manage. Soon both really must leave their ordinary lives behind to embark on a voyage to themselves.
- Regia
- Sceneggiatura
- Star
- Premi
- 2 vittorie totali
- Jimmy
- (as Jimmy Ochsenknecht)
- Wilson
- (as a different name)
- Anthony
- (non citato nei titoli originali)
Recensioni in evidenza
that, this is one of the best modern (read: 1985-present) uses of
8mm film that I've ever seen. This is one of those films you just
have to throw yourself into. I'm not drawing a parallel between the
two--at all!--but people who have seen 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'
will recall how by the end of the first episode you had no idea what
was going on, right alongside the principle character. This movie
has a similar feel--It's unsettling at first, but ultimately presents
itself as a curiously wonderful juxtaposition of warmth and
coldness; interrelation and alienation. Very few films are capable
of doing this well. Oh, and as a side note -- this is NOT one of
those aimlessly meandering art films hell-bent on using 8mm to
generate indie/underground credibility. In sum: a thoughtfully
rewarding film about two very different German brothers lost in
Japan and discovering a fine gray line dividing the point of no
return from the point just before it and overcoming that dualism.
In this time of reality TV and home-movies being used on various TV shows, the hand-held camera shots are very real. Also interesting is that the characters names are the actors real names so it adds to the effect.
Enlightenment Guaranteed, a German Zen comedy is an amazing film that succeeds on several levels: as an insight into Buddhist philosophy and practice, as the maturing process of two brothers, and as a look at the hectic world of Tokyo, Japan. I won't guarantee you'll be enlightened but I'm sure you'll be entertained.
Shot with digital video, the film revolves around two brothers, Gustav, (Gustav Peter Wöhler), a single Feng Shui consultant, and Uwe (Uwe Ochsenknecht), a salesman whose wife and children have just left him. After his brother's marital breakup, Gustav reluctantly takes Uwe with him to the Sojiji Soin Father Temple (a Zen monastery) in Monzen, outside of Tokyo.
Their adventures in Tokyo are funny and touching. One time they get lost and cannot find their way back to their hotel. Another time they run out of money and are bilked by a singing ATM machine in a hilarious sequence. Finally, they end up sleeping in cardboard boxes, then in a tent next to a railroad train. The two are thoroughly spent when they finally arrive at Monzen. There is a stunning contrast between the frenetic pace of Tokyo and the serene setting of the monastery.
The brothers have to get used to getting up at 4:30 A.M., taking cold baths, running cleaning rags across the floor and the elaborate unwrapping of eating utensils. Roles are reversed to a certain extent as Gustav buckles under pressure, while the uninitiated Uwe, merely along for the ride, proves surprisingly adaptable to the rigors of monastery life. The two brothers gradually lose "control" of their lives and learn to live in the present. As the Abbot of Monzen explains, enlightenment is not the achievement of something, but the absence of something. In Uwe's case, it might be the absence of attachment to the circumstances of his life.
Enlightenment Guaranteed is a celebration of the act of looking within ourselves to unravel the mysteries of who we really are. The clanging of the various chimes and gongs, the beating of the drums, and the meditation rituals of the Buddhist monks create an atmosphere of calm and spirituality that left me with a feeling of joy.
Lo sapevi?
- Colonne sonoreI Will Survive (Ich überleb's)
Written by Freddie Perren, Dino Fekaris
Performed by Gustav-Peter Wöhler
I più visti
Dettagli
Botteghino
- Lordo in tutto il mondo
- 1948 USD
- Tempo di esecuzione1 ora 49 minuti
- Colore
- Mix di suoni
- Proporzioni
- 1.85 : 1