Reviews

(1)You can never be certain about your destiny, for it changes constantly.be humble and accept life as it unfolds. (2) Wisdom is knowing how much we don't know, and that the ultimate knowledge life holds is the power and fulfillment of love (3) know your heart, you will know yourself, you will find love. Those are the three folk tales in this film. the beauty of the film is its music, the different settings, the vastly different cultures it portrays, and the underlying theme of humanity, music, wisdom, and love. Absolutely beautiful film. It ended too soon. Truly a beautiful film, with a beautiful message. we humans are so alike, our human experiences so similar, despite the vastly different cultures, languages and music we have created. Be humble, be patient as life unfolds, be wise in what you don't know, and always be aware of the power of love.

The movie is based on the book of the same title, written by Jonathon Safron Foer, who i regard as one of the best living American writers. He also wrote Everything is Illuminated, also made into a movie. Extremely Loud is a book that is painful to read: the point of view is that of a child, so the book is narrated, with the voice, of a child. It is the child who is trying to understand his father's death, just as we as adults try to understand something as incomprehensible as the attacks on the world trade center. Standing in the absence of the towers in NYC, I have looked upward at the other tall buildings and tried to imagine how tall the towers would have been in comparison, and then i just can't believe that they collapsed, even though i have seen the collapse (as have we all) over and over again in video. The boy is obviously having major behavioral problems, due to his self mutilation and his extreme secrecy (his father called home and left messages on the answering machine prior to the collapse, and he has taken the tape and has not shared its existence with his mom). His travels around NYC results in him meeting many people, and in doing so he expands his world, "grows up" so to speak. In that sense, we all "grew up" after the attacks, and none of us will ever truly be the same. The world changed. We were once "safe" and now we are not. That is something we all have to live with. I haven't seen the movie yet, not sure if i will - i cried three times while reading the book, so if the movie is true to the book, it will be hard to sit through. BTW, the movie Everything is Illuminated is one of the best movie versions of a book i have seen: the movie really captured the book, but left some of the intensity of the book out. Hopefully this movie is a good version of the book. Foer isn't capitalizing on 911: the book makes parallels to other human inflicted horrors. His first book, "Everthing..." was about the holocaust and the courage it takes to "remain" Jewish. The book touches on universal themes, and yes 911 is a backdrop for these themes. Perhaps movie goers should read the book, first, and then decide whether or not to see the film. Foer is a genius: how a young man can write like he does is amazing.

This is a beautiful film about purification - we seek purification on our journey through life. How? Perhaps eliminating hatred, jealousy, pride in our lives and becoming pure. How did Jesus walk on water? I enjoy the locations in the film: Istanbul, Israel, the West Bank, Jerusalem, Berlin, and the different languages, Hebrew, English, German, Arabic. How can we save ourselves, from ourselves? Best film I have seen in a very long time, one of the top ten I have ever seen. Don't miss it! Many Israeli films are very ethnocentric - I think you have to live in Israel to understand them. But this film crosses all cultural barriers. I especially enjoyed the scene where Eyal becomes angry with the Palestinian merchant: it shows his need for purification. The ending is absolutely beautiful.