Review of Commandments (1997) by Leonard M — 13 Nov 2006

Here is where I part ways from everyone I know. I love the movie Commandments because it is a dark, playful exploration of ideas I care about. Also I like intensity, and my personality is more melancholy than anything else. I like dark ironic humor. When I was growing up in a seventhday adventist home, the importance of still keeping all of the old testament commandments was stressed quite a lot, and of course I was and still am rebellious towards the specific brand of religion I grew up with. However, I still sometimes believe in some of the ideas I grew up with. Commandments fits within this framework of sort of believing, but then again almost making fun of the idea of old testament commandment keeping at the same time. In the end all the main character comes to understand is "There might be something really big out there". That vague proclamation is something I can agree with. There has to be some reason for so many mythological stories to include the idea of gods messing with our lives. Many classical works such as Shakespeare also include ideas about fate. I guess people have always been curious about the big questions. I see a little of all of this in this movie. My reasons for liking it are strange though, and specific to my background.

Quotes: "How do you explain a miracle in a world that can explain everything?...What if it was fate? How do you fight that? What do you fight it with? Heart, faith, soul? Aw, but how the hell would I know? I don't believe in fairy tales--but--I do know that what I [i]don't [/i]know might be a lot bigger than I thought.".

I do enjoy a good movie about a troubled soul like myself finding some sort of inner peace. How can most people not like a movie with this many interesting questions in it? A funny, sometimes irreverant movie about faith in the real world.