Day: 15 June 2007

Like music, (click for more) certain films have had a great influence on my life, and I enjoy watching time after time. I never grow tired of them.

Call me sentimental, (mental), but the Olivia Newton-John film Xanadu hits all the right buttons. In this cult movie, Olivia Newton-John portrays Kira, a Greek muse who attracts a painter dissatisfied with his career.

This musical follows the romance and the fulfillment of dreams, to the creation reality out of dreams with the dance hall called Xanadu, with the help of a retired musician played by the ever smiling Gene Kelly.

The movie includes such pop hits as Magic, Party All Over the World, I’m Alive and the title song Xanadu, played by the ELO – the Electric Light Orchestra.

My first exposure to Xanadu was in Saudi Arabia, buying cassettes of LP/CD’s to listen to, as there was nothing else to do in the early 1980’s, no cinemas, pubs, clubs, TV to watch. The music gripped me, it told a story, it was only years later that I came across the movie.

Another movie close to my heart is the black and white film called the Dambusters. This movie tells of the real life wartime story of the RAF (the British Royal Air Force) having to attack dams in Germany, to disrupt the Germans manufacturing industries, to bring the war closer to an end.

It tells the story of the dedication of the air crews, in training and to give their lives so others can live, it tells how Barnes Wallace, despite being ridiculed, worked out how to achieve the outcome needed, and that failures were a learning curve. Read the article on NOP click here.

The BBC created a radio series back in the 1970’s called The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, written by Douglas Adams. Unusually this radio series was then transformed into a TV series of the same name, and the book followed. A few years ago, a new movie was produced, but sorry to say not as good as the TV series. For a start the original robot Marvin was replaced, although, the real Marvin did play a cameo part. Marvin say one of the most outstanding statements for me:-

   “I’m so depressed, I have the brain of a planet, and all they ask me to do is open the door, I’m so depressed.” 

It is in the movie that we can see that the human brain always needs completion, if you ask it a question, it will always try and find the answer, if you give it the answer it will try and find what the question was.

42 is the answer.

The Wizard of OZ, the 1939 film starring Judy Garland, tells the story of a young girl trying to get home with her pet dog Toto. The only way back is to visit the Wizard of Oz. She meets friends on her journey, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion, and together they have adventures and challenges which they overcome. When they meet the Wizard, it is then we realise we all have the same powers to meet our own challenges and adventures.

The latest film is What the Bleep Do We Know. A beautiful animation, film and documentary, telling the story of a woman going through a crisis, but coming to a realisation, that we must see things from a different perspective.

Very heavy on NLP, this film needs to be watched a couple of times to get the inner meaning, but it brings together all I teach in my courses.

The above films have a deeper meaning, a metaphor which we can all learn from.

Sentimental old me.