Finding Neverland on my Moving House

watched finding neverland today (click on movie title for more info). brought back many fond memories of my childhood (now that i'm a young adult...). i recall running around the garden, talking to "fairies" in the flowers, lying on the grass staring at the clouds, sucking sweet nectar from the small flowers that grew in the big bush in the old flower path at our old house. even of my make-believe games.. where i would be the damsel in distress on a pirate ship, or even a violent fighter who believed in righteousness.. from a little pig who built the house of sticks or a power ranger... the make-believe world where i could be anyone i want to be, riding on the wings of a unicorn or dancing in the midst of soapy bubbles with my pixie friends and butterflies.. finding neverland reminded me of that "secular" paradise i dreamt so often of.

it was really touching.. even more when you know that in real life, the young boy Peter commited suicide in 1960. it is also rumored that his younger brother, Michael (also the name of the youngest boy in Peter Pan. Coincidence? i think not) commited suicide at the young age of 21. there was much talk abt Peter Pan, esp on JM Barrie's sexual orientation. read it here.

this is a spoiler.. the ending was amazing.. nothing amazing about the fact that the final scene had JM Barrie and Peter talking to each other before fading away, leaving behind JM Barrie's hat and cane. it was just the effect it had on people. the whole cinema was silent. when the credits started rolling, no one got up or made a sound. the njc girl next to me wiped her eyes dry with her friend. my eyes stung too. slowly, people started to get up. there was no excited chatter or laughter. just soft murmurs of approval from the people who left the cinema with me along. everyone seemed so comforted in their quiet contemplation. when i went into the toilet, few were patting their red eyes dry. one girl was sniffing and wiping her eyes still, her friend watching her quietly.

it's amazing.. that a movie can have such an impact on people. you have to forgive me for quoting all over the place in this particular post. but andrew hartman, the webmaster of the peter pan fan, said that, "As a child, you love Peter Pan for the adventure, the fantasy, and the flying. Later as an adult, when you watch that same version of Peter Pan you saw as a child, you realize the true meaning of the story. This is the moment when you grow up."

Even in the show, Depp's character talked about growing up. in one scene, george, the oldest, said that his grandmother was strict on his mother just because his grandmother didn't want to see his mother hurting anymore. then Depp remarked that in that few seconds, george had become an adult. such a simple statement. so much truth. i was touched. i know it's just a movie. but people watch movies to escape from reality. so let me indulge in it while i sit in my dark fantasy, before i return to the blinding reality of the world around me. i'm starting to sound insane. will need to talk to someone soon..

i would have to agree. i cried when i read "Little Prince" back in secondary school. all because i found it incredibly beautiful and touching. (yesh, i'm a crier) when i told my mom that it was very touching, she did not see it so. she just said that it was merely sad. it was then i realized that adults and children have different ways of interpretation. i remember the scar my older sis left in me when she suggested that the characters of winnie the pooh were gay. i never watched winnie the pooh the same innocent way anymore. it's barely adorable when christopher and winnie talk about their friendship. saying that, i still wish i had a classic pooh bear.. those huge ones.

speaking of sexuality, there is no doubt question about JM Barrie's friendship with the young boys. i'm not going to sit here and decide the dead man's sexuality for everyone but the next quote does sum up my feelings. Nico, the youngest child of the Davies family, once said, "He was an innocent--which is why he could write Peter Pan." and yesh, johnny depp is dead gorgeous. i hereby give finding neverland a total of 5 stars, where one star comes from bringing back fond memories.

another interesting movie to catch would be Howl's moving castle. while i'm in this world of make-believe, my fallen state pleads me to return to it for one last time. it's actually a book written by diana wynne jones. saw the trailers for it today.. looks interesting enough. can't rate this yet 'cos i have yet to watch it.

and what's valentine's day without sappy movies? the ultimate one.. "a moment to remember". the typical korean movie that is bound to make ppl cry. it may seem a little far-fetched and over the top with the storyline. but it does what it had set out to do: capture the most intense emotion of love on a paper, then to bring it to surface through the show. 'cos while something like that very situation would not happen in real life, if it did, you can imagine the human mind, heart and soul doing what the character in the movie did. human emotion is just uncomprehensible. i'm renting the dvd so i can sit in the comfort of my home and bawl my silly eyes out.