Movie Review

Directed by Doris Dorrie, starring: Gustav-Peter Wohler and Uwe Ochesanknecht, subtitled, Atlantis, 1 hour 49 mins, 2002.

Romantic stories are not necessarily about love and sex. They are stories about journeys through dangers, trials, setbacks and eventual arrival at true love, true community, truth itself or the truth about oneself. This is a story about physical journey and inner journey and it is very funny.

Gustav is married with no children. He meditates and follows various New Age Thoughts. His work is to help people organize the "energy" in their lives so that it provides the right vibrations. Furniture in apartments must be oriented to the exact right points of the compass or chaos will ensue! He's fussy and obsessive. He keeps a fountain in his apartment but it leaks. He meditates while his wife cleans it up. Gusti has been planning his dream trip to a Zen monastery in Japan for a long time.

Uwe, his brother, is also married and has a large raucous family. He sells kitchens. One day he returns home to discover that his wife and family have left. In remorse and terror he gets drunk and begs his brother to take him with him on his trip to Japan.

On their first night in Tokyo they go out for dinner and get lost. They lose their money, their credit cards and their patience with each other. They are homeless in Tokyo and end up sleeping on the street. Quoting Zen to each other proves to be of little comfort. After many adventures (they steal a tent, work in a German Beer Garden, steal food and are befriended by a girl from Germany) they finally make it to the monastery, five changes of train from Tokyo. Saved, at last!

Well, not actually. Life in the monastery proves more vigorous than expected (cold baths, hard physical work, begging on the street, learning the routines). Gustav, the meditator, and Zen storyteller has the most difficult time. His brother, the wastrel, relaxes into the experience and embraces the meditations and the routines. Go figure. Along the way they redeem their relationship as brothers and come to insight about themselves. They still have the pain of their own lives to go back to but they go back with hope. Losing all in the city was but preparation for loss of Self in the monastery. If you have been on retreat and tried to adapt to monastery life you will laugh 'til you cry with Gusti and Uwe.

There is a strong tradition of "giving up all" in Christian tradition. Themes of taking up the cross and denying self, forsaking all to follow Jesus and the blessedness of poverty of spirit, abound in scripture. Two of Jesus' Parables particularly focus on the theme of 'giving up ALL'; The Treasure in the Field and The Pearl of Great Price, Matthew 13:44 and 45. Like a Japanese koan they curve in on themselves and present The Kingdom as paradoxical to our view. What is included in ALL? In the end, do we give up our images? Our parables? Our morality? Do we even give up 'giving up'?