The Lovely Bones

"And I began to see things in a way that let me hold the world without me in it."

I'm sitting in the Hong Kong airport, waiting for my flight to Jordan, having just flown from Korea on a very nice Cathay Pacific flight. With an individual screen, and lots of film choices, but only time for one movie, I decided to go with Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones. And I was favorably impressed.

It seems odd to describe a movie about murder as beautiful, but I'm loath to describe it as anything else. Peter Jackson has created a haunting paradox -- a movie about death (and not the peaceful, innoncent kind) that is nothing less than a celebration of life. There are dark moments in the film, to be sure, but the overarching impression is one of light and love. The picture I'll carry with me is of a laughing family, with deep roots and strong ties, fierce in their love and strong in their courage -- the kind of family I want to have.

In the end, I think Jackson is able to take a horrific sort of death (the kind that has haunted my nightmares since childhood) and show that really, in all the ways that matter, Suzie dies the best sort of death (if any death can be good), because she has never spent a moment surrounded by anything but love. As someone states in a different movie I watched recently, "Our finger prints don't fade within the lives they touch." In other words, the Salmons are no less a family after Suzie's death than they were before it. Her place is permanent, and (to quote e.e. cummings) they carry her heart with them.

On a side note, the storytelling perspective is interesting in that it's narrated by Suzie after her death. One of the reasons I was interested in watching it in the first place was that I'd read a review of the book which described it as a 'post-death coming of age story'. Suzie is in every way the protagonist -- a protagonist who must deal with the ending of her idealic childhood, though the cause, in this case, is not growing up but murder. A protagonist who must learn, as we all must, how to hold on to everything that matters (like family and love) while coming to grips with the inevitable changes in herself and the world around her.

And as a final note, I may have watched the film on a bad quality airplane screen, but even so, some of the scenes are absolutely gorgeous.

Angel-in-us Coffee (or things I like about Korea)

1. The country slogan: Korea Sparkling.

2. The Gunsan lake, with its bridge of lights and happiness (with special orbs to promote love and dreaming).

3. The shoes.  Definitely the brightest, craziest sneakers I've ever seen (think fluorescent yellow, shiny, and huge).  But they also love their high heels, which are tall, and not at all the standardized American variety.

4.  The red roses that spill over every fence.  

5.  The uniquely poetic way of using English: "provincial tangible cultural asset."  

6.  Chicken on a stick with amazing barbeque sauce.  Street food at its finest.

7.  The "couple sets" -- i.e. his and her matching clothing, drinking straws (because drinks are meant to be shared, not experienced alone), chopsticks, watches, and just about everything else you can think of.  

8.  Jordan and Marisa's bunny, Faraday, who is very inquisitive, and seems to think Brendan and Thani are boy bunnies.  

9.  Korean pizza -- some of the yummiest I've ever eaten, with sweet potato crust.  

10.  Green tea popsicles.  

11.  Shaved ice desserts, with ice cream, whipped cream, strawberries, shaved ice, cornflakes and fruitloops.  Odd sounding, delicious tasting.  As an added bonus, you get to eat them while swinging in rocking chairs.    

12.  Strangers who invite you to share in their picnics, and offer you food at the side of the road.

13.  Open rooms with wood floors in which to take naps.  

14.  Traditional teahouses, with inner courtyards and low tables, even if they do charge too much for tea.  =)

15. Biking around islands where seafood is eaten raw or dried on clotheslines in the sun. 

16.  The culture of open spaces, bare feet and ground sitting, where pouring water requires respect, and giving and receiving is a ceremony of significance.

17.  And, of course, the very best part: seeing family.  =)