We analyze the personality traits of the characters according to the systematic knowledge integral to the Power Path Seminars training models. Occasionally we will point out the difference between the personality traits of the actor playing the part and the character they are portraying and comment on whether or not they were able to successfully fill the role or whether they were cast for the part correctly. When appropriate, we include notations on how a particular film manifests the larger themes that society and the world cultures are trying to deal with as a whole.

Glossary of Character Trait or Concept Terms

Movie Reviews 2007

The Lives of Others

This is an outstanding film about the oppressive and intrusive communist regime in East Germany just before the dismantling of the Berlin wall. The story focuses on the life of a mature sage, a play write and his community of fellow artists who are being spied upon by the authorities because of suspicions they are disloyal to the government. A zealous early level mature soul scholar working for the government and attempting to climb the ladder of influence is assigned to spy on the play write and his girlfriend, a young soul artisan actress. The spy is awakened to the power of relationship by listening in on the play write’s relationships and he consequently he develops his own private relationship with the actress, causing him to take steps to protect her and him from higher authorities threatening to destroy their careers. In the end he loses his own career but his hugely generous act is acknowledged in the end. As in many European films the character development is excellent and there is enough humanity here to keep the film from being oppressive.

Ratatouille

Possibly the best film of the year, Ratatouille has all the essentials for an outstanding story. First of all it is a food movie which people seem to love, with a great storyline in the background. Food is grounding and comforting and makes people feel that everything will be OK in the long run, something very important in these troubled times. The food theme is highlighted by the contrast between Remy the Rat’s gourmet food and the garbage the majority of rats tend to eat. Remy, an artisan, clearly has a goal of growth and is a mature soul whose primary relationship study is food. Then of course there is the greedy and vain villainous chef Skinner, and the hot passion mode French chef Collette, the love interest for the hapless Linguine, secret heir to the restaurant. Then there is the saintly Gusteau the old sage, who acts as spirit guide to Remy the rat and a threatening Anton Ego, the food critic in discrimination from hell. All these ingredients go together in a highly entertaining way to create a wonderful meal, Ratatouille, a celebration of cooperation and striving for excellence.

Knocked up

Although quite funny in places the characters of Knocked UP were simply not believable. Although clearly all the players were characterized as young souls, and rather well too, we are supposed to believe they suddenly act like responsible mature souls. If they were true to character the female lead Katherine would have had an abortion instantly and Seth the male lead would never have stepped up to the plate to become a good husband and dad. Also the highly narcissistic Katherine would never have hung out with the loser Seth. But then with a couple of crazy sages you never know. We could make up that they had karma with each other that demanded they be together and raise a kid. What was really interesting and true to form was the advice Katherine’s sister gives her that to make someone better you criticize them until they behave like you want them to behave. This is truly a young soul philosophy and her character was faithful to this from beginning to end.

Thin

This is an excellent documentary of young women in a treatment program for Bulemia, Anorexia, and eating disorders. The film takes a neutral stance and shows all sides, staff, patients, family members, and program processes. You can easily see the dragons at play here including self destruction, greed, self deprecation and so on. Patients include various roles like warriors, artisans, scholars and shows the clear differences among them. It is also possible to see here how poor this treatment program is in that it does not address the source of these women’s behavior. There is no spiritual understanding nor understanding of the dragons and this causes the treatment to fail to address the women’s most critical needs. The staff is clearly asleep or simply following formula.

Grizzly Man

Although grim and tragic, this is a most fascinating study of Timothy Treadwell’s life with grizzly bears in Alaska. Directed by Werner Herzog, he uses the film to try to analyze Timothy’s motivations but he never gets to the source of this man’s behavior. Clearly Treadwell is a fifth level (eccentric) mature artisan, a passion mode idealist, emotionally centered, with a goal of growth and dragons of self destruction, self deprecation, and arrogance. With this understanding you can readily see his motivations, his demons, and what eventually led to his self created death at the claws of a grizzly. Here was an artisan who flirted with Hollywood, changed his name, hung out with destructive people, and had a severe addiction to alcohol. He transferred his addiction to the adrenaline rush of hanging around extremely dangerous bears and then felt exhilarated that he survived each time. He told himself the story that he was protecting the bears from the bad people but clearly he identified with what he saw as persecuted bears and was actually desiring protection for himself. Being an artisan and having a high degree of feminine energy he felt he had to prove his masculinity and toughness. On the other hand he used his artisan skills very successfully and productively as a film maker so he did find a way to express himself and redirect himself away from alcoholism. He did also manage to do his life task work and teach children about bears and the wild.

So obsessed was he with the danger of working with the bears that on film he constantly recounted his concern with death and destruction until he made his obsession real. He made his own reality. The young woman who died with him was a scholar who was interested in the study of it all. His ex-girlfriend who is interviewed is a mature sage with a dragon of greed. I highly recommend this film not only for its cinematic beauty but because it is such a good revelation of how self deceptive and symbolic human lives can be, especially the life of an artisan who is confused.

Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter has grown to be an adolescent in this fifth segment of the Harry Potter series and he continues to struggle with his family icon, the expectations that go along with his family history and identity. Clearly he meets head on with his dragon of self deprecation and its slide over into the dragon of arrogance, making him push his friends away and  feel alone and angry. Yet he finds a way to connect after all by sharing and teaching his fellow students in the face of the nasty Dolores Umbridge, a baby priest who zealously carries out the wishes of the repressive Ministry of Magic. Some of the themes dealt with here are fear, denial, projection, control, resistance, attack, trauma, and freedom. All in all this is an excellent film, both entertaining and engrossing.


The Last Mimzy

Although a film primarily directed toward children, I found this movie to have some interesting concepts embedded in it. Never mind the slipshod science, the formula script, and gaping holes in the plot, the film managed to communicate to children and whoever watches, that sacred geometry is powerful, the brain can do way more than we think, and that there may be something to the Tibetan Buddhist concept about Tulku’s, extraordinary beings who incarnate to be of service to humanity. It manages to slip these ideas across without preaching, an effective message indeed.

Volver

This is an outstanding quirky film by the ever better Spanish director Pedro Almodovar,  starring Penelope Cruz (Artisan) in her best role to date. The film has superb character development, a hint of the supernatural, an intricate plot line, outstanding acting all around, and a fabulous script by Almodavar. Cruz plays Raimunda, an artisan with arrogance who has karma with her mother, reported dead in a fire. Raimunda has a daughter Paula whom she must protect from sudden tragedy, a husband who is murdered, an aunt who dies suddenly, a cousin who is making demands of her, and a sister, Sole, who is trying to hide important information from her. As the plot thickens Raimunda must not only make ends meet but engage in a huge cover up in order to hide a huge skeleton in the closet. This skeleton turns out to be nothing compared to what is revealed in the end. This is a tale of the resolution of karma, keeping agreements, and overcoming profound emotional pain in favor of communication and forgiveness. Men are side characters with women in all the leading roles, a welcome relief from the usual fare.  Not only does the film deal with intense  archetypal themes but it is done in a context that is very humorous. The only challenge is that the dialogue is fast and the subtitles are hard to keep up with.


Notes on a Scandal

This outstanding film stars the incomparable Cate Blanchett (relationship oriented king with artisan casting) and Judy Dench (old warrior with sage casting). Cate Blanchett had to draw on her artisan casting to play a scattered mature soul art teacher who uses terrible judgment and draws harsh lessons to herself. It is easy to forget that she is actually a king. Judy Dench plays a manipulative young soul scholar/warrior combination preying on young women’s vulnerability.

The film handles a very uncomfortable topic, sexual predation from a number of angles. There is karma creation galore as lonely dysfunctional people try to take advantage of each other’s weaknesses. Sheba, played by Cate Blanchett, is a self-deprecating dependant artisan, emotionally centered with no boundaries and Barbara played by Dench is a scholar/warrior with a goal of discrimination, a deep cynical attitude, intellectually centered, and major arrogance covering self deprecation. While the camera shows her loneliness, vulnerability, and pathetic lack of self- esteem, her voiceover displays her delusional arrogance and scathing evaluation of others. This is a most effective technique for showing the difference between the false personalities perspective and what is actually taking place. Everyone can learn something here. Highly recommended for its quality.

The Holiday

This is a light film that would be classified by most people as a chick flick, highly improbable romantic comedy, but still fun. Cameron Diaz (mature sage) plays Amanda, a successful young soul, creator of movie trailers and living in luxury in L.A. She is so involved in her work she fails at relationships. Kate Winslet (mature artisan) plays Iris, a relationship oriented server with intense self deprecation, hopelessly in love with an unavailable man. Both at the end of their ropes, the women meet on the internet and decide to trade houses hoping to get away from men problems. Instead they each find healing in the form of new relationships, Iris with an old screenwriter and a movie music scorer, Jack Black (mature sage) and Amanda with Graham (Jude Law, mature artisan) a widower with two children. Of the two of them, Iris is clearly much better at forming relationships. The primary lessons of the film involve never knowing where you are going to find agreements and new experiences and the importance of letting go of personal agendas and caring for others.

Eragon

Eragon is unfortunately a poorly executed fantasy film based on a much better book. If we ignore the terrible quality of the acting and the equally poor screenplay we can at least focus on the mythological theme that is of some interest. Ed Speleers (young artisan) plays the light masculine hero character who uses poor judgement in his haste to rescue the damsel in distress, Sienna Guillory who plays a combo of the dark and light feminine. She is young and in distress but also magical and powerful. John Malkovich (mature artisan in discrimination) in one of the poorest performances of his career, plays the negative dark masculine, a king with power gone bad. Jeremy Irons (mature artisan) does a good job of playing the positive dark masculine character, a trustworthy wise elder who sacrifices himself for the cause. The dragon is perhaps the best character and also plays the positive dark feminine figure, magical and powerful, willing to sacrifice herself for something bigger.

Casino Royale

Like all Bond films, this one carries a young soul theme to entertain mostly young souls. Nevertheless it is a surprisingly well-executed film and if you don’t mind all the usual violence it has some good action and is entertaining. The original Bond was Sean Connery, a mature king, and that was what made the early Bond films work. Since then, all the Bonds have been played by artisans and that for the most part has not worked. Now, OO7 is being played by Daniel Craig, a young warrior, carrying the right amount of action for the role. He is not a king, suave like Sean Connery, but he is the closest to the real thing since Connery. Bond is a ruthless killer agent who has closed off his heart so that he can carry out assassinations. Eva Green, artisan, successfully plays his love interest and the chemistry between them works. The story line is true to life in that young warriors are heavily armored and guarded around their hearts but sometimes someone can get through to them. In this case, after he becomes vulnerable he feels betrayed and chooses to harden up again. That’s a young warrior for you.

Flags of Our Fathers

Clint Eastwood, old warrior, hands in another outstanding film, this time focused on the Flag raising event on Iwo Jima during one of the pivotal battles in the Pacific during World War II. In his unflinching style, he lays bare the hypocrisy around the Flag Raising event that led to ruthlessly hyping it around the nation to raise war bonds. The film points to a paradox about the United States, a country that does not validate people’s emotions, yet on the other hand is a nation based entirely on emotionality.  At the end of the film Eastwood nails the psychology around hero worship by showing how the men and women who fought in the war not only did not feel like heroes but in most cases were not. They were simply people who tried to stay alive and help their buddies at the same time. They were performing very locally. On the other hand the people at home were so sentimentally in need of heroes for their own bankrupt lives that they would ignore any reality and entertain any fiction to have them. They were even willing to take advantage of psychologically wounded young soldiers to have their fantasy. Nothing has changed for younger souls. Today they are as desperate for heroes as ever. Families of killed and wounded soldiers who proudly sent them off to Iraq to fight desperately need to see them as heroes. It is of course intolerable for many of them to accept that their children were taken advantage of by a corrupt and ruthless government with a hidden agenda. What if  these soldiers were simply sacrificed on the altar of corporate profits and political gamesmanship.  So the country plays a strange game of trying to support the troops and calling them heroes for protecting their country while at the same time trying to decide what to do with a dubious war led by incompetents that may have nothing to do with protecting the country but has everything to do with money, oil, and power. 

Children of Men

 This is an apocalyptic fantasy based on a book about the future where everyone is sterile and the human race is doomed to extinction while fighting destructive wars around the globe. The setting is England where all refugees from elsewhere in the world are ruthlessly rooted out and imprisoned. Clive Owen (mature artisan) plays Theo, a scholar and a reluctant hero figure who finds himself trying to protect a refugee woman who has shown up pregnant. Early in the film he runs into his ex lover played by Julianne Moore, Mature artisan in growth with reserve mode. She plays a warrior who gone underground to carry out acts of terrorism. They have an agreement to complete involving the young pregnant woman. Although I tried to like this film I gave up and found it mostly depressing even though it has a light at the end of the tunnel. Although the world could head in this direction I personally don’t think it will because unlike the film’s account, there are spiritual forces at work in our evolution that will make a huge difference.

The Last King of Scotland

Based on a novel, the mostly true story of the last king of Scotland tells the tale of Idi Amin, the dictator under whom 300,000 Ugandans were slaughtered during his reign during the 1970’s. Idi Amin was a 7th level infant or survival oriented king with a goal of dominance, mode of aggression, attitude of idealism sliding to extreme skepticism, and an obstacle of greed, with the moving center. These are the overleaves one would expect to find in a gang leader or drug lord, so it is not surprising that his self selected administration turned out the way it did. Forest Whitaker, a mature sage with a goal of growth, does an outstanding job depicting the scary, unpredictable but strangely childlike  Idi Amin. This is exactly the way infant souls are. They may be very intelligent, wily, and childlike and asking for guidance, but with absolutely no conscience or compassion whatsoever. They are simply not able to put themselves in anyone else shoes. 
    The story is told thru the eyes of a fictional character, a Scottish doctor who is befriended by Amin and whom is drafted as his personal doctor. A naïve mature soul, he then becomes witness to the atrocities of amin, even witlessly participating in some of them indirectly. His character is a classic example of someone in the difficult monad of a mature soul finding himself forced to serve an evil master. This is tough monad in which a mature soul must confront the most difficult decisions possible while serving under a younger soul dictator of master who makes impossible ethically compromising demands upon his servant. There were mature souls serving under Hitler also experiencing this monad. They are most often murdered because of their inability to carry out all commands.
    While disturbing the film does portray an infant soul leader extraordinarily accurately and the acting by Forest Whitaker in this role is superb.

The Prestige

Like The Illusionist, this film looks at the world of the magician in the earlier 1900’s and like that other better film, it is a mystery. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Mature artisan, who plays an accomplished magician obsessed with the tricks and secrets of his primary rival played by Christian Bale, another mature artisan. However both of them play rival young souls (success oriented) who are locked into intense karma with one another based on arrogance and greed. Their conflict, like most karma, leads to loss and catastrophe for them both and for the people closest to them. Despite its minor flaws, it is still an entertaining and interesting film worth watching. Michael Caine and David Bowie have lesser roles.
 

The Good Shepherd

Some people say this is the finest spy movie ever made. Perhaps it is,technically, but the film lacks heart and that may be because of thesubject matter. Matt Damon impeccably plays Edward, a late level young(success oriented) scholar, intellectually centered, with a stoicattitude, observation mode, a man who sees himself as self sacrificingand good, but who is caught up in the deadly and brutal karmicrealities of the developing CIA during the forties, fifties, andsixties. Much of the action centers upon the Cuban Missile Crisis andthe Bay of Pigs debacle. 
Edward is trapped into an unhappy marriage with Margaret Russell,Angelina Jolie’s character, a flawed success oriented artisan whosemachinations backfire on her. They have a son who is emotionallywounded and whose need to be loved ultimately brings him to grief. Eventually Edward is presented with a choice that appears to compromisehis most cherished values, a classic human dilemma also known as themonad in which one must make impossible choices working for a corruptmaster. Interestingly, the community of spies and CIA agents can nevertrust one another, but on the other hand they are like a family anddepend on each other for intimacy and connection. 
While Matt Damon is excellent and does live the role, his character isdifficult to like and there is no one else to identify with because allthe characters are compromised in some way. While that is reality, thefilm left me a little depressed and uninspired in the end, but that maybe because of my own spy lifetimes and the karma accrued. 
All in all the film functions as a kind of unabashed history of theorigins of the CIA and strips it of its mystique and romance. It is thestory of how people lose their soul connection and descend into theself-deception of protecting their country while actually becomingparanoid and ruthless.

Happy Feet

While Happy Feet is typical animation formula, it is hardnot to be seduced by it and thoroughly enjoy it. It is basically ananimated musical with much song and dance with the major theme beingthe hero’s journey. It also has the theme of the outcast, the penguinwho is so different he comes into conflict with the cultural standardsand the elders upholding the old ways that cannot be altered. The filmshows what happens when someone successfully challenges his culture toadapt and change for the better. One of the film’s objectives is not sosubtly to call attention to the plight of real penguins in theAntarctic whose survival is in question. The animation and technicalachievements of this film are superb. Robin Williams voice of course steals the show.

The Illusionist

This is a most enjoyable film about a character named Eisenheim, arelationship oriented, dominant artisan, played excellently by EdwardNorton (mature stoical artisan) who is gifted with special psychicabilities and a great flair for hypnotizing crowds. He carrys alifelong torch for his essence twin, Du chess Sophie von Teschen, alsoa relationship oriented soul played by Jessica Biel (mature artisan), awoman from nobility who is way above him in class and station but whonevertheless loves him. They are separated for years but rediscovereach other as she is about to be married off to Crown Prince Leopold, acorrupt, insecure and ill tempered success oriented soul played byRufus Sewell, a dominant artisan. Eisenheim is dogged by chiefinspector Uhl, excellently played by Paul Giamanti (another matureartisan), an upwardly mobile police chief who is directed to put himout of business. Yet, he is fascinated by the illusionist and isreluctant to arrest him, preferring to learn from him instead. ChiefInspector Uhl actually has a teacher-student monad with Eisenheim (Uhlis the student) and he is also playing out another monad with Leopold,serving a corrupt master. In the end he is rescued from that monad byEisenheim’s master plan of escape that leads Leopold to commitsuicide. 


The Painted Veil

This is a visually stunning film based on the 1925 Somerset Maughamnovel about a British doctor and his wife helping to fight a choleraepidemic in rural China. It is a tale of karma and agreements among themain characters, Dr. Fane, a late level relationship oriented stoicalscholar played by Edward Norton, Kitty, an aging socialite who marriesDr. Fane as a ticket out of town, played by Naomi Watts (matureartisan), and Dr. Townsend, a success oriented soul with whom she has acatalytic affair. Upon discovery of the affair, Dr Fane strong-armsKitty into going to the heart of a cholera epidemic. He appearshard-hearted and brutal but he actually has an agreement with Kitty tocrush her imprinting as a young soul and push her into her 4th internalmonad (mid thirties) where she must mature and be the relationship soulshe actually is. The agreement is successful and in the process hefinds his heart again. Kitty is helped to complete her monad by aphilosophically oriented nun played by Diana Rigg. The tale is apowerful one augmented by the setting in China.
The film also manages to show the rule oriented policies of the localswhose ignorance is contributing to the epidemic, the shenanigans of thesuccess oriented Europeans taking advantage of China, and attempts tomake a difference by the relationship oriented souls.

The Curse of the Golden Flower

Three Thousand years ago during the Tang Dynasty in China the emperor’sfamily lived in unimaginable wealth, opulence, and power. Theirknowledge of plants was extraordinarily advanced as well as theirunderstanding of sacred geometry, martial arts, and the use of preciousmetals, colors, and ceremonial form.  Yet no matter how advanced theknowledge, the film shows clearly that in the hands of highly karmicsuccess oriented (young) souls bent on winning at all costs, thatknowledge was twisted and failed to provide the harmony, peace, andtranquility it was calculated to support. The most bitter karmicenemies all incarnated into the same family to play out their worstbetrayals. The film is a curious cross between incredibly beautifulfilm making and a horrific story of corruption, plotting, lies,violence, and intrigue that is quite brutal. The beauty is only matchedin the amount of tears and blood spilled. The film ends abruptly andthere is no redemption other than it seems everyone gets their justdeserts. If you love color and visual beauty coupled with precisionmartial arts and massive surreal battle scenes and ritual formationsthen you will enjoy the film regardless of its harsh tale.

Little Children

Although billed as a comedy, at its heart this film is not really funny at all. The film examines dysfunctional relationships, infidelity, and dysfunctional sexual expression in various forms. Kate Winslett (relationship oriented artisan) plays a narcissistic mother and dissatisfied wife who desperately desires the intensity of a romance. She has an affair with another somewhat narcisisstic, alienated house husband whose wife is more successful and who is distracted with her job. Interwoven through this story is the dysfunction of a failed policeman and his torment of a sexual offender recently released from jail. These dysfunctions reach a disturbing tragic crescendo in the end with the result that everyone learns something valuable about themselves. In the end it is obvious that everyone has been acting like a child, more so than the children themselves. Although uncomfortable in places I would recommend this film.

Babel

Babel is an extraordinary film, powerful, impactful and highly recommended, yet it does have deeply disturbing sequences. The film revolves around three distinct stories involving people in totally different parts of the world who by film's end prove to be completely interrelated. The film examines a number of themes including trauma, culture clash, marital conflict, love, sexuality, dedication, selfishness, fear, immigration, and mental illness. Cate Blanchett (old King) and Brad Pitt (mature Artisan) deliver outstanding performances as a couple in conflict, deeply traumatized during their journey through Morocco. However, their performances are equally matched by the outstanding cast of Mexican, Moroccan, and Japanese actors who round out the story. If you can handle the tension, this is a movie not to miss.

The Queen

"The Queen" is a poignant look at the current queen of England, a rule oriented server in reserve mode who had to navigate the difficult terrain of Princess Diana's death a few years ago. Princess Diana was a relationship oriented priest with artisan casting whose death impacted the whole world. The Queen (played impeccably by Helen Mirren) and Prince Phillip, in their antipathy to Diana and their attachment to traditional rules, failed to grasp the gravity of the situation and failed to respond in a way that satisfied an older soul public. England is populated by mostly mature and older souls.

The film examines the relationship between the royals and their subjects and explores the difference between personal preferences and what is owed the public at large. The film also examines the relationship between Tony Blair, an early level relationship oriented soul and the queen. Their interplay is both humorous and painful. In the end the queen chides him in a particularly chilling prophetic statement suggesting that he too may arrive at the day when the public suddenly turns against him. I found this film very interesting and enjoyable.

There is an interesting shamanic and symbolic sequence involving the hunting of a stag by the royals during the funeral week. Animals are powerful mediums for the recently departed. The entire sequence is deeply symbolic of Diana's plight.

Wordplay

This is a surprisingly interesting documentary about the whole world of cross word puzzles with some famous individuals who are addicted to them revealing interesting aspects of their personalities. The film ends with an annual competition that is both suspenseful and revealing. Many of the best contestants are scholars and artisans who might be considered nerds by other people but who are obviously geniuses in their ability to move through extremely tough puzzles exceptionally rapidly. It is simply fun watching them perform. Also revealing and interesting is the character who comes out third in the competition and watching how he ends up there. Throughout the whole film he announces that he always gets third and that he can never win. In the end you see an amazing performance in which he makes this come true, a great example of "How you say it is, is how it will be."

Fountain

This is a science fiction/mythopoetic film that has proven very controversial for several reasons; 1.It is a metaphysical film dealing with a subject matter that only older souls understand 2. A major theme is death 2. The content and imagery is beyond most peoples comprehension. Hugh Jackman (relationship oriented artisan) plays a warrior character who has three lives that interweave in three different time frames. In one he is a conquistador who is committed to protecting the Queen of Spain (Rachel Weisz-also relationship oriented artisan), ending the influence of a deadly inquisitor who is threatening the queen, and based on Mayan information, discovering the tree of life in the New World so that he can bring back its gifts for the Queen. In a time frame that is the near future he is a fanatical brain surgeon committed to finding a cure for his wife's (Rachel Weisz again) brain tumor before she dies. In the far future he is a space traveler who has discovered the tree of life in a dying star system referred to by the Mayans. In each time frame he resists death and yet fails to be able to prevent it. In his failure he discovers the greatest truths in the universe. There are deep Tibetan Buddhist, ancient Mayan, and Shamanic themes referred to in the imagery of the film. There is the theme of the interplay between the masculine and the feminine as in each life the feminine trys to wake him up and get him to let go of his stubborn resistance to what is. There are also the themes of the tree of life, immortality, impermanence, transcendence, and transformation all packed into this film. The film is rather ambitious at trying tackle so much and in some ways does an admirable job and in other ways fails to handle it adequately because the topic is so huge. I liked it but not everyone will.