A River Runs Through It

...the splendor of the grass

... a river in the countryside

...glory in the flower

photography by orange tulip

Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass
Of glory in the flower we will grieve not
Rather find strength in what remains behind
In the primal sympathy which having been must ever be

In the soothing thoughts that spring out of human suffering
In the faith that looks through death
Thanks to the human heart by which we live
Thanks to its tenderness its joys, its fears
To me the meanest flower that blows can give thoughts that do often lie
too deep for tears

-William Wordsworth 1807 Ode, Intimations of Immortality from Reflections of Early Childhood

These are the lines of a poetry that seemed to reconnect the father and son(Norman Maclean) after the son came home from college after six years from of being away from their village in Montana. He just received an offer to teach English literature in a university in Chicago. I found that scene of father and son alternately reciting the lines of such poem very touching. This is also one of the most memourable part of the movie released in 1992 when Bradd Pitt, one of the actors(playing Paul, the younger Maclean) was deliciously handsome thus his smiles as Paul in the movie has thrilled me to the nines. For Bradd playing Paul, the most memourable part i believe was when he got an extremely huge trout and in jest told his big brother and father" Three years i'll be thinking like a fish" which sadly did not happen. What i really adore in the movie beyond the acting and the gorgeous looks of Bradd are the long shots of the river, the countryside, the landscapes and the lifestyle since it was in a 20th century setting. For health reasons, I have to stay home for the meantime so i have nothing to do except having a complete bedrest, eating vegetables and fruits and at last, on Sunday afternoon watching dvds. I opted to watch those with Bradd Pitt among the actors- "Meet Joe Black" released in 1998 and the other one " A River Runs Through It" released in 1992( now- if Bradd is 44, then he must be 28 around 16 years ago, long before being an ex-husband of Jennifer and a father to Angelina's kids thus his deliciously handsome looks) which was based from the book written by Norman Macleanhttp://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/500667.html the older of the two brothers who also became the narrator and started off the movie as an old man fishing in a river before doing a flashback of the " family story". I was wondering if it was a documentary but i was not surprised if it was a fiction that sounded a documentary- the way Robert Redford http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105265/makes movies out of novels.







Paul, who became a writer for the local newspaper( the role was very appealing to me because as a child i wanted to be a journalist and a broadcaster, not or but both -alright but for some reason or another i went to a different field although i never forgot my love and flair for writing) got hooked to gambling, which led to the sad part of the story -he was killed one night and was thrown in the alley. Their father, after being informed by Norman that almost his bones were broken- particularly asked which hand was most broken and the elder son answered "the right hand" which made the father walk away in silent grief(the mother left in silence minutes earlier to grieve on her own perhaps). That beautiful hand held in all glory the big fish captured through the art of fly-fishing in the Bigfoot River on their last fishing together. I was wondering what would be the surprising twist of the story after Paul " perfected the art of fly-fishing" and while he was holding his trophy fish for a picture, savouring that moment Norman his elder brother said " And i knew just clearly and as surely that life is not a work of art and that a moment could not last."

Fishing is fun! I also had the chance to go fishing a few times- albeit in a man-made river with trouts grown for the purpose-but the thought of how quick the trout would pick the bait and the surprise and the excitement of seeing a fish, how large would it be, or who among my companions would beat me to having the first one to "fish" were enough for someone to forget probably anything or anyone for the meantime. Besides, driving to the fishing area seeing beautiful landscapes and vegetation along the way especially during autumn doubles the fun. Most importantly, it served as a good bonding time to people that significantly matter to me. This is one of the rare moments that i truly enjoy doing with my friends and this activity, in addition to frolicking in the snow or the beach are the moments that i truly miss.

In the case of Norman and Paul Maclean, it is really wonderful since they grew together and bonded much as brothers, sometimes along with their father doing fly-fishing. It was a good movie i think, although friends who have watched it in big screen in the past told me that they found it dragging. Well, as long as the extremely lovely smile of Bradd is shown from time to time i have a reason to enjoy the film. It ended on a good note as their father did a remarkable preaching few years before his own death in their old Presbyterian church, as Norman puts it- with Paul in his thoughts:

"It is true we can help those closest to us
Either we don't know what part of ourselves to give
Or more often than not, the part we have to give and is not wanted
So it is those we live with and should know who elude us
But we can still love them

We can love completely without complete understanding"

And after watching the film, " A River Runs Through It" getting thrilled everytime Bradd Pitt smiles as Paul and enjoying the countryside landscapes, the beautiful sound of running waters and refreshing sight of the river- i have learned very important things: to find strength in what remains behind, to have faith that looks through death and to love completely-without complete understanding.