Alchemical Films

[Ghislain]

Meeting with Remarkable Men

"Meetings with Remarkable Men is the second volume of the All and Everything trilogy written by the Greek-Armenian mystic G. I. Gurdjieff." wikipedia

Meetings with Remarkable Men appears to start from his realisation of the need to search. As Gurdgieff was writing a biographical account how is this the second volume?
What is contained in the first?

Thanks Krisztian, is there another film of his later life? I would love to see that.

Ghislain

[Albion]

The European version or The Director's Cut
are recommended by most reviewers.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Blue-D...7077825&sr=1-2

[solomon levi]

Good call, Albion!
I love that movie.
Saw it many years ago and have watched it often since.

My commentary - I really associated with the protagonists feelings of alienation.
He felt more at home in the depths of the ocean and with dolphins) than in the world of men.

Jean Reno is classic!

[Albion]

I really associated with the protagonists feelings of alienation.
He felt more at home in the depths of the ocean and with dolphins) than in the world of men.

It would have surprised me had you said otherwise.

The movie also reminds me of the state of non-breathing, which, the first time it happened to me, kind of freaked me out - both because it lasted so long and because of the perspective I was in. Some time later I read that this state is nothing to be feared.

"If you can stop your breathing, you can enter into the cultivation of the second type of chi. The second type of chi, called the "reward" chi in the Damo Zen Sutra and "karmic" chi in Esoteric Buddhism, is the chi that arises when ordinary breathing stops. This "hsi," if you cultivate it, is what a fetus uses to grow inside a mother’s womb (when external breathing is not required) and when you cultivate it after birth, you can use it to cure sickness, extend the lifespan and stay healthy. If you are able to recognize and cultivate this chi, you can have longevity and can reverse the process of getting old and will become young. You can cultivate that chi to get samadhi but it’s not the highest."

February 11, 2008 entry: The Damo Zen (Anapanasati) Sutra

http://www.meditationexpert.com/blog/2008/02/

But the following are more relevant to the movie:

David Blaine: Guinness Record

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WzT4...eature=related

David Blaine: How I held my breath for 17 min

http://www.ted.com/talks/david_blain...or_17_min.html
______________________________________

Yes, Jean Reno was perfect for that role. He convincingly wove
together both the comedic and serious aspects of his character.

[solomon levi]

"Who's driving the dream bus?"

Interviews many non-duality/reality-"ists"

http://theavalonfiles.com/stream/Who...bus/index.html

[Krisztian]

I wish I could point the way, Ghislain. There's much material on the system Gurdjieff created, I haven't seen any other movie about it. I haven't been involved in studying his teachings for some time now, maybe others in this Forum would know?

[solomon levi]

Only the second is autobiographical. The first is sort of a history/myth of man written
in a way to make us aware, as if he is studying man as an alien from another world (objectively).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_and_Everything

This video is fairly informative of his teachings:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvLGuSOLNQA

Or you could watch In Search of the Miraculous by one of his main pupils,
Ouspensky:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPoj_...eature=related

Otherwise, I don't think he has been filmed much. There's just his books and schools.
Those are just actors in "Search" and "Meetings". The first youtube link is actual footage of G.

Oh - here's a russian documentary on G with english subtitles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX-7D...eature=related

[solomon levi]

Does anyone else consider "The Beaver" alchemical?
I found it really insightful. Think of the warrior pitting the average man's description (CC's words)
against the sorcerers' description. Or deconstructing/leaving behind one's past for a present
spontaneous occurrence. A good flick anyway.

Memorable quote:
"We reach a point where, in order to go on, we have to wipe the slate clean. We start to see ourselves as a box that we're trapped inside and no matter how we try and escape, self help, therapy, drugs, we just sink further and further down. The only way to truly break out of the box is to get rid of it all together... I mean, you built it in the first place. If the people around you are breaking your spirit, who needs them? Your wife who pretends to love you, your son who can't even stand you. I mean, put them out of their misery. Starting over isn't crazy. Crazy is being miserable and walking around half asleep, numb, day after day after day. Crazy is pretending to be happy. Pretending that the way things are is the way they have to be for the rest of your bleeding life. All the potential, hope, all that joy, feeling, all that passion that life has sucked out of you. Reach out, grab a hold of it and snatch it back from that bloodsucking rabble."

[D.Trout]

Watched "Melancholia" the other day.

Tedious and somewhat predictable story. Brilliant cast, but mediocre performances.

I really didn't particularly like how the film was shot, but much of the imagery was very alchemical in nature.

[Krisztian]

Russian-produced Wolfhound (2007), starting with Aleksandr Bukharov!

It is my opinion, this foreign film has all of the archetypes and astrotheological elements of the unrecorded history of humankind. I'm an avid researcher of astrotheology, and this humble film represents a breakthrough in capturing key symbolic elements.