Today I was for the first time at a movie party at the English Movie Night, the club of cinema-lovers who also love english.
My ex-groupmate, a successful English teacher, recommended it to me when I was looking for language practice.
People meet each week to watch a film in English (with subs) and then discuss it. The club is run by a company of young people from some sort of protestant community, called The Church of the Nazarean. But it does almost no matter for these movie nights, except that chocolate sweets served with tea never contain liqueur, and that sex scenes in films are skipped.
Today we watched “Autumn in November” with Richard Gere and Winona Rider.
If in short and without spoilers – it’s a romantic comedy on one hand, and a drama on another, about how death makes life more real, brings more life to life. Actually Richard Gere’s character seemed to me quite banal, that of Winona Rider is much more interesting, but the plot line I like the most is that with Lisa, and Lisa herself.
Maybe a longer and spoilerful review will come soon.
The movie party takes place in the community’s office, full of books about Bible and New Testament and Jesus and way to holiness, and flyers about the community and its projects etc. In fact I was a little suspicious and wondered if it wasn’t a sect.
After the film I asked the guy who ran the movie and the discussion, Vardan, to tell me about their church, where does it belong to, and what’s special about it.
He said that it was a branch of Protestant church, close to the Army of Salvation and some others, and all these branches differ in what part of Christ’s teaching they focus most attention on. For the Nazarean church the most important thing is sanctity. Christ told them to be saint because He is saint, and they should follow it. That means, to try to be perfect in everything, in smallest details. Be immaculate, as pure as possible, for this is the only way to see God.
And that's why they refuse of all alcohol, including that in chocolate candies – for alcohol destroys our bodies. And that’s why Vardan paused the movie at the beginning of a sex scene and scrolled it over. I asked him, why then not to skip scenes where people drink wine? Vardan said - well, it’s not necessary, for it is not a temptation strong enough. But in general, one should better avoid any temptations, for no one has enough will to resist them always.
That was interesting to learn. But there’s something that I don’t like about this idea of Purity as a MAIN law. And I'm glad to have heard of another Highest law, which is Love.
I wonder why I like it more.
Maybe because to Love is to give, it is for everyone. It’s what connects everyone, it’s what makes life eternal. And being perfect… it requires concentrating on myself. Am I enough perfect or not? Or maybe something around me can destroy me? Watching people in a movie fucking can make me feel destructive lust. Watching people being cruel to each other can make me feel destructive anger. Drinking a drop of alcohol will do me harm. Breathing in the city centre will do me harm too.
And isn’t the best way to avoid any harm – not to live at all?
